Spring has brought me such a nice surprise

[Popcorn] popping right before my eyes! I married into a popcorn family. Oh sure, I've had popcorn before, on occasion, mostly microwaved. I never knew how to pop popcorn on the stove before Neal's sister A showed me and when she showed me, it was apparent to me that they had it down to an exact science. I mean, his family has experimented with all sorts of oils and kernels, I never imagined it could be so complex. Well, the standard now is olive oil with the regular yellow kernels but I think Neal's parents are sold on using grape seed oil so if that stuff is ever on sale, you should try it.

Back by popular demand, Aedan doing the actions (plus a few words) to the song Popcorn Popping. Taken Dec 2007 at age 17 months. I know the words go Blossoms popping right before my eyes, but we always learned it Popcorn and these habits are hard to break...

The reason I bring all of this up is because today Aedan learned about the letter P (from his Aedan Crafts) and how could I not make him popcorn on P-day when that is one of the few foods he will eat consistently and even put in a request for.

I must say that oil popped is my favorite although we got this fun gift from my grandma as a Christmas gift - it is an Nostalgia Hot Air Popcorn Popper mini cart. Aedan loves to help and watch the popcorn fly about. It is fun but I still prefer oil popped for the flavor.

Even Santa knows what to get Neal for Christmas - popcorn seasoning like this multi-pack makes a good stocking stuffer. It came with movie theater butter, creamy ranch, buttery jalapeno, and cheddar. Mmmmm. Pretty good although I more often than not settle for salt. If you are the kettle corn type, try making it yourself, after all, you just add sugar.

If you've never had Li Hing Mui before you've got to try it, at least once. Li Hing Mui is a salty dried plum and it comes whole or you can get it in powder form. I've grown up on this stuff thanks to my Chinese roots but it wasn't until my trip to Hawaii in 2001 where I learned just how many different things the island locals use this for. You can get Li Hing mangoes, shaved ice, pineapple, etc. One of my favorites was sprinkling the powder onto popcorn. If you like kettle corn you just might like this as it is sweet, salty, and .... zippy. I can't really describe it. You might be able to find Li Hing in an Asian market near you. Or come by to my place, I have loads of it.

Who can pass up caramel corn or a good popcorn ball? I have not the patience for making either of these the old fashioned way but I have found a shortcut that tastes a little better in my opinion. You are basically making these popcorn balls like you would a batch of rice krispie treats (you know, butter, marshmallows) only with popcorn instead of rice and a little bit of brown sugar. Follow this recipe with the suggestions in the reviews for adding the brown sugar.

They are so yummy and you have a 80% chance of getting this same reaction...