January 19: Popcorn Day

Popcorn is such an awesome snack.  For some people, it's a staple at the movies.  (Not for me - when I'm at the movies, I get Icees.  Preferably red ones.)  Some people drench it in butter.  Some prefer kettle corn.  Some prefer their popcorn drizzled with chocolates and nuts.  Or how about popcorn with caramel and nuts mixed in?

Popcorn is a whole grain food and is pretty darn good for you.  The benefits of whole grain are pretty much touted everywhere these days.  The problem with popcorn, though, is what you add to the popcorn.  Do you add excessive amounts of butter?  Or cover each piece completely in chocolate sauce before eating it?

Popcorn also makes a great party snack.  It's cheap and if you have access to one of the mini-popcorn-machines, you can have a blast making the popcorn.  Having a huge party or a wedding with a carnival or movie theme?  Consider renting a large popcorn maker - it's sure to be a hit.

While I enjoy the occasional box of CrackerJacks or MooseMunch, when I make popcorn at home I try to keep it fairly healthy.  My preferred go-to-popcorn-toppings are typically found in the spice rack: paprika, chili, cinnamon, spice mixes, garlic powder, pepper...  I'll go through phases of what I want on my popcorn.  Currently, it's the spice mix you see pictured.  Remember - I like my food spicy.

So in honor of National Popcorn Day, I made some popcorn to nosh on while watching my free Redbox rental.  (I love how they give a free code every month!)  I made quite a bit.  The large silver bowl is the unflavored popcorn, front left is buttered popcorn, and mine is the popcorn front right.  The only downside to how I eat popcorn?  Without oil of some sort, the spice has a tendency to fall off and settle to the bottom of the bowl.  This means I'm always trying to scoop up as much spice as possible with the last pieces of popcorn.

A long time ago, I stopped consuming microwave popcorn.  Since I also don't have an air popper anymore, I pop my popcorn on the stove in a saucepan.  This never ceases to amaze my friends - they've all gotten so used to microwave popcorn and air poppers that the "old-fashioned" way of making popcorn is fascinating to them.  It's really simple, too - heat a little oil in a sauce pan, add 2-3 kernels of corn, when the kernels pop, add more kernels, constantly move the pan to keep from burning the popcorn, and then keep on heat until all the kernels have popped.

On a final note, air poppers are fun because if you angle a bowl just right, you can get the popcorn to shoot off in many directions and then everyone tries to catch the popcorn.  Granted, you end up with a huge mess, but you'll laugh until it hurts.

January 16: International Hot and Spicy Food Day & Fig Newton Day

Fig Newton Day

I need to start looking ahead more on the calendar.  Had I realized it was Fig Newton Day, I might have purchased a package.  I can't recall the last time I had a Fig Newton or one of the "Fig Newton Wannabes" (I suppose those are more accurately called fig bar cookies) but I do remember them being fairly tasty.  True Fig Newtons are the fig-flavored ones but the strawberry ones are yummy, too.  They don't do well as a "toss-'em-in-a-bag" snack - you need to keep in them a hard-sided container if you're going to have them as a take-along snack because they're so soft. 


International Hot and Spicy Food

I think I celebrate this day more often than any other day.  I love, love, LOVE spicy food.  Kimchee, Korean hot pot, Chinese Hot and Sour Soup.... all foods I've had in the last couple of weeks.  I top just about everything with a probably-not-healthy-for-me helping of crushed red peppers.  Jalepeños are a staple in my fridge and I recently bought piquins.  (Supposedly, they rank at 70,000 Scoville units but I nibbled on one without any problems.)  Habañero salasa?  Love it.

I have a habit of eating spicy foods, even when I shouldn't.  At House of Blues once, I ordered a jambalaya that was decorated with a pepper.  I can't remember the name of the pepper, but the waitress warned me not to eat it, claiming it was "the hottest pepper you could get."  I seriously doubt that now that I've done more research on peppers, but when she took our plates at the end of dinner, I had eaten most of the pepper, which had shocked her.

The only time I can come up with a pepper besting me is when I went to dinner with friends at Stone Brewery in Escondido, CA. A friend ordered a dish with "Thai peppers" and accidentally injested one.  She ended up claiming all the liquid at the table and then some.  Extremely wary of the peppers now, she gave them to me.  I nibbled on one and felt my lips go numb.  I was in heaven.

I don't know if there's something broken with my taste receptors or if I just love the challenge of eating spicier and spicier foods, but I love it when I find something truly spicy.  If someone swears up and down it's spicy, I'm gonna eat it.  I love the shows Heat Seekers and Man v. Food.  I frequenly bookmark the places they go to and plan roadtrips.  I recently saw a repeat episode of Man v. Food where Adam Richmond went to San Jose for a wings challenge.  Watching that show, I was getting annoyed that I've never been to Smoke Eaters so it's now on my list.  I'd love to eat the Hellfire Challenge, but I couldn't do it - I just don't eat that fast.  I could probably handle the burn, but there is no way I can eat 12 wings in 10 minutes.

January 4 = Spaghetti Day

January 4th is Spaghetti Day.  Spaghetti is pretty much the only Italian food I know I like.  (Yes, I like pizza, but from everything I've heard, pizza in Italy is nothing like the pizza in the US, so I can't say whether or not I like it.)  Whole wheat noodles, thin noodles, thick noodles, plain tomato sauce, lots of herbs, sauce with meat, meatless sauce, vegetables, no vegtables...  There are so many delicious possibilities with spaghetti.

My favorite way to make spaghetti?  Well, whole wheat noodles to start.  I've gotten past the whole "throw the noodle on the wall" thing to see if the noodles are cooked - I usually just eat one when I think the noodles are ready.  For the sauce, I tend to go meatless (my friend calls me a "Sometimes Omnivore") but if I add meat, it's maybe an ounce or two of cooked, lean ground beef. 

I have no real preference for sauce - storebought or homemade canned, I like it all.  Ragu, Prego, Newman's Own, store brand...  As long as it comes in a jar and is tomato based with no meat, I'll get it..  (Maybe because I add so much stuff...more on that in a bit.)  I just don't get the spaghetti sauce that comes in a can - all that worry about BPA leaching into tomatoes. 

Then the key to my spaghetti: veggies.  Lots and lots of veggies.

If you were to look at the ratios of my spaghetti, it's probably 1 part noodles, 1 part tomato-based sauce, 0-.5 part meat, and 5 parts vegetables.  I usually get a sauce with vegetables or mushrooms already, but then I always add my own.  Onions and garlic are always added in.  If I have fresh tomatoes, mushrooms, and bell peppers, they get added.  Same with zucchini and other squashes.  When I'm really lazy, I may just add a bag of frozen stir-fry veggie mix.

Now, it's time for  my favorite veggie: peppers.

The hotter the pepper, the happier I am.  Habañeros, Anaheims, fresh jalepeños - I love them all.  If I don't have any fresh pepper, I'll add two or three tablespoons of crushed red pepper to my spaghetti sauce.  Sometimes, I'll add some salsa, just for an extra kick.

How do you have your spaghetti?