Shamu's Comfort Food
To ask a foodie what their comfort food is puts said foodie in a major dilemma. Just how to narrow it down to one dish, one memory, one heart string? When I had finally run through my internal recipe box, what I came away with was popcorn.
I love popcorn. Now before I start down memory lane, I'm not talking microwave popcorn. I'm talking about watching my mother pour oil in a pan and then the popcorn. Waiting for those first kernels to burst then the cacophony of many more kernels popping. The exquisite timing of getting most of the corn popped versus the burning of the kernels closest to the heat. The aroma of real melted butter. My mom was not a dump and salt woman, no, she drizzled, salted and then mixed. Tasted a handful, repeat until the correct coverage of all the popcorn with butter and salt. She always made sure to set aside a small bowl for herself because once the majority of finished popcorn was handed off to the rowdy, starving offspring there was no point expecting any leftovers. Even when we went camping in the pop-up camper, we still had our popcorn but it was always Jiffy Pop.
While not as tasty as my mom's popcorn there was the added bonus of watching the giant tin foil brain rise up out of the little pan. Of course there was that time in my life where I was denied eating popcorn.
But you can bet it was the first thing I ate once the dreaded braces were yanked from my teeth. Popcorn was and still is my comfort food of choice, at the movies (bad greasy popcorn), at home on the couch with a dvd, and even at the garden shop with their free freshly popped popcorn cart. It is the one staple my kitchen will always have. Popcorn. Extra butter anyone?
