Home-made (sort of) microwave popcorn

[OkieJonesClan]

I am not sure if I am posting this in the right spot or not . . please forgive me if I should have put it somewhere else . .

I love popcorn. I don't like microwave popcorn, however. My mom gave me some touristy stuff she bought a few months ago in MO. It was poping corn on the cob that you put in a paper bag and microwave to pop. She gave it to me for work. So, I tried it and liked it and it gave me an idea. I put 1/3C popping corn in a brown paper lunch sack, folded down the top twice and popped it. Delish. Now I can have pop corn at work (I eat it "plain Jane" -no salt or butter).

Then that leaves me to wonder . .what great "inventions" or discoveries do others have? So please share what you have come up with to save money or solve a problem recently?

 

[me&thegals]

Actually, we do this also, only we don't use the bag It's better than TV! I just stick a couple cobs in the microwave, hit Start and sit back to have a laugh with the kids. The cobs nearly bounce with the force of the kernels exploding off them. A bit of a mess when it's done but well worth it

 

[enjoy the ride]

I do microwave popcorn too but use a plastic basket over a plastic bowl- the basket thingy was part of a microwave pasta cooker that I never used. You can pop in anything that is microwavable as long as the top vents.

 

[freemotion]

I have a few cobs of popcorn I grew last summer (the 3 that the squirrels didn't get, all in one day...grrr.... ) and have been wondering how to pop them. Just stick 'em in a bag, huh? Cool!

 

[OkieJonesClan]

Free motion - You grew your own popcorn! I know, I am truely a cityslicker, but how cool! I just got a couple of seed catalogs and was so excited to see popcorn corn to grow. Maybe next year I can do that. How fun! So, anyone have any other really cool things to share with a city slicker gone rural?

 

[me&thegals]

My husband is a farmer, so it's easy for us to plant lots of corn. We grew Japanese hull-less popcorn--wow! It's great!

 

[freemotion]

Actually, Okie, I was making myself some popcorn last spring, and had a revelation: Hey, these are seeds! I wonder what will happen if I stick them in the dirt!



So I did....I chose a little patch and planted them tightly, I think about six inches apart in maybe 3-4 rows in a space about 2 feet by 6 feet. They were organic from the health food store. It was a very productive patch, and the only thing I got out of that new garden other than huge wormy rutabagas and one big, fat groundhog!

I checked on them every day as I walked my dog past that patch, and watched closely for any signs of vermin starting to nibble. My first sign was a decimated crop! All but 3 ears were stripped, peeled and the kernels neatly removed, row by row. Some had about an inch left at the bottom, still covered by an inch of husk. The stalks weren't the least bit damaged, so I am thinking red squirrels. I will know in the spring when I find clusters of corn growning at the bases of trees and in my flower gardens. They do this with black cherry pits, too. Grrr!!!

Mya got the rutabagas, now she is getting the last of the pumpkins....8 to go, then we need spring!

 

[freemotion]

So, anyone have any other really cool things to share with a city slicker gone rural?

As I leaned back in my chair to think about what might not have already been posted, I spotted my window treatments. You might like this especially, being an urban transplant yourself.

I used a section of bittersweet vines that twisted around each other to make a natural bundle of twisty vines as the topper. I just cut the ends (these are just the vines, no berries on them, too messy)4-8" longer than the width of the window frame, unevenly, so the twists are highlighted. Some very curly bits hang down a little.

I attached them with two long sheetrock screws, these will "disappear" into the vines.

Then I got some long pieces of pale yellow linen from the clearance at the salvage store, and cut a length for each window that hangs to the bottom of the frame on one side, loosely twisted around the vines across the top, and hangs down only about a foot or two on the other side.....I ran out of fabric to go all the way, but it looks like I planned it that way!

I also pulled the threads from the ends, rather than hemming them, giving them a purposeful frayed-ness. And I dampened the fabric with a spray bottle and wrinkled it up good, and loosely held the hanging part with twine for a few days to set the creases. It is shabby chic and looks like designer window treatments for literally a few dollars.

In the kitchen, I used sheetrock screws again, the black kind, to put up birch branches as curtain rods. I made rectangles of fabric, hemmed, and made keyhole buttonholes along the top. I used rough twine to make loops to hang them from the birch sticks. I did a matching shorter valance for the door. Looks wonderful, cost almost nothing! Doesn't take much skill, either.

 

[OkieJonesClan]

Sounds Great! How fun, too. I will have to look for opportunities to do something simular. I have lots of felled trees with long limbs . . hmm, there is potential out there . . .

 

[OkieJonesClan]

My husband is a farmer, so it's easy for us to plant lots of corn. We grew Japanese hull-less popcorn--wow! It's great!

I saw those seeds in one of the catalogs I got. We all thought those looked great. How nice to know that the "hull-less" was good. I was slightly skepticle about that.