My dad was a big believer in popcorn. Popcorn for television movies at home during the day and at night. Popcorn for the drive-in. Sometimes the popcorn was in a double brown grocery paper bag. Other times he also put popcorn in lunch bags for us kids. On this night, all of us ate out of the big double brown grocery paper bag that had melted butter stains on it. But wait. I'm getting ahead of myself.
Mom and Dad said we were going to the drive-in. We were very excited. We were told to bring our blankets and our pillows. When I was done getting my stuff in the car I went into the kitchen to see what my dad was doing.
Did your Mom use certain pots to cook certain foods? My dad was using her potato pot to make popcorn. He put the pot on the stove top then disappeared into the utility room. He came back with a hammer and a screwdriver. I wondered what he was going to use those for.
He bent down into the cabinet, rummaged around until he found the lid to the pot. He put the lid on the counter, held the screwdriver on top of the lid and in one stroke he hammered a hole into the lid! He did this many times until he was satisfied that he had enough holes. I asked him why he needed those holes and he told me, "So the popcorn won't burn." Hm.
I loved watching my dad cook. I always learned something from his technique. When I watched him make popcorn, I learned his wrist action. He poured the oil into the pot, shook some seeds into the oil, put the lid on so the seeds wouldn't pop out then waited.
He waited until the first pop and then he swooshed the pot from side to side. He said it was to even out the heat. Pretty soon the kernels started popping faster. I could see the steam coming out of the holes on the lid. The faster they popped the faster my dad's wrist moved the pot around. But then the popping started to slow down. When it started to stop my dad took the pot off the fire and took off the lid. He poured the popcorn into that big brown bag and poured the melted butter on top. Then he added some salt, folded the bag down a little bit and gave it a good shake. He popped popcorn several times until that brown bag was full.
We were allowed to sample the popcorn but the real feast was at the drive-in. My dad would park the car up that little hill just right so that we could see good. Then he and my mom would get out of the car to put the back seat down so we could spread out our blankets and pillows. He'd roll down his window, clip the sound box then roll his window up so we could hear the movie. That box always sounded bad but it was part of the experience. Then he'd take that big brown bag of popcorn that was filling up the air in the car and put it between he and my mom. Then all of us would share it as we watched the movie.
I remember there were double features. The first one was usually safe for kids. The second was for adults. One time we went to see Star Wars. Another time I think the first one was The Three Musketeers and the second one was Jaws. I wasn't asleep yet. My mom wanted to make sure I didn't see the movie so she told me to keep my head down. I tried but when I heard that lady scream and the music, well, I had to see what was going on.
My dad was a great person when he wanted to be.
I wish I had more days when he wanted to be.
