Great Hot Air

I credited my grandma yesterday for inspiring my apple eating and in an effort not to play favorites I thought I should write about my grandpa, who has also inspired one of my favorite recent snacking habits. My grandpa died more than 20 years ago, so sadly I have few memories of him and the few I do have are of when he was sick. Being the youngest and the only girl out of his grandchildren, I like to think that I was his favorite. (Since they all got to spend more time with him, I hope that my brother and cousins will forgive my needy (and greedy) delusion.)
Now what does this have to do with food? Well, since I don't have many actual memories of my grandpa, I have to rely on stories about him. One thing that everyone seems to agree on when it comes to my grandpa is his appetite and sheer ability to eat huge quantities of food while maintaining a trim figure. My grandma was famous for her cooking. My grandpa was famous for his eating.When my we moved my grandma out of her house last year I came into an early inheritance of sorts. Lets just say I can cross "casserole dishes" off my hope chest wish-list. The one thing I got though, that didn't scream Grandma, was the The Great Hot Air Popper™, which I was told belonged to my grandfather.
I love the hot air popper. Sure it's a little funky. It worries me a little bit how the plastic smells when the machine gets really hot. But it definitely beats the pants off that icky ubiquitous microwave popcorn everybody eats these days. Plus, when I make my popcorn it makes me think of the stories my grandma and dad told me about going to the drive in theater with my grandpa, and how they would fill whole paper grocery bags with popcorn and he would drive too fast over the speed bumps in the theater lot and how much fun it was.
So in the spirit of healthy snacks, especially those passed on from one generation to the next, I suggest making a batch of home-made popcorn. Oh, and my grandma suggests pairing it with a show, right now she's loving Human Target, but she also recommends Covert Affairs, and always reliable Murder She Wrote reruns.

Air Popped Pop Corn
Serves 2

1/4 cup dried yellow corn kernels
Tablespoon of Butter (optional)
Salt to taste

Put the corn in the popper, plug the machine in, placing a large bowl under the chute. Meanwhile, melt the butter either in the little container atop the machine or in a little skillet on the stove. Toss the popped corn in the butter, coating evenly. Season with salt to taste.

Or you can just eat it plain, like I sometimes do. Crunchy, healthy, easy and economical, just the way I like my snacks.