Guest Post - Heather from The Beating Hearth

Hi Guys,

While I soak up the last remnants of the sun, Heather is whipping up a scrumptious snack so later I'm thinking movie night!.

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Hi it's Heather from over at The Beating Hearth.  I am so happy to be guest posting over here at the Mansion.  I have girls and so I always love seeing what Mel comes up with for her boys.  Like Mel, I enjoy spending time with my husband and children, so here's one of my favorite family traditions...

Once a week my family will have what we call Family Movie Night.  We either rent a movie, or watch one that we've recorded from TV...or if we're really desperate we'll watch one we own.  The movie really doesn't matter so much if you ask my children...what does matter is that we have Popcorn.  But not just popcorn, gourmet popcorn....this is popcorn with candy in it.  Some of our favorites are jellybeans, Junior Mints, Milk Duds...something that's not going to melt in the warmish popcorn.   Last week we watched Toy Story 3.

There is one slight problem with our weekly tradition...I don't have a popcorn popper.  Does this stop my family from enjoying their favorite snack?  I don't think so.  Does this mean that we have to use microwave popcorn and risk getting popcorn lung and worrying about what chemicals are inside it?  No! 

Yes, this is how much popcorn I keep on hand at all times!  Heaven forbid I ever run out.
Look, it is no big deal to pop popcorn without any fancy equipment.  All you need is a large dutch oven with a lid, vegetable oil and popcorn kernels.  Plus whatever toppings you prefer....butter, salt, mass quantities of candy...

Here's how to make popcorn in a dutch oven...

Put 3 Tbl. oil in bottom of pot.  Add 1/2 C Popcorn kernels.  I turn my stove to high.  Be careful as you want to avoid burning your popcorn, so if you are a wiser more careful person, you might keep your temp at medium...I like to live on the edge when I make popcorn.  I swirl the kernels around in the oil periodically and wait (not very long either), because as soon as the oil gets hot, the kernels are popping.

Once the first kernel pops, I turn my heat down to medium.  I swirl and shake the pot every few seconds and then put it back on the heat for a few seconds.  This ensures that the popped kernels do not stay on the bottom for very long and burn.  Burnt popcorn is the worst.

Make very sure that you are holding tight to your lid.  You do not want to flip your popcorn and have your lid fly off, that would be a problem.  If you find your lid gets too hot, you can use a hot pad to protect your fingers, I am usually okay without one though.

Pay careful attention to the popping.  Once the popping has simmered down and a couple of seconds pass by without any additional popping, it's time to be done and remove from the heat.

Remove from heat.  Take off lid and add butter and salt.

I like 4 Tbl of butter for this amount of popcorn.  As soon as I start making the popcorn, I put the butter in a smaller pan and put the heat on low and just let it melt as the popping is happening

I would say I use approximately 1 1/2 tsp of salt, but this is a serious estimate as I just add some.  Salt to taste.  Stir, serve and enjoy!  A lovely bowl of popcorn without any additives and no extra equipment that you have to store and drag out every time you want popcorn.

They were too busy eating popcorn and watching a movie for Family Movie Night to even look at me and give me a smile.  We love popcorn in this family. 

Thanks for reading!

Heather

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Aren't Heather's girls adorable sitting there with their popcorn, mmmm popcorn, sorry distracted I want some popcorn now!

Thanks for visiting the Mansion Heather.


Thanks for reading,

Mel xo