Popcorn

Growing up in Missouri, we had a garden. Our garden took up a complete city lot, in fact, after we moved a house was built on the lot. We had a strawberry patch that was at least 3 feet wide and 12 feet long (that's what I remember at least - but then I was a lot shorter then!) The garden had a another berry patch that had raspberries, blackberries and boysenberries that grew on trellises. We had carrots, tomatoes and beets. The flower garden faced the house and included many beautiful blooms during the whole season. I remember the corn rows. We had 3 or 4 rows of corn in our garden and some of the corn was popcorn. If you have never seen popcorn growing, it looks just like regular corn until you husk the ears. Popcorn has a pointed kernal. You must dry these ears to use them. We would pick the ears of corn then shuck the husks off. The ears then had to dry. Ours were stored in the attic over the garage in bushel baskets. When they were completely dry, it was time to take the kernels off of the ears. Sunday evenings were popcorn nights. We would have Sunday "dinner" after we got home from church in the early afternoon. So in the evening we would have popcorn and some desert, depending on the season. It could be pie or cake or fresh berries or fruit or ice cream, whatever was in season and available. One of us girls would go to the attic room and get 3 or 4 ears of popcorn and bring them down. To get the kernels off the ears you would twist the ear in your hand or rub two ears together. The had kernels would fall in the bowl. (popcorn kernels are pointed on the bottom unlike sweet corn kernels which are flat) Dried popcorn kernels hold some moisture inside, that's what makes them pop. Different varieties of popcorn will make smaller or larger pieces. In later gardens, Mom planted cute strawberry and multicolored popcorn. The tiny ears had pretty little kernels but when it popped, the resulting popcorn was delicious and crunchy.

When we lived in Toril we sometimes saw popcorn from a street vendor in the market but had to find a package of corn to pop at the small grocery store in the city center. Davao grocery had "Jolly Time" popcorn! I remember the first time that we made popcorn at home. The children in the neighborhood had never seen it made before. Their eyes grew wide with amazement.

When we moved to Bohol, we couldn't buy popcorn on that island. It could be bought at a grocery store in Cebu, the 2nd largest city in the country. Cebu was a f5 hour boat ride from Tagbilaran where we lived. We were traveling around the island giving seminars. One of our hostesses asked Patring what I liked to eat and she told her that I liked popcorn. Gloria took that 5 hour boat ride to buy some popcorn to have for me. I actually had some at 6 different schools. Another teacher went on a pump-boat to the city but couldn't find the popcorn. She had Cracker Jacks for me.

The best pan for making popcorn is a heavy pot. I have an old aluminum pressure cooker that I only use for popcorn. My next door neighbor in our first apartment here in Denver borrowed it one day and managed to start a fire inside the pot so it is not good for anything else but popcorn. I like movie popcorn, microwave popcorn, "Smart Corn" and especially popcorn from my special pot. I don't really like air-popped corn. Yellow kernels pop into larger pieces but white kernels are crunchier. I like to eat popcorn like cereal with milk. I only have met a few other people outside my family who eat it that way. You should try it sometime.