Thanks to my sister, I am the proud owner of a newfangled microwave popcorn popping bowl. It’s a bowl, with lid! Look! Look! I’m not kidding:

I am NOT pitching for Amazon, but if you check their link you can get more details. I can also tell you this, my sister bought mine at Safeway, and it was under $5.00!!!

Now, before you all start writing me messages and tell me that popcorn has been microwavable since the invention of the microwave, let me tell you something.

I know.

My first exposure was to put the popcorn, oil and salt in a bag, and place it the microwave and cook away. Result?

Then the microwavable prepackaged popcorn was invented. And I ate that stuff. For a long time. Let me tell you a story. It’s okay, it’s a short one.

One morning over a decade ago I woke up one morning disgusted with myself for being a smoker – the stink, the awful taste in my mouth, and potential carcinogens in my tobacco. I quit.

Zoom forward five years or so, and I woke up one morning disgusted with myself for being a microwave popcorn eater – the stink, the awful taste in my mouth, and potential carcinogens in the butter flavouring. I quit.

I moved on to the hot air popper, but got tired of chasing escaped popcorn kernels around the kitchen.

Then I moved onto a counter-top oil popper, which I still have an use from time to time, but it’s a pain to clean.

More recently, meaning the past 3 or 4 years, I’ve been popping my corn the next to old fashioned way – in a a pot, with oil, on the stove. (The old-old fashioned way was to find a  native American you hadn’t annoyed yet and invite them to dinner).

I’ve popped so much popcorn in my special stove top popcorn pot I’ve nearly worn the thing through. And with the uncanny mystical, silent, connection between sisters, Sis brings me in a microwavable popcorn popping bowl, just like that. Out of the blue. A gift.

And here’s how easy it is to use:

Add popcorn to bowl.
Cover with lid provided.
Place in microwave.
Close door.
Push buttons until you have 4 minutes on the display.
Push start.

While waiting, it’s a good time as any to have a Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod Body Break right there, in front of the microwave. Tracksuit is optional.

When the popping slows, stop the microwave. Microwaves are tricky, four minutes on my machine is not four minutes on your machine.

Carefully remove the bowl from the microwave, carefully remove lid, and eat.

*insert zipping sound of needle being dragged across a record*

OK, if you are buff, have ripply muscles, are 100% body tanned and have 0% body fat and hair, I fully expect you to see nothing wrong with this being the end of the popcorn popping story.

However, for many of us, we add butter. Or oil. And salt. Maybe lime. Chili. Sugar. Or peanut butter as described at Bashionista. You can even string it and decorate your walls or make a dress!

Whatever you do, however you make it or eat it, popcorn is delicious! Glamorous even!