East Bay Baby

In the cold (well, for the Bay Area) winter months, it is convenient to have a warm snack to feed the kids. Especially if, like us, you are total cheapskates, and never raise the thermostat over 63 degrees. Popcorn is universally beloved by children, and it is also nice and warm! Unfortunately, bags of microwaveable popcorn contain lots of nasty additives, and are also very expensive compared to making your own.

If you are going to make your own popcorn, an air popcorn popper is the easiest way to make it. If you don’t have one of those devices, you could make popcorn on the stove. However, the easiest method of making home made popcorn is in the microwave. There are specially designed microwave popcorn poppers, but I didn’t even need to buy one of those. All I do is put a handful or so of popcorn kernels at the bottom of a large glass bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, pop it in the microwave for three and a half minutes (your timing will vary depending on bowl used and microwave, obviously), and then pull it out, top with olive oil and a dash of salt, and serve!

As an added bonus, the sound of the popcorn popping keeps the kids entertained as they cluster below the microwave to listen. Hopefully this habit isn’t irradiating their brains!