The Popcorn Stand: It’s about popcorn

Today is National Popcorn Day, so of course I have to write about National Popcorn Day in the Popcorn Stand. I love buttered popcorn. I also love caramel popcorn with peanuts like Crunch ‘N Munch and Cracker Jack (look it up Millennials).

Millennials may actually have sung Take Me Out to the Ball Game and have no idea what Cracker Jack is. And it’s Cracker Jack not Cracker Jacks.

Other flavored popcorns I can take or leave like cheddar cheese popcorn. If it’s there in front of me I’ll eat it.

I guess I love popcorn so much because it’s one of those things that have sentimental value to me. Of course in today’s society we can get pretty much any kind of food we want any time we want, including popcorn. But before the days of microwave popcorn — even before the days of Jiffy Pop — popcorn was a treat.

Actually there was Jiffy Pop when I was a kid, but my dad didn’t need Jiffy Pop. I can remember the special Sunday nights — like one Sunday night out of the month — when dad would get up and go to the kitchen to make popcorn.

I would get so excited when he got out the popcorn and that silver, stainless cannister thing he used to make the popcorn. He would pour the kernels in and with it dump the stick of butter. It’s still the best popcorn I’ve ever tasted.

Another thing about popcorn is we really don’t care what we look like when we eat it and it’s like a contest as we take as big of a handful of popcorn as possible to see how much we can get in our mouth. We always lose some in our lap which we go onto eat as well.

So on National Popcorn Day, the Popcorn Stand salutes popcorn.

— Charles Whisnand