Stovetop Popcorn-- Frugal, Fast, and Fun

We're still just buried in snow here, and we've been having fun with it. A kid gets thirsty? They open the back door and scoop some snow into their cup, take it to the table, watch it melt, then drink all that cold goodness down. Somehow, water always tastes more magical when it started as snow, don't you think?

Along with our free and fairydust-imbued drinks, we decided to pop some popcorn on the stovetop. The truth is, Mommy hasn't been out to the store in nearly two weeks now, so we were running low on "snack foods." We've been keeping popcorn in the pantry though, so out it came! Heather did a wonderful tutorial on stovetop popcorn over at The Simple, Green, Frugal Co-Op (the rest of that post is wonderful too!). I know that it sounds as if it takes a lot more time and effort than popping a bag of kernels in the microwave, but it really doesn't take much time at all. I use bacon grease to pop ours in and test to see if the oil is hot enough by dropping in just one kernel. When that single kernel pops, I pour in enough popcorn to cover the bottom of the pan with a single layer of kernels, usually about 1/2 cup. This 1/2 cup of unpopped kernels makes enough popcorn to split into two batches for my three littles.

Which saves me from having to head to the store for yet one more day. ;)

There are a million and one recipes for jazzing up your popcorn. Just type "popcorn recipes" into search engine and you should be able to find something to suit any occassion. I grew up in the land of bland popcorn though, so we don't add anything at all to ours. The bacon grease alone gives it enough flavor to suit us (well, except The Husband).

Can anyone guess what we'll be munching on while watching the Superbowl? :)