JIffy Pop

Jiffy Pop.

As much fun to make as it is to eat

Look at this happy family. There are no flames. 

Ha!

The last time I attempted to make Jiffy Pop was as a last ditch effort to show our kids a good time.

It was their first trip to Colorado. Summer vacation. We were staying in a cabin in the Sangre de Cristo mountains.

Train ride up Pike's Peak.

Hiking.

A bear living in the woods that eats cats and may or may not be outside the kids bedroom window.

In a cabin about two hours southwest of Pueblo, through a mountain pass.

A rustic cabin.

And by rustic I mean a tin shower.

And no television...

Thankfully, this was long before wifi. I don't want to think what would have happened...

Anyway.

We pulled out all the 'Awesome! Just like the settlers!' and 'Think how good this experience will be for your Oregon Trail game!'

So on a resupply trip to town, I picked up a package of Jiffy Pop.

The kids were moderately excited to see just how the foil lid would inflate.

And we started out pretty strong.

There was laughter as everyone took a turn shaking the metal handled pan over the flame of the stove, until the handle got hot.

Then it was all me.

There was a cheer as the first three kernels exploded in the pan and a tiny hit of steam began to seep from the tiny vent hole on the top of the origami foil lid. A few more kernels popped and the foil began to unfold and puff.

I shook the pan gently. Then a tiny bit more vigorously, waiting for more pops.

As a charcoal smell began to waft from the tiny vent hole I shook the pan like a 8.0 quake hitting the San Andrea Fault.

Ten minutes in and the foil lid had only managed to unfold three pleats.

Surprisingly, the kids became more interested.

Turns out they had side bets on when the flames would start.

Which was about five seconds before I tossed the pan into the sink...

I have NEVER attempted Jiffy Pop again.

Which makes me sad.

Popcorn was the go-to snack when I was growing up. We even grew our own popcorn one summer! My mom would pop huge grocery bags of popcorn for us to snack on when we went to the drive-in.

And now and then, we would get to try Jiffy Pop.

I don't EVER remember flames...

**Clearly, this has not been a paid endorsement for Jiffy Pop. However, should the Jiffy Pop people see this, I am willing to attempt your product one more time. But only because we now have a fire captain within our fold of friends.

I am getting close to halfway through the A-Z alphabet challenge and I must admit. I spent a good deal of time this weekend trying to work ahead on some pieces.

The result has been a tablet which is laying on the kitchen table, still, with letters of the alphabet listed down the left side and a random list of words assigned to their corresponding letters. Most of these are courtesy of my husband. To my surprise, his suggestions are all pretty...normal.

Except for 'Q'. Trust me, Wednesday, April 20 is going to be a frightening look into my soul.

You have been warned.