Merciful God, You are great in compassion and Your tenderness for us is without measure. We ask You to give us today our daily bread, and also provide for the needs of all of Your hungry children around the world. Through Christ Your Son and Our Lord. Amen.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

it works! II





I had every intention of posting this idea last week right after the last one. But these people, called my family, have these expectations that I should cook, clean, launder for them, shuttle them places, and, uh, school them, of all things. I tease because I don't really mind, but it really cuts into blogging time. I often head for the computer, but am sidetracked by someone or something. I feel like Batman and Robin, "Foiled again!"

I saw this idea at the Daily Buzz along with the strawberry idea below. I always knew you could pop popcorn without special gadgetry but didn't know that it was quite this simple. Popcorn and a brown paper bag. That's it. Easy peasy. Even the kids can do it, though there was one burned popcorn incident at 1 a.m. with a particular 19 yo boy (did you know the smell of something burning can wake you from a dead sleep?). Just don't recook the old kernels.




I used a jumbo size brown lunch bag and about 1/3 cup popcorn. As you can see below there was plenty of room left in the bag for more popcorn, but the kids each had their own bag, so 1/3 cup was plenty. We have a popcorn setting on our micro -- I think most do these days -- but if you don't just micro on high until the popping slows down.




We added a tablespoon of melted butter and salt after the popcorn was popped. Shake and serve.



11 comments:

Sheila said...

Supposedly, the bag can sometimes catch on fire, so keep watch while you are popping. This hasn't happened to me personally, but I mentioned this once online, and another person told me that it catches on fire sometimes. But your bag of popcorn makes me think of a fun family evening.

Barbara said...

Thanks, Sheila. I'll keep that in mind. When my son burned the popcorn at 1 a.m. my husband got up (after I got up to see what was burning) to make sure there wasn't a smoldering bag of popcorn in the trash.

Lori N from MN said...

I was trying to find a less expensive (compared to the big name brand microwaveable buttered popcorn)and more healthy way to enjoy popcorn a couple years or so ago, and tried this method.

We just pop it, and eat it. Nothing added. Plain honest-to-goodness popped corn. Amazingly, EVERYONE in the house loves it this way.

I'd never heard about the bag catching fire, and really, after probably 75 to 100 bags of popped corn a year, I doubt it poses too much of a threat (and we reuse the bag several times). The kids even do it this way by themselves. No mishaps (yet)!!

Aimee said...

It is seriously THIS easy?! Man, I have got to start doing this because Francie eats popcorn nearly every day for her snack.

Barbara said...

Thanks for letting me know, Lori!

Barbara said...

Seriously, Aimee, it is!

Mirissa said...

I had a bag catch fire and melt the roof of my built-in microwave. I had used a grocery sized bag as that was all I had. Big mistake. Now I have a wavy, blackened microwave. At least it still works as it's very expensive to replace!

Barbara said...

So sorry to hear that, Mirissa. I bet that was scary!

Abby said...

You are the second person to tell me this week that this trick works! I think that's a sign. C. loves microwave popcorn, but I hate the store-bought kind (and everything that's in it, whatever that is). Totally trying this!

Lori N from MN said...

Oh goodness Mirissa, that really must have been awful!

We use a lunch bag size, not a large grocery-sized bag. Hope that helps someone!

Kat said...

If you like margaritas, you might like sprinkling a little salt and squeezing a bit of fresh lime juice over yours.

(For other ideas: I always throw oregano, parmesan, and crushed red pepper on my popcorn. My younger brother is in the military, and he and his friends put hot sauce on everything -- and this extends to popcorn.)