The Story
It all went wrong back in December 1962
By the time I was 10 years old and the youngest of 5, I always had a plan…
In the 70’s, my father, Jack and mother, Laura were trying their best to keep us kid’s fed with nutritional, but low budget foods. From soy bean additives to 50lb. sacks of potatoes; times were tough! Dad was starting his own business and Mom was raising the kids. Money was tight! Sunday evenings the 6:00 dinner bell rang. It was family night.
After everyone else had finished their dinner and cleaned up, there sat little Tommy at the dinner table for another 30 minutes plus. Finishing peas or whatever else didn’t look quite right! If it was chicken on the bone, the tendons and fatty parts at close range took me straight to ‘The Night of the Living Dead.’ Really quite scary! That funky texture and crunch when biting into the wrong piece started my gag reflex which was quite sensitive at that young and tender age. Let’s face it, these were the molding and shaping years of who I was to become as an adult. So, by 8:00, depending upon who was in the kitchen to catch me feeding my poodle the dinner I couldn’t stomach, I was done! (Phew! I made it through another dinner). I cleaned up and off to the TV room I went. With everyone in their places, last again, and because of the days pecking order and not wanting to sit by anyone, I laid down with good old Dad. He would protect me, right?!
Wrong! What kind of a family night would it be watching Laurence Welk and playing pong without a big ass bowl of popcorn! “Tommy, go make us some popcorn.” So, after the first few batches, under Mom’s supervision of course, I learned how to make stove top popcorn! If I burnt it, I would have to face the wrath of my four older brothers and sisters. As if my ass wasn’t already sore enough from Sunday’s whipping in the neighborhood football game, it was going to be from the teasing and beat down from burnt popcorn. Not to mention the waist of money; come on, popcorn is cheap, remember! So, I became a popcorn connoisseur…
The 80’s rolled around and I was out of school, and out of the house! Wow, this is great! I’m an adult! I can do whatever I want! Oh’sh-t…I have to work, pay rent, bills, and feed myself? How the heck am I supposed to do that after going in on a case of beer with my three roommates with only six bucks left from my measly pay check! I had to think. How can I get through the week days, chump in on a case of beer every weekend, and feed myself? That’s where a flashback to the fifty pound sack-o-potatoes, soy products, and popcorn kicked in. These budget staple foods got us through the most frugal times in our lives!
So I started popping corn for all my roomies and friends and they loved it! All food groups were included. Carbs, fats, and let’s not forget, there’s a pork chop in every beer! Every so often we would run out of oil, the key ingredient to stove top popping. That’s when I started grabbing whatever was left in the barren bachelor cupboards to satisfy the late night munchies…
Hence, I have been mixing and matching ingredients ever since. For the last two decades I have formulated the perfect blend of oils, herbs, sugars, and spices. It’s time to bring back the old school stovetop popcorn to the new millennium!
