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Monthly Archives: September 2011

Swap: Art Journal (3)


Just a short post today. I’ve been busy and rather tired.

So, here’s an entry in my art journal I’m making for a swap.  You can see previous posts about it here and here.  I will also remind you again to save our postal service and point you here, here, here, and here.

The theme for the entry was “word of the day.”  I had originally planned to do another word, for which I also had very strong mental imagery, but I didn’t do it that day and I’ve since forgotten the word.  The definition had to do with torrents of words coming from someone’s mouth though.  If you have a word that might fit that definition, I’d like to know what it is.  It kind of bothers me that I can’t remember the original word.

Anyway, for this one, I just checked out dictionary.com‘s word of the day. Gasp!  Dictionary.com?  But…you’re an avid Merriam Webster user!  Yes…I know.  I didn’t like dictionary.com before because it gave all kinds of definitions without differentiating what might be slang, what was common usage, what was archaic usage…it was all jumbled together.  And I thought it was corrupting the youth.  Ok, not really.  But I did see some problems with my brother looking up words and then using them however he liked, apparently with the blessing of dictionary.com.  Merriam Webster was a real dictionary before they also brought it online and it had all the nice dictionary qualities I look for in a dictionary.  That’s why I prefer them.  Even now.  But, they haven’t put out an app for wp7 and dictionary.com has.  So, if I’m using my phone, I use the latter.  And having used it more, I see that they have greatly improved how they present their content.  I don’t really have a problem with them anymore.

SO ANYWAY, that’s how I got my word of the day.  Complete with the definition.  Tada.  Upon looking at it closely, I may have misspelled it.  I think believe it’s supposed to be “bellwether” not “bellweather.”  I seem to have added an “a” due to the influence of my overactive imagination.  I should probably try fixing that.  Huzzah.

Now with 100% less fake butter!

I’m really tired right now and I’m not up to thinking my way through a post.  So…you get this instead.  This is how I make microwave popcorn.  I’m posting this because…I’m making popcorn right now.  I have the sneaky suspicion that my friend infected me with her zombie stomach, as I have been SO. HUNGRY. the last couple of days.  It’s really annoying.  Anyway, I’m trying to use popcorn to quieten up my stomach.

Now then, I like popcorn.  I like making popcorn in the microwave.  I like making it on the stove or over a campfire too, but that takes more time.  Microwave popcorn is much more convenient.  But, I don’t like fake butter and I generally don’t like the giant portion of popcorn you end up getting from those prepackaged things.  What if you’re the only one who wants popcorn?  What if you don’t want to eat a whole bag?  What do you do with the rest?  Stale popcorn doesn’t really taste that good.  One of my roommates in college (check out her blog, she takes some rather nice photos) did find out that you can keep popcorn from going stale if you store the leftovers in the fridge.  The next time you take it out, it’s still crisp.  But…then you’re eating cold popcorn and not everyone likes that.

I get around all that by making my own microwave popcorn.  All you really need are popcorn kernels, which are cheaper to buy than the prepackaged stuff, a paper lunch bag, a microwave, and some seasoning.  I often will add in a bit of oil as well, because I’ve found that it makes the seasoning stick to your popcorn better and that you have less unpopped kernels after microwaving.  This way, you can make whatever flavor popcorn you like and as much or as little as you want to eat.  And you don’t have to fill your house with the aroma of fake butter, which I really dislike (it probably belongs in Fake England).  The procedure below will give you about four cups of popped corn.

Materials:

  • a lunch bag
  • 1/4 cup popcorn kernels
  • a few shakes of season salt (I like it because it’s salty and paprika-y, but use whatever you like)
  • 1 tsp oil (generally I prefer to use olive or grape seed, but canola works just fine too) – optional

Procedure:

  1. Dump the kernels in the lunch bag.
  2. Pour the oil over the kernels and shake the bag to coat.  Note: the bag will get oily, so I normally put it on a plate to microwave.  You don’t have to use oil at all, if you don’t want.  The kernels will still pop.  I just find that not as many of them do per given period of time.  I’ve also done this with butter, but unless you melt it first, it doesn’t really give you very good results.
  3. Sprinkle the season salt over the kernels and shake the bag to coat.
  4. Fold the top of the bag over twice to seal the bag, leaving a goodly sized chamber inside.  Some people use a staple to keep the fold in place, but I don’t find it necessary.  And yes, you can microwave a single staple.  It’s not big enough to do damage.
  5. Microwave on high until there is about 1-2 seconds between pops.  It’s about 3.5 min on my microwave.
  6. Tada!  Popcorn!

Now you can quieten up your stomach.