Apologies to those who have already heard the story of why I "need" this bowl...here's what happened. A little while back I was on a popcorn quest. See, I usually have the munchies in the evening. So I have a theory that popcorn would be a less caloric choice than say, half a dozen chocolate chip cookies.
Therefore, I checked my options at Costco. That's where I saw that I could buy 36 bags of microwave popcorn for something like $9.79. I was reaching out to grab the box and put it in my cart when I noticed some humble, but large, 12 pound bags of purely unpopped corn languishing nearby. For a mere $2.79, I could be the owner of a lifetime supply of popcorn!
What I wasn't thinking about was how on earth to pop all that corn. Yeah. I tried putting it in a pan and shaking it over one of my (despised) electic burners. That worked, but I had to use oil, which somewhat defeated my low-cal requirement. And, it was hard to get all the corn popped without burning some of it.
Next, I tried making my own microwave popcorn by putting popcorn and oil in a brown paper bag. That also worked, but it was messy because the oil soaked right into the bag.
At last, I turned to online sources for inspiration, namely Cook's Illustrated, home of all the fine folks who test many products that I'm curious about. Thanks for the excellent advice!
So for now, pretty much every night, you'll find me crunching on popcorn from my red bowl. I feel obligated to use it well and often, since I paid an outrageous shipping fee to get it here! Does $7.00 shipping for a $9.49 product sound right to you?! I didn't think so!
4 comments:
just think, the more you use it, the lower your "per use" cost will be. soon, you'll be almost eating popcorn for free!
:)
Hey, I've had popcorn trouble myself lately. Namely, I use the prepackaged bag style that says "this side up." I don't have any challenge getting the right side up and can usually get the plastic wrapper removed (though Ollie gets anxious and just wants to put it in and get on with it!) So this is my trouble, my microwave doesn't have a "popcorn" button so getting the correct amount of time hasn't happened even with experimentation. Usually end up with burned or way too many old maids. Maybe I'll be the next owner of a shiny red bowl!
:-)
Oh my...Jamie, you just changed my life! I am a HUGE popcorn fan. I make a bowl of popcorn EVERY night. I spray some fake spray butter on then add cheese! BTW- if you haven't tried Kraft's Mac & Cheese sprinkles they sell it at Jewel. It's made just for popcorn. I just decided to switch from the stove and oil making way to brown bags in the microwave. It's a pain in the butt. So, thanks to you I just ordered my new red bowl. And I don't feel bad about the $8 shipping fee. I'm saving a ton on the cost of brown bags! Good to see you the other night! - Heidi Poclaster
wow. jamie. you're changing the world, one popcorn bowl at a time.
:)
hi heidi!
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