Falling Leaves and a New Trick

The morning sun sent a stairway to heaven right through my leaded glass window. Too bad it didn't send a straighten up your cookbooks ray.




The oakleaf hydrangeas have turned red and yellow.


The cistern continues to flow.


Only the tops of my maples have turned red and are dropping their leaves. The bottoms are totally green.


A few Indian corns not yet attacked by squirrels. They have stripped the rest of them bare. Squirrels are pigs.


The garden doors have an autumnal look.


I love popcorn. I have probably popped more popcorn over the course of my lifetime than Orville Redenbacher. Nothing is better than settling in for a good movie with a bowl of freshly popped popcorn and a chunk of cheddar cheese. I am a purist and always pop my own. None of that microwave popcorn for me! What is in that nasty stuff? It smells like chemicals. But popping popcorn can be messy because it spits oil all over the stovetop. So when I discovered this technique I was thrilled.


Measure 1/2 cup of popcorn into a bowl.


This is Amish popcorn but you can use any kind you want.


Add 1 teaspoon of oil. If you want to be really decadent and make really good popcorn, add a teaspoon of melted bacon grease. Bacon grease makes the best popcorn.


Crack in a good amount of sea salt.


Stir this around until all the kernels are coated.


Take a plain old brown paper bag.


Dump the popcorn into the bag.


Fold the top over a couple times. Place it in your microwave and cook it for 2 1/2 minutes until the popping stops.




Instant perfect popcorn that is made with a fraction of the oil needed to pop it in a pot. And no nasty chemicals like the store bought microwave stuff. I also use popcorn as crouton substitutes in cream soups! What could be easier?

* I leave for our annual Salem pilgrimage early tomorrow morning so the Blog Tech will be the guest blogger on here tomorrow. He has some fun things to show you.

** A big shout out in advance to my house sitters who, without their help, I don't think I could make this trip!

***Remember to enter the giveaway by clicking on the button on the sidebar. I actually packed the basket to take with me so I can mail it out right away. I will be posting a new giveaway on Saturday! I will also be putting two more giveaways together with things I find on my trip. One will be given away here and one will be offered on Mrs's B's 31 days of Halloween giveaway which you can go to by clicking on the button on my sidebar.

****New England here I come!!!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Enjoyed this post...lot's of Autumn going on here! ;-D

Sense a kindred spirit in the love of popcorn...thanks for sharing all that you do...Awesome Blog!♥

PS...had never heard of the chestnut hydrangeas and the cistern is ever so lovely!!!
Robin Larkspur said…
Beautiful photos today, especially the oakleaf hydrangea. And a brilliant idea for popcorn. thanks for the great technique.

And I think I entered your giveaway, but I have been driving myself nuts over at Mrs. B's with all the stuff you have to do for her giveaways....so, I am entering here again, possibly, or maybe not....!
Have lots of witchy fun in Salem!
brandi said…
~i want your garden doors...where ever did you find them...so so beautiful!! your leaves and popcorn such brilliant autumn colors...i never new you could pop popcorn like that...will have to try it with the kernals you sent...we have always just used a cast iron pot on the stove! safe travels...warm wishes and blessings upon you~
Faerie Sage said…
That is awsome! I will have to try that popcorn trick!
Anonymous said…
That's an awesome idea about the pop corn. I'm DEFINITELY going to try that!!

Beautiful photos. Your gardens are awe-inspiring!
Sharlene T. said…
This was such a cool idea, I immediately tested it out and it's fantastic! Yummy! I feel so much healthier!... have fun.
Anonymous said…
Have Fun Jaz !!!
I so love those garden doors ☺
am looking forward to seeing what blog tech has in store .
again wish I could come along, but look forward to your awesome picturial(is that a word ? ☺ ) tour
lov rox
Joane said…
Enjoy yourself in Salem! I'm so jealous as we could not make our annual trip this year. Please take lots of pics and share!
Anonymous said…
Beautiful photographs!

