First things first; I didn't come up with this idea. Someone posted it on their blog like a year ago, but for the life of me, I can't remember who it was. So while I can't give them proper credit, just know that this in not my original idea.
In recent months, I've given up on planning dinner for a Friday night. I usually would end up scrapping whatever the idea was, and just make popcorn for Jack and myself. Which we enjoy snuggled on the couch watching a DVD from the library.
If you've read this blog for more than 15 seconds, you'll realize that I love kitchen gadgets. I have tons of them (usually give as birthday or Christmas gifts or bought using Amazon gift cards I've saved via Swagbucks), and they often make appearances in my recipe posts.
But I don't have a popcorn maker. I've had them in the past, and while they work fine, they take up a ton of space and are impossible to clean. Microwave popcorn is a no go (ever read the ingredient list?), so finding this tip was a godsend.
Take a heavy bottomed pan (my dutch oven, while the love of my life, is too heavy to comfortably make this), and let it get hot over a medium heat. My stove goes from 1-10, and I usually heat it on a 6 or 7.
Once it gets hot, add a few tablespoons of coconut oil and let that get warm. The pour in some popcorn kernels.
Cover the pan with a sheet of foil, and cut two or three slits in the foil.
Give the pan an occasional shake to keep the kernels from burning. Take the pan off of the burner when the "popping" slows down a lot. Let sit for a minute or so, and then carefully peel back the foil to reveal perfectly popped corn.
Top with copious amounts of butter and salt. Serve with fruit and some veggie sticks to convince yourself that this is perfectly acceptable meal!
