Saturday Night Popcorn

 When I was a kid, treats and snacks were limited, but I could usually talk my mom into making popcorn at least once a month, usually on a Saturday night.  It was made on the stovetop in a big cooking pot with regular vegetable oil and the cheapest popcorn kernels we could buy.  It was seasoned with table salt and served in a large tin cake pan.  Then I'd settle down in front of our RCA console color TV for a double-header of  "Love Boat" and "Fantasy Island" or maybe the CBS Saturday Night Movie.

Sometimes my mom would spring for a more expensive popcorn brand like Jolly Time that came with it's own packet of yellow-colored seasoning. I loved that powdery salt. I told myself it tasted like butter (it didn't).

In my teen years, my desire for popcorn as a weekly snack got to the point that my mom finally bought a popcorn popper.  It was a simple Mirro brand model; just an electric pot with a lid similar to this one, although ours had a clear plastic lid (this, by the way, was not my find).

I once scalded the inside of my nostril sniffing the popcorn immediately after lifting the lid (I told you, I really loved popcorn); lesson learned.

It made adequate popcorn, but I sometimes burned the bottom. There is no worse smell than burnt popcorn.  I longed for one of these (this IS my find):

Popcorn of the Future

As mentioned in this post, I consider myself a popcorn connoisseur.  I find it hard to pass up popcorn poppers in whatever form they may take.  I bought this Amana Radarange MWP-1 microwave popcorn popper at an estate sale in Lemay, Missouri last Saturday for $1.  It reminds me of an inverted Gemini space capsule.

3... 2... 1... Popcorn!!!!!

I've always been somewhat of a popcorn afficienado, a connoisseur of the buttered and salted manna that is the popped kernel.  I've tried many methods over the years: stovetop, electric popper with and without stirrer, air popped (choke!), fireplace, microwave and commercial popper.  I've eaten it at home, at the theater, and even department stores such as K-Mart, Venture and Target.  I've never met a popper I didn't like (well, maybe a little displeased with the hot air popper.  Just too darn dry!)

So when I came across this rocket-shaped Duracrest electric popper that looked ready to blast right off,  all priced at a dollar, I had to have it.

It's aluminum with a plastic dome.  There's a glass jewel eye that lights up orange when the element is on, a feature I've seen on toasters as well.  I haven't been able to find any like it on the internet, nor much about the company.  I would place it in the 1950's or 60's.

We've made a few batches of corn with it already, and it does a respectable job.  The only challenges with it are  it has a concave bottom which allows the oil to pool rather than spread evenly and there's no stirrer built in, so there's a whole lotta shakin' goin' on.