Did you miss me ?! If the answer is no, don't answer.... ok?
I know, it's been a while. What have I been doing?... well.... if it had been interesting, I would have posted about it. That made me laugh when I typed that. 😆
You can judge by this post. I ate this popcorn today and I'm posting about it. LOL
I'm hilarious...right?
Although nothing bad or REALLY bad is going on, I haven't loved some realities in my life recently. (If only it all was just a figment of my imagination !!).... but alas.... it's not. So, I began to ask myself this week, what could you buy yourself that would make you happy. That's right, I'm trying to buy my own happiness. Multiple things have crossed my mind and one of them is this.
I love popcorn, especially the popcorn you get at the movies. I used to like the popcorn I made at home and fell to the microwave kind for a few years, but then quit that stuff (a story on that later in the post) and went back to the normal home popping. Somehow, most of the corn is cheap, sub standard stuff, so it is hard to pop a pan that is more than mediocre.
While in the mode of trying to buy my own happiness, I entertained the thought of buying one of those fancy smancy poppers for home that will pop corn and make it taste like the movie corn.
As I sifted through popcorn machines, looking at prices and especially reviews, I decided to take a detour for a minute. In looking for machines, I kept seeing the fancy smancy corn that comes with it's own oil stuff that is used in those machines and I remembered some from years ago that I bought in a "kitchen stuff" store that was made for the machines, but I just used it to cook on the stove and it was really good, so I decided to pick one with good reviews, buy it and just cook it in my Whirly*Pop and see if it would be better than the grocery store stuff.
It got here today, courtesy of Amazon. This afternoon I decided to give it a whirl. Granted, it's not cheap like the grocery store kind, but I don't normally eat it frequently and I AM trying to buy some happiness. Add to that the fact that I'm worth it... and ... well... pish posh....I'll have some anyway. 😄
The back of the box which shows it can be used any old way, popcorn machine, on the stove, whirly pop and other poppers.
Inside this small box there are five of these pouches that have premeasured corn, secret buttery salt and premium orange popping oil. Pretty neat huh?
Sidebar: When I was growing up we all loved popcorn and my parents would buy a brand called "TV Time" where it also had pouches of popcorn kernels in one side of a pouch and some popping oil in the other side. It made great popcorn ... yum yum ! It didn't have the buttery salt though, but that was ok because it was easily salted by us and occasionally some melted butter would be added (but not always).... yum YUM !.. again ! They don't make it anymore though, at least not by that name. Haven't found any for many years.
The top of the box brags that it is non-gmo, grown in the US and gluten free.
Here is my Whirley*Pop. I had another one for years that finally broke. This one is only a couple of years old.
It has a handle with a turning thingy on it that twirls a little arm around on the bottom of the inside. You turn it the whole time the corn is popping.
It turns these little gears on the top that make it work.
Unfortunately I didn't think to take a photo before I used the pan, because who knew I would make a post of it?? Not me ! So here you are, a view in the pot after it was all done, but you can see the little arm that spins when you turn the handle. Kinda gross looking now.....but just the oil with the buttery salt and a few hulls left behind.
Although I won't pretend it was exactly like the movies, it was definitely superior to the regular stove top kind you buy in the stores here and cook in regular oil. It was bigger and fluffier. I bet it really would have been just like the movies if it had been cooked in one of those fancy popping machines. When I popped it in the middle of the afternoon, I had not eaten anything since breakfast and it wasn't a large breakfast either, so I ended up eating the WHOLE pot ! Yes.. .I know better than to do that and I still did it anyway. LOL That was a couple hours ago and I'm still full to the brim !
I would definitely buy it again.
Now the microwave popcorn story I promised. I didn't know this when I stopped eating microwave popcorn way back, but read it somewhere in the last couple of years.
A man developed lung cancer. When it was diagnosed, it was found that the kind he had was a kind that is normally only found in people who work in a microwave popcorn manufacturing company which he didn't and never had. However, he said he had eaten two bags of microwave popcorn every day for 10 or 20 years (can't remember the exact number, but it was a lot of years) one bag in the morning and one at night. It seems whatever they use in the popping oil (and whatever else is in that) can cause lung cancer if too much of it is breathed, so every time he opened a bag, he was breathing that steamy, lovely popcorn smell that wafts out of the freshly opened bags and well...seems he wiffed a bit too much of it over time. Of course he sued and of course he won, but, if you are dying, there is not much satisfaction in that !
