popcorn
So today I got hungry. And I decide to make popcorn.
We had some unpopped pop corn in the pantry from our Oscar party. And I had read on Treehugger how you can make microwave popcorn with the normal stuff. You don’t need to buy the bags. And you really shouldn’t buy the bags, since they can kill you. And not just in laboratory rats. Real-life microwave popcorn eaters have gotten cancer from cooking the fake butter. But I digress.
You’re supposed to put the corn in a brown paper lunch bag. But that doesn’t seem very treehugger-y.
First, I tried a paper boat. Which I realize is also disposable and negates my argument above. But I didn’t have any brown paper lunch bags, so the environmental reasoning came later. It’s one of those boats that they served French Fries in at your school cafeteria. We got about 100 of them when we purchased our house. I don’t know why the previous owners needed so many paper boats (and obviously they didn’t either since they left them). But I like to imagine the previous owner sitting down to lunch every day for a steaming paper boat full of Frito pie. Mmmm… sounds good.
So, I put them in the boat. This resulted in some really cool visuals and a bit of popping, but not enough. I cleaned out the microwave. Put the popped popcorn in a bowl and put the unpopped kernels in another bowl. Then I put a third bowl on top of the unpopped kernels and threw that back into the microwave. This time the popping was more contained, although not as entertaining. Ok, it was still pretty entertaining. I like watching the top bowl, slowly separate from the bottom as the popcorn inside gets bigger and bigger. What can I say, I wasn’t allowed to watch much TV as a kid.
This worked pretty well. Still too many unpopped kernels, but a lot more popcorn. The only problem is that it kind of fuses to the bowls. So, I’ll have to work on that. At this point I had enough popcorn to eat, but I’ll return to my experimentation at a later date.
Comments
kelli
2008-02-29T21:48:07.000Z
I’m assuming this was more for scientific experimentation than actual hungriness? Because you can make it on the stove too. :) And hey, I keep meaning to ask, you posted awhile back about Walmart coming out with canvas bags for shopping. I have had zero luck with actually using them. The cashiers are mean about them. Have you had this happen? Or do you not ever go to Walmart?
Kate (http://katiekatworld.blogspot.com)
2008-03-01T05:07:42.000Z
I have tons of paper bags if you need some. They’re great for teenage-contraband. I put their name on the outside, wrap it up, and they’re reasonably mollified and not completely convinced that I am going to risk my job and my license to steal their Sidekick. But I digress. That “butter” is scary. Plus, it only tastes good when it’s the 8 zillion calorie stuff and then you might as well just get out the real butter. I’ve only ever used my bags at Central Market, although I’m planning to use them more and at Kroger. CM always asks if they’re new, but other than that, I don’t get flak. And IKEA, of course. Maybe the crabby people are just not used to them yet. I also love how the handles are so great—you can put them over your shoulder. And they hold so much more! Out kitchen is on the second floor, so this is a significant benefit for us.
Tara (http://rabid-fraggle.blogspot.com/)
2008-03-02T06:10:12.000Z
I’ve never had anyone ask if they were new before, even when I use the CM bags at CM… but maybe it’s the hodgepodge collection that I’ve got, or the fact that I had to dig them out from under other junk to get them out. I have had lots of frustrations at stores (including CM, but mostly at HEB) when I try to get someone to use a bag I provided, or to not use a bag at all. Doesn’t it just get your goat when you purchase one reasonably sized thing, and they start to put it in a bag. Then when you tell them that you don’t need a bag, I mean you do have these funny grippy things on the end of your arms, they take the bag they were going to give you, rip it off the stack and plop it in the trash. I mean, if you’re going to put it in the trash, by all means give me the damn bag. I can recycle it, or reuse it or something.