I had no idea that one could pop corn that way! I just hate those micro wave popcorns, but this seems like a great way to pop them!

I´m looking forward to The Blog techs blog tomorrow!

Have a great day now!
Christer.
Wow love the popcorn idea! We always pop our own! Have a great time in Salem and find lots of fun witchy stuff!!
brokenteepee said…
Have a wonderful trip!
I've done that with popcorn!
Leanne said…
Now that popcorn trip sound a great one.
will try it & let you know if we are sold.

We too pop from scratch grin.

have a nice trip.

Love Leanne Nz
hey you guys..have a wonderful time. i know you will...

love the popcorn idea....

and oh YES !!! i see the beloved Vincent Price cookbook facing forward in that cookbook shelf
:-)
mine is on the drainboard. made his french steaks last night....teddy loved it...with no sauce for him.

we will see you on the road
:-)
safe travels, my friends
xxx
kary and teddy
Guillaume said…
Lovely pictures, very atmospheric. I have a strange feeling of melancholia when I watch the picture of your bookshelves and a strange feeling of anxiety when I watch the picture of the garden doors.
Tammie Lee said…
beautiful autumn posts, I LOVE the photos with the light pouring through.
Divaeva said…
mmm...popcorn! ...and so easy! Thanks for the tip!
Have a fantastic pilgrimage to Salem...may even head there myself next weekend! Depends on how bothersome work wants to be!
Safe travels! <3
Hellooo! I'm back! Woohoo!!!!

I have missed you and Teddy and this wonderful blog.

Love the new fall look. Gorgeous colors.

Beautiful post from the country of autumn leaves.

I'm settled in my new apartment and things are good.

Kisses and hugs to the "Teddy of Autumn leaves.
AlphaBetsy said…
Bless you for the homemade microwave popcorn recipe. I have an old 1950's popper that I love, but sometimes you just don't want to break all that out. This is so much more appealing to me than actual microwave popcorn. :)
What a great tip with the popcorn. I almost fell over one of my puppies getting to the kitchen to try this. Of course I had to do the bacon grease. It is wonderful. Have a fabulous trip.
Tractor Mom said…
We grew our own popcorn this year! We had 1 1/2 bushels. We take and put a whole ear in a brown bag and microwave--time depends on ear size. It's really good too!

Have fun in Salem and don't talk to any witches....
Mel Mel said…
I just told my husband how you make popcorn and his mouth is still hanging open. He loves popcorn but hates the microwave stuff (like you said it tastes like chemicals) He's going down to the market right now and buy popcorn!
Have fun in Salem! We were just there a few weeks ago. Only got to spend one morning there before we flew back home. Enough to know we want to go back and spend a lot more time exploring!
Teresa said…
What a wonderful way to make popcorn! I can hardly wait to hear about your trip to Salem.
CathyH said…
Your photos are so beautiful. You would appreciate this. I found a huge honey bee hive in my shed, dripping with honey! First thought was I wanted to jump into bee keeping, but after seeing how much I needed to learn first, I decided to call a local farm to come get them.
Beautiful photos!Thanks for the pop corn tip. I hope you have a good trip and look forward to seeing pics later :)
Rosemary said…
Thanks for the directions on doing our own microwave popcorn rather than the overly chemical kind.... will be trying , parmesean cheese on mine....
The Captain said…
I didn't know you could do that with regular popcorn!? Thats awesome. Have a safe and funderful trip
Nydia said…
Your place is always lovely to enjoy, Jaz. But omigods, what's this stuff on popcorn??! We are popcorn freaks, Lucas will go nuts with this, lol! What an awesome idea!! I'm going to try this tomorrow (it's pas midnight here), he will absolutely love to help me preoaring this!

Thank you for this creative and original recipe (at least for me it is!). :)
Nydia said…
Just tried your popcorn, Jaz, and it worked! lol It's awesome, they're delicious and Lucas had fun with it, thank you! I posted on my blog about it. <|:)

Kisses!
Ash said…
I just tried making popcorn this way, and YUM! Amazing!