Popcorn - The Comfort Food

It is just way too easy now days. All you have to do is put the bag in the microwave, push one button and wait. Y0u can have all sorts of flavors. It is there right when you want it. Popcorn will never be this generation's comfort food. They have no conception of dragging out the air popper and letting it heat, and then melting the butter to pour on top. No wait, that generation will never have popcorn as a comfort food either. Me . . for me, popcorn is a comfort food.

This is what popcorn meant in my family.

First, you only got it on Friday or Saturday nights, because it was just too much trouble for a weekday evening.

Second, you had to find someone who was willing to admit they wanted it enough to really make it. In reality, everyone wanted it. You just had to make someone want it enough to . . well the process is this.

You got the popcorn pan out, the great big frying pan that has been used for popcorn so long that it only good for that anymore - making popcorn. The bottom of the pan is warped and the oil is baked right into the bottom. Next comes the oil. Just enough to sizzle in the bottom of the pan. If there isn't enough, it takes too long to pop. If there is too much, you catch wrath for wasting the oil. Turn that burner on. It is a gas stove and sometimes it doesn't light so you have to use a match and hope you don't blow yourself up. Now, just get that oil hot, but don't scorch it. Now put in the popcorn. Just enough for the oil. Put on the lid. It is now time to shake the pan.

This is where you have to talk someone into doing it. You just sit there and shake the pan so the popcorn doesn't burn after it pops. Now that I'm older, I realize the shaking was somewhat of a plot. You really didn't need to shake the pan until it started popping. But we were always admonished to "Shake that pan so the popcorn doesn't burn." So you'd shake the pan, back and forth while the popcorn popped. It only took about 5 minutes. Just listen all of the time and when it stopped popping, you could stop . . .

And then take the lid off and pour it into the popcorn bowl. It always smelled soooooo good. But you couldn't eat it yet, because you had to make 2 more batches. Three batches were required for our family. Of course the second and third batches didn't take so long because the pan was already hot.

So all three batches are done. Turn off the burner and put 1/4 pound of butter or margarine in the pan. Just let it melt in the hot pan. Except it would never melt fast enough. The stupid pan cooled down. Why can't we keep the heat on. Because then you would burn the butter. So we would swish the butter around the pan, trying to get all of the heat out to melt the butter. When it was melted, you could then pour it onto the popcorn.

Salt, what did you do about salt. There was a difference of opinion about salt. You had to have it. No conflict about that. But when did you add the salt. Mom wanted it salted before the butter so it wasn't too salty. But I liked it after the butter because then the salt would stick to the popcorn better. Popcorn meant salt and butter. Yummmm!

I generally won that argument, because I was generally the person who needed the popcorn most, so I had to make it. It was many a weekend evening that I stood by that stove and shook.

Yep, when popcorn is a family tradition, it becomes comfort food. Now, it brings back memories of home even when I just make a mini-bag in the microwave - with no butter.

Ta-ta for now, I hear the microwave dinging.