Popcorn

A staple :) Cracker Jacks when I was little (I still have some prizes!), my lime green "lightbulb" kids popper at home, then air poppers ever since.

Since I talked about the UK yesterday, I'll continue a bit here. When I lived there, nobody made popcorn in their homes. It wasn't done. They didn't know it *could* be done! People bought popcorn at theatres, but they had no idea it started out as hard little kernels.

It took me a while to find a bag of un-popped popcorn to make on the stove. I had to special order some through an International store (which happily got me a few bags, then asked what in the world I was going to do with them? They thought the wrong items had arrived.) Later, when I made popcorn in a student kitchen at my school, people gathered around like I was doing a magic trick.

"Is it safe?" they'd ask, as they heard the kernels exploding in the pan. "What's happening in there? Can we look?"

"Sure" I'd say, "but the popcorn will fly out."

I'd lift the lid, a few kernels would pop out of the pan, and everyone would scream!

The "Popcorn making show" was a big hit. I was often asked to give repeat performances.

(FYI, "Bagels" were also unheard of there, back then. - And good luck trying to get hummus in Canada.)