Who Wants Popcorn?!

By Carla Jordan // Entertaining, Lifestyle // No Comments

Photo credit: Carlos Porto, www.FreeDigitalPhotos.com

In my house, there are six (not five) food groups–fruits, vegetables, grains, meat/beans, milk and…popcorn. Wholesome, low cal and easy to make, I’m such a fan of popcorn that I’ve spent years perfecting it as a meal (ok, so I’m single) instead of just a snack. And turns out, I’m not alone in my affection for popcorn. According to research by The Popcorn Board, Americans snarf down 16 billion quarts of the light-as-air stuff annually. That’s a lot of popcorn–about 52 quarts per man, woman and child. And although world-wide sales of popcorn are steadily growing, nobody eats more popcorn than us!
Tomorrow (January 19) is National Popcorn Day so now’s the time to plan your salute to everyone’s favorite snack.
To get you started, here are four fun activities to integrate popcorn into this special day of snacking, courtesy of Popcorn.org:
•String popcorn, then hang it outside for birds to eat
Need: sewing needles, string, popcorn
•Popcorn air hockey (volley a kernel back and forth 20 times without letting if fall)
Need: flat surface (table), straw (to blow), coffee stirrers (as paddles), popcorn
•Popcorn relay race
Need: popcorn, spoons
•Popcorn basketball (can you flick a pice of popcorn into the basket?)
Need: popcorn, baskets (i.e. muffin tins, small cups), backboards (walls, cardbord)
And may I add one to the list?
•Make popcorn balls. Although if you yearn to break the world’s record, you’d best get to popping. The world’s largest popcorn ball was created in Sac City, Iowa in 2009. It weight 5,000 pounds, stood over eight feet tall and measures 28.8 feet in circumference.
Of course, you can always go with the easiest and most tasty activity of all–just eat a big ol’ bowl of popcorn. If that’s your pick, try this unique way of cooking the corn–microwaved in a bean pot. CH president Heather Chastain created this recipe and it yields the fluffiest popcorn you’ve ever tasted.
HEATHER’S MICROWAVE BEAN POT POPCORN
Ingredients:
1/3 cup popcorn kernels
3 tablespoons cooking oil
Directions:
Add cooking oil to popcorn kernels, then cover bean pot with lid.
Microwave for 5-6 minutes.
Remove lid carefully to avoid escaping steam.