Popcorn

Well, since I still don't have electricity my blog-posting has been poor, I realize. I've been trying biscuits on for size but having trouble because I don't have a working oven. I'll get to that but in the meantime I've got something that I already know about in order to keep youse entertained while I quietly suffer in a metropolitan area that apparently knows as much about living as I do.

What I mean is popcorn. See, popcorn suffers from a lot of the same branding issues that many things do. I can remember a time in my life when popcorn was made only one way: in the microwave. That's how most popcorn gets made. However, we should all be wary of foodstuffs invented in our lifetime. Shelf-stable fats and artifical flavors are not our friends even if they seem to think so. We don't need friends like that. We can do better.

I'm suggesting you try one time for me to make your own popcorn in a pot on the stovetop. It's actually generally a bulletproof "recipe" (not really a recipe) and works in about th same amount of time as microwaving a bag and all its assorted health risks pointed out for you in the Wikipedia page. Some recipes call for heating oil first and then dropping the corn in but in this case it doesn't actually matter much. Start hot, start cold, just start. I use half canola oil and half butter or even better half bacon fat to give it a little kick. Nothing wrong with that. Some people shake the pot after it starts popping to coat. Others don't do this. I do it when I remember to. All that's important is you don't let it get too hot so as to avoid scorching. Let it pop covered until the popping slows and dump it in your biggest bowl, drizzle with melted butter and salt it. The best part is, the pot doesn't even really get dirty. Oh, you will not care to go back. You have taken the popcorn less travelled by and that has made all the difference.

I'm also rather fond of a trick that's easy to do and totally great and impressive and for some reason I don't do it all the time. I'm totally stealing this idea from a blog I read and forgot to bookmark but it really is a good one. Anyway, try making a nice big pot of popcorn and just let it sit and cool off. Or use leftover popcorn when you're fucking sick of it. The same thing happens with pancakes, right? Maybe infusing rum with pancakes and maple is a good idea, too. In fact, I'm sure it is. At any rate, dump a liter of rum on top of the cooked popcorn. Or pancakes. Probably a good idea to add a little extra butter and let it infuse for a few days or a week. Then strain out the popcorn and add a little extra butter for flavor. After sufficient time has passed strain all the solids out and then you'll have "fat wash" it by freezing it so's the fat solidifies and collects for you to remove it. Then strain it again while it's still really cold. Add coke and it's like a trip to the movies. Or if you're using pancakes and maple syrup and butter you would add milk or orange juice or something and then it's like breakfast.

Because I know you're secretly always wanted to have drunk for breakfast.

Oh, you can put anything in liquor for a week to infuse it. It's a great party trick provided you start the party a week earlier than it begins.