Friday, January 11, 2008

The Sound of a Simple Snack

Listen.

Are you Listening?

Shh!

Its coming. . .
Listen, its almost there.

PING!
POP! Ping! Pop! Pop!
Pop!, Pop!, Pop!, Pop! PING!,

"I hear it! Mommy, I hear the popcorn!"
"Mommy, I Looooove popcorn!"

PING!
POP! Ping! Pop! Pop!
Pop!, Pop!, Pop!, Pop! PING!,

"Can I shake it? No, I don't want to get to close to the fire. The fire is HOT."
"You shake it."

"Is it ready?"
"Can I have some salt? I Loooove salt."
"Can I taste? Can I have some?"

"Mmm. I love popcorn! It is so TASTY!"

As mentioned at Boys Rule My Life, today was simple Friday. The challenge was to think about all the noises we let into our lives and to attempt to lock out noises that disrupt or dampen our day.

The loud HUM of a running microwave and the piercing BEEEEEEP BEEEEEEP BEEEEEEP that repeats until the food is removed reminds me of the fact that in our house we abandoned microwave popcorn years ago. In our home, we practice the simple tradition of making popcorn on the stove top. Making your own popcorn is an inexpensive snack. Bags of corn kernels cost only a dollar or two and you only use about 1/3 cup of corn at a time.

Sizzles loves to sit on the counter, and listen to the popcorn as it explodes inside my heavy-bottomed stainless steel Dutch oven. During the pictured endeavor, we even sprinkled some freshly ground Parmesan cheese onto the popcorn. There are all kinds of heirloom popcorn kernels that can be explored with the kiddos.

Enjoy!

And don't forget to Listen.


Here is information I found on the web, about some of the popcorn varieties available.

YELLOW is a butterfly popcorn variety with an exceptional yellow corn taste. It has a high expansion rate, popping big and fluffy.

WHITE is a smaller kernel popcorn than the yellow, still with a relatively high expansion rate, popping up large and fluffy. It has a very mild corn flavor.

MIDNIGHT BLUE is a large kernel blue popcorn with an exceptional expansion rate. After it's popped, the kernel is white with blue hull speckles; it has a unique flavor.

MIXED BABY RICE is an heirloom variety which is HULL-LESS. The kernels are shaped something like rice and are white, red, and striped red in color. When popped, it has less volume than other varieties, the kernel is white and the flavor is light and delicate.

MAUVE is an heirloom variety which is a favorite. It has a moderate pop, and is tender and tasty! The meat is white to creamy in color.

MUSHROOM FLAKE pops up round; it's used mostly by people who want to caramelize their corn. Once popped, it holds its shape during shipping better than other types. It has a lighter corn taste than traditional yellow popcorn.

3 comments:

laurel said...

Mmm. I LOVE popcorn cooked on the stove. My favorite is with olive oil and sea salt. Yummy. And so much better for you than that microwave stuff! Thanks for all the info about the different kinds of corn, I had no idea!

Becky @ BoysRuleMyLife said...

Love the beginning of your post! I can hear that popcorn popping! And it IS such a fun sound! :)

Thanks for an upbeat post! :)

Amy said...

Thank you for the popcorn references - Nate & I make stovetop popcorn almost every night and were always wondering what the difference between the varieties was!