pop, pop, ping

my husband, jim, is a snacker. he's a nosher. a cruncher. a muncher. and when he asks for popcorn it's a pleasure to make it for him because he appreciates the real thing. not the over-salty, quick-&-easy, hit the microwave-popcorn-button kind. but the get out the pot & lid, stick of butter, olive oil, make-it-on-the-stove kind.

last night when i made it for him, he stood in the kitchen with me, practically did blue's feed-me dance, and smiled when i shook the first batch from the pot.

here's my method for making jim's favorite snack:
- i use a generous 1/3 cup of olive oil
- 4-6 tbl. of butter
- several pinches of paprika, or chili powder
- 3/4 to 1 cup of popcorn kernels

put it all in a large sauce pan with curved side and a tight fitting lid and set the flame to med-high. once the butter is melted and the oil starts to bubble, turn the flame down to low. then just wait until you hear the first few pops and pings as the kernels start to bounce around in the pan. shake the pan about every 15 sec. like you used to do with the jiffy pop kind, keeping the bottom of the pan on the burner. then as the popcorn comes to the top of the pan you can shake off 4-5 cups into a large bowl and return the pan to the flame until all the kernels have popped. the pan will practically wipe clean with a paper towel if you cook it on the lowest setting and the taste will be worth the effort, a marvel to the young crowd who don't realize that before microwaves, that's the way we always made popcorn.