Popcorn!

I've been on a big popcorn kick recently (it's really the only snack food that we have in the house), and thanks to my sister Z, I don't think that I'll ever be able to go back to bagged popcorn ever again... Here's how Z has taught me to make popcorn that is difficult to screw up, and you can make it your own with different flavored powders, butters, seasonings, etc.

Start out by gathering the following ingredients (these were all staples in my cupboard, so I didn't have to go out and buy anything): Vegetable Oil, Unpopped Popcorn (I use Orville Redenbacher's Original), Salt, and Butter. You will also need a pot with a lid.

Start out by pouring just enough vegetable oil to cover the bottom of the pan.

Then add the unpopped kernels. Remember that 2 tablespoons of kernels yields about 6 cups of popped corn... so make sure you don't put in too much, or else you'll end up with a lot of leftover kernels!

Turn the stove on to about medium heat


Make sure you have the lid on, and start listening for the kernels to start popping!


Once the corn starts popping, give the pan a few shakes to sift the kernels back down to the bottom.

This would be a good time to melt the butter either on the stove or in the microwave (I prefer the microwave so that I don't dirty another pan).

Continue to shake the pan (don't just leave it on the heat) until you don't hear anymore popping. If you take the lid off too early, the popping kernels will send popcorn flying EVERYWHERE, so be prepared for a little bit of a mess.



Take off the lid and pour your popcorn into a bowl.



Then add all the toppings that your heart desires! I'm strictly a butter and salt girl, but I've known some people who like to add Cajun seasonings, pepper, or sugar to their popcorn. You can also buy these popcorn flavor shakers to add some umpf to your snack!


For this bowl of popcorn, I used about 1 1/2 tablespoons of melted butter, and a few hearty shakes of the salt shaker.



And voila! You've made yourself some amazing popcorn! This is a much cheaper option than buying the bagged kinds that you see on the shelf. For 6-8 bags of popcorn, it will cost about $3-4 a box, while for a jar of unpopped kernels, the cost is $6 and you can make giant bowl after giant bowl of better popcorn! The taste and quality of stove popped popcorn is so much better than the stuff in the bags- you don't have to worry about it getting burned, and you can make as much or as little as you want.

I'm curious as to what toppings people like on their popcorn... Leave your favorite popcorn flavorings/toppings in the comment section (if you're feeling up to it)!