Pop, pop, popping…

Hubby insisted on watching a ‘film of his choice’ (that sounds quite dodgy, it really isn’t, it just means a boy film, and not a rom-com..) last weekend, seeing as how his birthday evening was slightly scuppered by having to tidy the house (long story) and then not having time to watch a film, so watching Africa, and me then wigging out about climate change…

So, with the fire lit, and Casino Royale in the DVD player, I decided some snacks were in order.

Now, as you are all avid and dedicated readers, you will know that we are taking part in Wiltshire Wildlife Trust’s Waste Watchers campaign, and trying to reduce the amount of waste we throw away that goes to landfill. Most snacks are not the most ‘waste friendly’ products-with sweets and crisps nearly all coming in non-recyclable containers.

But not this snack. I made….

Homemade popcorn!

It beats the shop bought stuff hands down, is soooooo much cheaper, and no packaging to feel guilty about disposing of at the end of the evening-hurrah!

I have been making this for several years now, after discovering this recipe in a book called “In the Mood for Food” by Jo Pratt. I even go as far as making some whenever we get the rare opportunity of a night out at the cinema, and take it with us in a tupperware box (is that really sad?)

The recipe in the book is for Cocoa and Cinnamon-sugared Popcorn. In the past, I have omitted the cocoa and just used the cinnamon, but this time, we had no cinnamon in the house, so we had sugar and cocoa, and I can report that both varieties are equally yummy. We may go crazy and do the cocoa and cinnamon next time we get some cinnamon…

If you want to try it yourself…

This is what you need:

• 75g popping corn (widely available in the supermarkets, and places like Julian Graces (before they went under)
• about 1tbsp vegetable or sunflower oil
• 3 tbsp caster sugar (this sounds like an alarmingly teeth aching amount, but I bet it is still less than is in shop bought stuff!)
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (when I just use cinnamon, I use about a big tsp, but then I quite like cinnamon…)
• 2 tsp cocoa powder (the recipe says sieved-needless to say, I couldn’t be bothered, and just stirred it in well with the sugar!)

This is what you do:

• Heat a large saucepan over a high heat and add the oil. Swizzle it around the pan so it is just coating the bottom
• Add the popcorn and stir it to coat it in the oil

• Cover the pan with a lid, and wait! Give it a shake every now and then to stop the corn sticking and burning
• While you are waiting for the corn to start popping, stir your sugar, cocoa and cinnamon together

• After a minute or 2, it should start to pop. Shake the pan a couple of times while it is popping to stop if from burning
• As soon as the popping has stopped, take the pan off the heat
• Take off the lid, sprinkle over your sugar mix and stir thoroughly. Keep stirring it for few minutes, as the sugar will melt in the hot pan, giving you a sticky almost toffee like substance to get spread all over your popcorn!
• Eat when cool enough to avoid burns!!