Popcorn with Chopsticks

Chopsticks, a multi-purpose kitchen tool

"What are you doing? no, Why are you doing that?" is a frequent query when I'm caught indulging in my favorite snack food. Me? I'm eating popcorn with chopsticks. It's all due to niece Hilary, and I thank her weekly for the inspiration.

It's obvious I'm eating popcorn, my favorite snack food and occasional meal substitute. The chopsticks? well, using them... 

   1. keeps the butter off my fingers, and the keyboard or cellphone or book or...

   2. slows down my consumption rate, since it's pretty much one kernel at a time nibbling

   3. helps hone my chopstick-using skills, which need improvement so I'm not embarrassed at Asian restaurants by continually dropping tasty morsels. 

Popcorn is a popular comfort food, a versatile snack choice that can be either sweet or savory. Just for fun I googled "popcorn recipes" and wow! 1,950,000 hits were reported. I checked out the first link and was amazed at the variety of of flavors I'd never considered. 193 sweet recipes ranged from Almond Butterscotch Popcorn to Yummy Yogurt Popcorn... there must be a lot of popcorn fans with a sweet tooth. Only 72 savory recipes were listed, Bacon Cheese Popcorn to Zesty Popcorn. They really didn't need to go beyond that first offering, bacon and cheese and popcorn all in the same bowl. The actual site and recipe didn't thrill me, but that recipe idea is worthy of a trial batch. 

Sweet kettle corn may have a huge following, but for me the best bowl of popcorn is brimming with buttery, salty puffs that are topped with parmesan-from-the-can. Now I can add some bacon bits and even try flavored salts for a Saturday taste test extravaganza. Bacon Parmesan Popcorn, yum! I'm not claiming healthy food status here, just tasty, easy snacking on a gray, drizzly Seattle afternoon.