Reader Amber asks: I noticed from the caramel corn pictures that the baking soda really seems to react with the caramel. But looking at the recipe I can’t find the thing that the soda is reacting with. Doesn’t baking soda need some sort of acid to make bubbles? That’s very true, Amber. Baking soda does […]
READ ONReader Bronwyn comments: That “ultra-light caramel” that you used for the caramel corn is almost the same as what we in New Zealand call “hokey pokey”. We don’t stir it down; as soon as it’s well mixed in and growing we pour it onto a greased surface, then break it onto bits when it’s cold. […]
READ ONIt’s good to be back, though in truth one is never too happy about coming back from vacation. The Pastry family had an outstanding time roaming around the south-eastern part of west North Carolina, where the mountain lakes are clear, cool and lousy with bass and bluegill. The last day of the trip I hired […]
READ ONThe more you eat, the more you want. It’s been the Cracker Jack slogan since 1895 and it’s still true. There’s a little bit of candy-making process to this never-fail treat, but it’s painless if you can lay your hands on a thermometer. First, we make the popcorn. Throw a few kernels in a 3-4 […]
READ ONCracker Jack dates to one of my favorite home town/historical events, the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893, also known as the World’s Columbian Exposition. It was there that two German immigrants, Frederick and Louis Rueckheim, began selling a concoction of popcorn and salted peanuts held together by a molasses-based binder. Popular as it was at […]
READ ONAs sought-after as popcorn was in the colonial and industrial periods, it wasn’t widely available as a grocery. If you wanted it you generally grew it yourself or got it from some other nearby farmer, probably by bartering. It wasn’t until the 1880’s that popcorn really took off as a commercial product. By most accounts […]
READ ONElizabeth over at Recipe Journey, using the base cracker recipe I put up a few months ago, has come up with some pretty neat riffs on it. If you’re into creative crackers, you’ll want to take a look!
READ ONThey way it works is this: each kernel of popcorn contains its own tiny troll. When you get the kernel hot the troll gets so angry it explodes out of its little corn house and tries to take revenge by scalding you with a searing hot puff of steam. An alternate explanation is that it’s […]
READ ON15.6 billion quarts of popped popcorn per year. Each man, woman and child consumes, on average, a quart per week.
READ ONPopcorn has been called “the great equalizer” because of its appeal to people at every level of American society. I think there’s something to that, because I can’t think of a single person I know who doesn’t like it. Speaking for myself, I avoided popcorn for quite a while, after a summer working at a […]
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