Popcorn on the Cheap

One time, we had a "movie night"at our house. We don't let the boys watch a whole lot of TV, so to make it even more of a special treat, I made popcorn and hot chocolate for the boys. Now, every time we watch a movie, they just assume there will be popcorn and hot chocolate. Like this week. In 90 degree weather. Oh, well. I stopped buying microwave popcorn long ago when I had to get up every 3 minutes and 30 seconds to put in another bag. Our new popcorn is cheap, easy, and able to be made in massive quantities.

Stovetop Popcorn

     popcorn kernels
     oil
     salt (flavored kinds are especially fun)

- Dump about a tablespoon of oil in a large pot (I used to read the directions on the popcorn bag and measure everything out, now I just guesstimate and dump. I've never messed it up, so I don't think it really matters.)
- Dump about a half a cup of kernels in.
- Turn the burner on medium, place the lid slightly off center to allow air to escape, and let it go. I don't even shake mine. I actually sit down and watch the movie until the popping slows down.
- When popping slows down, just turn off the heat, shake salt over the pot, shake and pour into a large bowl*.

*Don't get lazy and take the hot pot into the living room and set it down on the carpet. I'm just guessing that the carpet fibers might melt to the bottom of the pan if you tried that. Not really sure, because I've never tried it or anything, but just in case you don't want to be scraping Barney pink fibers off of the bottom of your pot for a week...