popcorn

Nora will use this blog to tell stories of her childhood on the farm and her urban adventures in preparation for the Farm to Fair project.

• Popcorn is my absolute favorite food - I enjoy some almost every day and I often count it as my dinner. 

  Did you know that the United States grows and consumes most of the world's popcorn? The oldest known ears of popcorn (discovered in New Mexico) date back 4000 years. Indiana is a close second in national popcorn production, right behind Nebraska. Combined, the two states produce roughly 55 percent of the nations commercial production. 

  Popcorn is a type of maize (corn), a member of the grass family, and is scientifically known as Zea mays everta. Of the six types of maize/corn—pod, sweet, flour, dent, flint, and popcorn—only popcorn pops. Popcorn is a whole grain. It is made up of three components: the germ, endosperm, and pericarp (also know as the hull).

  Enough of the science - how the heck does the grain pop into that delicious puffy goodness? 

  Each kernel of popcorn contains a certain amount of moisture and oil and needs about 14% moisture to pop. As the oil and the water are heated past the boiling point, they turn the moisture in the kernel, which has a moisture-proof hull, into a superheated pressurized steam. The hull allows pressure from the heated water to build and eventually bursts open. The inside starch becomes gelatinous while being heated; when the hull bursts, the gelatinized starch spills out and cools, giving it its familiar popcorn shape. 

  I never knew that I would actually crave gelatinized starch! 

  

  One of my favorite Fair treats is the Kettle Korn. How many days until the State Fair? 

  Most popcorn pops into two basic shapes: snowflake and mushroom. Snowflake is used in movie theaters and ballparks because it looks and pops bigger. Mushroom is used for candy confections because it doesn't crumble.

  Here are some fun popcorn facts:

  - Americans consume 16 billion quarts of popcorn - that's 52 quarts per man, woman and child. I'm sure doing my part!

  - Popcorn is pretty low in calories. Air-popped popcorn has only 31 calories per cup. Oil popped is only 55 calories/cup. 

  - Popping popcorn is the number one use for microwave ovens. Guilty! Most microwaves have a 'popcorn' button. 

  - The peak popcorn sales are in the autumn and hold steady through the winter months. 

  - Popcorn can pop up to three feet in the air. I can vouch for that - one too many times testing the stove top cooking oil with the pan lid off. 

  - The world’s largest popcorn ball was created by volunteers in Sac City, Iowa in February, 2009.  It weighed 5,000 lbs., stood over 8 ft. tall, and measured 28.8 ft. in circumference.

buckwheat and cranberries

Nora will use this blog to tell stories of her childhood on the farm and her urban adventures in preparation for the Farm to Fair project.

I love this time of year - I still have a few bags of cranberries tucked in the freezer and I'm ready to cook.  I have an unnatural affection for cranberries. I've been to cranberry country several times and I'm intrigued by the idea of flooding the fields for harvest -- that must save a lot of weather-related angst for cranberry farmers!

My go-to dish for parties is Grandma Leona's cranberry salad. I imagine the great nutritional value of the cranberries is smothered by the sugar, tapioca, marshmallows and pecans. Over the years I've reduced the sugar and marshmallows and added more celery - it's still delicious.  

My cousin LouAnn grew and milled organic buckwheat flour and I wanted to make something special with it. Buckwheat pancakes and seemed like a great way to use some of the precious flour and cranberry syrup would top them off beautifully. 

The only hitch is that I've never made pancakes. Or syrup. How is that possible? I researched recipes and found one that was within my abilities. 

Buckwheat Pancakes

• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 6 tablespoons buckwheat flour
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 tablespoons butter

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg, and melted butter.
2. In another bowl, mix together white flour, buckwheat flour, sugar, salt and baking soda. Pour the dry ingredients into the egg-mixture. Stir until the two mixtures are just incorporated.
3. Heat a griddle or large frying pan to medium-hot, and place 1 tablespoon of butter, margarine or oil into it. Let the butter melt before spooning the batter into the frying pan, form 4 inch pancakes out of the batter. Once bubbles form on the top of the pancakes, flip them over, and cook them on the other side for about 3 minutes. Continue with this process until all of the batter has been made into pancakes.

I learned some valuable pancake making lessons:  Multi-tasking is not possible. The smoke alarm is sensitive. Rubber spatulas melt. Skillet handles are hot. I have an exceptional talent for swearing

Cranberry Syrup

• 1  cup  fresh cranberries
• 1/3  cup  maple syrup
• 1/4  cup  sugar
• 1/4  cup  water
• 1/8  teaspoon  salt
• 1  tablespoon  lemon juice

Combine first 5 ingredients in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer eight minutes or until cranberries pop, stirring occasionally. Stir in lemon juice.

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I reduced the amount of maple syrup that was called for in the original recipe - I wanted the taste of the cranberries to pop. Speaking of popping - a lid on your saucepan is a good idea. 

I still have some buckwheat left. I'm thinking I'll try my hand at pretzels next. Do you have a favorite buckwheat recipe? 

food for thought - farm to fair

Douglas David Paints Farm to Fair is made possible through the Food for Thought initiative.
 
Food for Thought, a program of the Indiana Humanities Council, is an examination and celebration of the ways food helps to define Indiana’s culture, considering food in the context of history, law, politics, science, the arts, religion, ethnicity and our place in the world. Through this program, Hoosiers will share and sample the cultures reflected at the state’s table and address the local and global issues of hunger, nutrition, food production, obesity, food security and safety.

What a perfect fit!