Why is Popcorn the favorite snack?

Popcorn has been a favorite snack for generations and it is one of the healthier and more economic snacks you can buy. What isn't to like? This fluffy treat can help to turn a dull evening into something special. Add a movie or play a game and when you add popcorn, you've got a party.
Both children and adults love the tasty treat and it cooks up quicker than anything else. Whether you pop it in the microwave or cook it on the stove, you can have a hot, buttery snack in under five minutes. Wildly popular at movie theaters and other entertainment venues, it can be expensive to purchase when you're out for a night out on the town, but it is one of the most economical snack foods you can buy for the home.
Popcorn is low in calories and for those who are watching their salt, there are other seasonings that can be used to spice up the flavor. In addition, if you don't want to get any of the fat content, you can buy a popcorn popper that cooks with hot air instead of oil.
While the popular brands of chips hover around $3 per bag, you can purchase an entire bag of popcorn kernels for about $1. In addition, a bag of kernels will last most families for weeks instead of days so when things are tight at the grocery store, consider your options and think about how economical popcorn truly is. You can also make it more exciting by drizzling caramel over it or rolling it into balls.


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If you ask the stalks' children, she is the favorite stalk of them all.  She is the life of the party.  She makes people laugh with they way she views life as well as how she tells a story with her accent.  She is the dancer that dances in a crowd when not many other are.  She is the one that can shop for a deal like no other and she is the one who screams the loudest with profanities while watching the Packers.  In her order of priority it goes like this:  God, Green Bay Packers, family and then there is everything else. 

We had a small gathering for her 70th birthday party.  It just so happen to fall on a Packer Sunday.  I get embarrassed by her behavior, others find her funny.  She is down right abrasive.  Anyway, we have my typical family with includes my brother and his kids, my family and my cousins and their kids.  My husband is usually the one who definitely loses it during a game.  He can make calls before they are announced by the ref.  And he, like my mother, can also make the inappropriate comments no matter what age is in the room.  The Packers could be winning 70-7 and if the other team scores, my mother goes right through the roof.  "Get him! Get him! Kill him!".  Because that is how they play football in the NFL.  If the kicker doesn't make the goal, "You son-of-a-bitch!  That is your only job!"  If the other team is playing dirty and hurts one of our Packer players, "YOU DIRTY BASTARD!".  Both my cousin and I stared at each other in shock.  And we were worried about my husband going for miles using the "F word", my mother throws that one in.  My brother looks at everyone in the room "Lovely isn't she?" he throws in sarcastically.  Those comments came in after only 1 drink.  One of the worst days of my mom's life is when football season is over.  "Now What?"

When I was a kid around 9 or 10, my cousin and I would always go to the high school after school on a Friday night or through the summer for open swim.  You would pay $2 bucks to swim for hours indoors.  They had life guards who literally never looked at any of the kids swimming.  They would only pay attention if they heard a parent say "No running" to one of their kids.  Then the life guard would scream, "NO RUNNING", use his whistle and sit back down looking all fierce in the face because they had to pay attention.  Anyway, sometimes my mom would come and swim with my cousin and I.  Afterwards, we would always take a shower.  Either rinse off with our swimsuits on or take a full shower naked.  I despised the shower time because my mom would find it her opportunity to be a complete goofball.  She would dance naked in the shower and try to sing in her accent, "Do you think I'm sexy, come on baby let me know" by Rod Stewart.  And yes, she would even do a little air guitar in there.  Did I say she was naked? Ughhhhh, I was always wishing none of my friends would be there, but no, they were there too.  Loved my childhood.  Everyone always remembers my mom because their mother's were no where near how mine was.  Everybody else's mom seemed to bake, sew, volunteer and pick up their kids from school.  Even though the shower scenes was always awful, she redeemed herself by making the most delicious sandwiches.  No matter where I went, she would either give me money or pack a sandwich(es) just to make sure I ate and never went hungry.  My cousin and I to this day would talk about those delicious roast beef sandwiches.  My mouth waters now as I am writing this.  They were perfect.  They were always a leftover roast beef cuts from the night before.  She would pack them really hot and so when we were done swimming, they were just perfectly warm to eat.  They were perfect slices of roast beef, smothered with a very thick brown gravy on a super soft white sandwich bread.  For some reason, by the time we ate the sandwiches, the bread wasn't soggy, it was just warm and soft.  She was like the Houdini of roast beef sandwiches.  My cousin and I would pound them down like they our last meal.  And we would push them down with bubbler water.  There was no need for a Hostess snack cake for dessert or a bag of chips, that sandwich instantly put you at a full tank.  The worst was to ride our bikes home afterwards if we didn't have a ride.  With that sandwich in our guts and biking about 2-3 miles home, you were bound to head for the bathroom right after that.  But those sandwiches were legendary. 

Many of my friends knew that my mom worked for a brewery.  I think this was my advantage and disadvantage.  As I said before, during my years of high school my mom and I were more like roommates versus mom and daughter.  We were freshman and my friends and I were not invited to go to the prom.  As it turned out, alot of people didn't get the invite either.  I hung out with a group of partiers, of course, because my mom taught me how to party.  Anyway, there were a few parents that were cool about having a party.  Well we found out that the word got out quickly that our group was going to have a Prom Reject Party.  It was held in the basement of one of my friend's house.  Her parents were upstairs alway oblivious of what was going on in the basement.  Kind of similar to That 70's Show, Foreman's basement.  Turns out, there were more kids at our reject party than the prom.  In fact a few people from the prom came to the party.  Well, when there is a party, and living in very rural Wisconsin, there is alcohol.  My mom could get beer at a huge discount from the brewery.  My mom was outside of the small basement window delivering us cases among cases of beer.  Now my friends parents already had booze in the basement to begin with, but after my mom made the delivery, we had more than a church festival.  We charged $3 bucks a head of course.  It was fun.  But unfortunately, people knew who supplied the beer and would always ask if I could bring the beer going forward versus trying to use the first course of action which was to dress like an adult and use a fake id.  Yes, there were times where we were busted for underage drinking if we couldn't outrun the cops.  We would try to hide in closets under clothes, jump off balconies and take off to a field, run in other people's yards and hid in bushes.  I had a friend who was so small and thin that she could fit in between the drawers of a water bed.  Don't ask, but she could do it.  But of course, who came to the rescue to pick us up from the police station? She would.  She really didn't yell at me, she just was more inconvenienced because she was either at work or on a date to pick me up. 

Like I said, she was and is like not many other mothers, but she's mine.  She's the tasteful condiment to any party.  She will add flavor to any dull setting.  Still popping away.