I know you can't second guess everything you do along the way, but it's a little scary to hear stories about things like that, so innocent and yet, so possibly deadly.
Bummer right? LOL....
On a happier note though, I also bought this lovely Amaretto cake. I have had some before when I bought one as an "add-on" for my Mom as one of her Mother's Day or birthday gifts in the last couple of years. We both love amaretto flavored things, so I thought she would like it. Although she thought the flavor was great, she thought it made her tummy a little funny with the (slight bit) of alcohol that is in it. It wasn't just cooked in the cake, but some had also been infused after it was baked. I thought it was good and it didn't make my tummy funny and.... while I was buying myself some happiness, I thought I'd have one of these way overpriced, happy little cakes for myself. I haven't cut it yet, but maybe I'll have a little slice later when I finally sit back to chill for the evening.
I hope you have all been doing well and that everything is going your way.
Love ya !
Jacey
Ouch, I hadn't heard that of microwave popcorn thing but it might explain why it's not so popular now! We have one of those silly machines but have used spot loads. I love some decent popcorn!
I had never heard of any dangers about the microwave kind before I read that. Probably not a big deal if it was only used on rare occasion, but who would have thunk it ?? Not me.
Those machines are the bomb ! I really don't need something else big that I need to find a place for it, but common sense doesn't always win around here.😆 ... till then, I was happy to find that just having the better oil and kernels would give me a much better version of this happy snack. That may be enough to satisfy me on this, time will tell.
Time will tell indeed!!
The little machine is kinda cool. The kids love it. I did like opening a pot and sermon l seeing it filled to the brim when we did it that way
Yeah, popping hard kernels into a great crunchy snack IS somewhat like magic.
Now I want popcorn!
That made me laugh.
When I was thinking about posting I wondered if it would make anyone that read it want some too. Now I know !
Popcorn! Who doesn't love some slightly salted, buttery popcorn? Hold the butter on mine. I used to love popping it on the stove, and I still do it, even though we have a popcorn machine. There is just something nostalgic about popping over the gas flame and having those kernels do their magic. Hmmmmm!
I never heard that about microwave popcorn. That is more than scary. I agree, does it really matter how much he gets if he is dying? It is all good for his relatives, but, for him? It kind of stinks.
I hope you are doing well, I am running late as usual. Twice in one day, you posted? Oh, Lord. You don't post for three weeks and then boom! Twice in one day? LOL
I normally only let it be real buttery when I got it at the movies, but I can't even remember the last time I actually went out to one.
I remember through the years which pot at home we used. There was one good pot that the handle had broken off, but the pot was still substantial and I remember Dad using it many times and using pot holders in each hand to shake it around while popping. THOSE were the days. Of course we had an air popper for a while, that none of us liked the corn out of..... and Dad had one called a Stir Crazy popper and back in the day I thought it made movie quality corn, but I have had one as an adult and it wasn't the same.... Phooey ! I don't know what they did to it to keep it from being like the original. Dummies ! ha ha
Money just can't compensate for everything. I might make you able to make your last days more comfortable I suppose, but that is hardly a decent pay off for dying early.
I am doing well thanks. Yeah, two different days of posting, but both within 24 hours. The NERVE of me !
I thought it was great after the pregnant pause. 🤣 I am glad I saw them. I am so behind on my comments and notifications!
When it comes to money, I am with you, it can make life more bearable if you were sick, but, in his case, he wouldn't have had to worry about it, to begin with. Money is everything and sometimes, it literally has no meaning.
I have found with the popcorn machine, makes it taste better if I let is set for a few minutes, otherwise, it is too dry. Sound weird? I am going to let it set for a few minutes in the pan on the stove today or tonight and see if it does the same.
Sometimes when it sets in the pot, the steam makes it tough. I'm certainly not the expert on that though.
See? I didn't know that! It is usually history in seconds!
LOL @history in seconds !
You know what? I ran out of popcorn!!! I forgot I used a lot of it at Christmas to string the cranberries and popcorn garland and make popcorn balls.
I am running to the grocery store before they close. Gone are all the stores staying open all night or at least midnight.
Le sigh.