Popcorn

When you live overseas as I have you learn that it is the little things you miss.  Well, one of those "little things" was being able to put melted butter on my popcorn in the movies.  There weren't many things I missed but I do love movie popcorn.  Overseas you get butter flavored but there is no melted butter.  I have seen movies in quite a few countries in my endless search for that beautiful, artery clogging substance known as butter....................oh yeah baby, bring on the high cholesterol!!!  I am one of those people who drowns the popcorn with butter.  I mean, too much.  The popcorn looks like little goldfish swimming around in a nice, golden colored pool.  For those of you who are like me, you go catch a flick, get a bathtub sized popcorn bucket and fill that sucker with butter.  Problem is you have that popcorn sitting on your lap and some of the butter seeps through and you get butter stains on your pants.  The bad thing about that is because of where the popcorn is sitting on your lap it looks like you went to take a leak and didn't tap it all out because there are a few wet spots on your crotch area.  Of course you try to tell people that it is butter and you didn't have an accident in the bathroom and they are all like "yeah, sure, I believe ya" while they are looking at you funny.

Oh, Moutain Dew tastes like medicine overseas.  I don't know why.  The Coke is the same.

Well, I can't leave you without giving you a culinary tip.  It will cost a few dollars but it is nice.  When you make popcorn at home try vanilla popcorn.  Now, you can't cheat and use imitation vanilla extract because it will just taste like S_ _ T.  Buy a few vanilla beans (which you can find at gourmet food stores) or buy a nice vanilla extract that has some vanilla seeds in it.  Melt some butter with a bit of sugar and add the insides of a vanilla bean or a bit of the vanilla extract.  Toss it with the popcorn and you have vanilla popcorn.  Awesome.  You will need to play around with the amount of vanilla to butter and popcorn.  Remember, vanilla is strong and expensive.  Start with a little.  You can always add more but you can't take out.

Oh, and what to do with those empty vanilla bean pods you have leftover?  Put one in a Mason jar, fill up the jar with sugar and leave it.  After some time you have vanilla sugar.  Try it in your coffee.  You can put more vanilla beans.

I bet you guys were scared you were gonna get another "chef rash" type story.