Sometimes You Just Want Fresh Popped Popcorn

Tweet

I've been thinking about popcorn since the Reading Lesson I gave on Friday. As a class, we read an article titled "More Than Just a Snackfood" by Sandie Lee about the history of popcorn. Do you realize humans have been popping corn for over 5,000 years? Researchers found 1,000 year-old popcorn in Peru and it still popped. I don't know if they tasted it. Some Mezoamericans took the kernels off the cob and popped it in clay pots. Others poked a stick in the cob and popped it right on the cob and ate it like corn-on-the-cob. Popcorn was very important to the Aztecs. Besides eating popped corn, the Aztecs used for garland and headdresses in some of their most revered ceremonies. In modern times, popcorn was key in the invention of the microwave oven. I have always loved popcorn. I still remember the pot my mother would shake over the stove to make it when I was a kid. Jiffy Pop was always a hit at camp and with the Scouts with that big aluminum ball that would expand as the kernels popped. Here in our house, we've tried air popped and microwave popcorn but, a few years ago, decided we wanted more traditionally popped corn. For Christmas I received the popcorn popper pictured above. It makes the best homemade popcorn I've ever had. Do you like popcorn? If you do, how do you like to pop it? Do you like plain, buttered, cheese covered, or caramel coated?