How do you feel about popcorn?
Popcorn has become the snack of choice around our house, and I am quite happy about that snack choice. With all the unhealthy options out there, it just doesn’t get much better than delicious freshly-popped (and locally grown) popcorn. You also can’t get much closer to having a whole grain snack without chewing on some actual grain.
This fall we bought a full gallon of popcorn from our apple orchard, and I’m already seeing that one gallon is not enough popcorn to get us through to next fall’s harvest. We’ve made quite a dent, as we tend to fire up the popper a good 2 or 3 days a week. When Andy’s working, he loves to take popcorn as either a lunch accompaniment or a snack to tide him over until meal time.
We make it very simply here. We have an old fashioned hot air popper, and that’s what we use. We pop it into the biggest bowl I have, and then drizzle it lightly with real butter and a sprinkle of sea salt. When I dip out my bowl I also add a very hearty grind of fresh black pepper. If you’ve never tried pepper on popcorn you’re missing out!
We love to eat the popcorn fresh out of the hopper, but it also keeps remarkably well. Leftovers get packed into gallon zipper bags to be hauled around to dance classes as a healthy snack for the kids in-between classes.
Popcorn. If you don’t make it, you should. And if you can’t eat popcorn because of food allergies, perhaps you’ve tried one of the alternatives? I’ve heard that both amaranth and millet can be popped, and I saw not too long ago a company marketing popped sorghum. I bet they are all delicious.