Popcorn

I love popcorn. I love popcorn more than anyone else in the whole world...really. The quantity and frequency of popcorn consumption you may find shocking. I find it shocking. It is for that reason that I give up popcorn for Lent each year.


Not microwave popcorn…I am pretty sure that is poison. Movie theatre popcorn is not much better. I like it popped in a little oil, and then sprinkled with salt. Only crazy people pop it with air, what are they thinking? The salt won’t stick. No butter! It makes the popcorn soggy. You may be thinking, hey that doesn’t sound like it would be bad for you. But I will repeat the quantity that I eat probably is. Think of the largest mixing bowl you have….filled with popcorn…I could easily eat that much popcorn, every night of the week. You know when you are asked what you would bring on a deserted island……..

It is scientifically proven some foods get better if they sit for a little bit: (Wait..what? It is NOT proven? Well some things you don’t need science for anyway) Potato salad, chili, lasagna, etc. Popcorn tastes better the day after too. Seriously…..try it. But not the buttered, popcorn seasoned, microwaved stuff….I don’t kid when I say “poison.”

I give it up for Lent because I realize that it can’t be good for me to eat that much, before bed especially, and because it is a challenge. Shortly after Ash Wednesday, the boys wanted a “Fort-Night”: pizza, popcorn, movie and sleeping in a fort they built in L’s room. So I made popcorn. Oh it was hard not to cheat. I like the feel of the unpopped kernels in the bag. I love the noise that popcorn makes when it pops, and the smell. But I didn’t eat any. They didn’t finish all the popcorn, so there was some left over in the morning. I still didn’t eat any. Did I mention how hard this was for me?

It is also scientifically proven that some food tastes better when someone makes it for you, like sandwiches and, in my case, popcorn. My dad makes the best popcorn. I’ve watched and it doesn’t look like he does anything different than what I do, so the natural conclusion is that he has some sort of magic spell that he places on the corn…or it’s because he has one of those fancy popcorn pots. But I am pretty sure it is a magic spell. When I am at my parents’ house, all I have to do to get popcorn is look at my dad and say, “Daddy?” I think I must have a little magic too, because within 5 minutes I have a heaping bowl of popcorn in my lap. Amazing.

JT and I eating popcorn circa 1982. But I use my hands now..both of them.