National Popcorn Day - January 19th

January 19th is Popcorn Day! This high-fiber, low-cal snack (until you put on the butter and salt!) is a healthy treat. There are lots of ways to enjoy popcorn, from sweet to savory. If you're lucky, you'll find fresh popcorn on the cob at a farmers market.

To prepare it, spray the corn cob with cooking spray, or smear a little butter on it. Place it in a clean paper bag (I use brown paper lunch bags), fold over the top (tightly) a couple of times, and microwave for about 2 1/2 minutes, just like with store-bought microwave popcorn. And just as with the store-bought stuff, if the popping slows down before the 2 1/2 minutes are up, remove the bag from the microwave. It's a fun way to make popcorn for kids, because it shows them more closely where it comes from.

Locally grown popcorn on the cob.

It's hard to believe that such an apparently small amount of popcorn will fill that paper bag, but it does. In fact, it fills it tightly enough that it might be easier to tear open the bag, than to dump the contents! (It will be hot, so be careful.)

Available at Amazon.