Popcorn Peril
Throughout the winter months, my CSA share occasionally provided popcorn on the ear with instructions about how to prepare the snack in a microwave. It seemed easy enough: put the ear in a paper bag, tape the bag shut, nuke it.
Not having a microwave at home I ended up with a bunch of ears, but today I had a brainstorm: I could bring a them to the office and make popcorn for everybody. I headed to work armed with the sea salt, butter and corn, sure that I was going to make my coworkers' days by providing a fun and tasty snack.
No so much. I placed the corn in the bag, reminding myself that folks put paper towels in the microwave all the time, so it must be safe. I was actually more worried about the tape, to be honest. I put the bag in the machine, set it for three minutes, and stood there listening for the inevitable explosive noises of popping.
After 30 or 40 seconds I sniffed the air and decided that something wasn't quite right. I hit stop, opened the door, and noticing smoke coming from the bag, decided to throw it in the sink and douse it with cold water. Lucky. Parts of the bag were scorched. If I hadn't taken it out, I'm pretty sure it would have caught on fire rather quickly. I'm thanking my lucky stars that I didn't walk away or use the restroom while I was waiting.
In any case, the office smells unpleasant and I don't have a tasty snack to help me smooth things over with my coworkers. I sent an email to Pete's Greens suggesting that they let their other shareholders know that the whole paper bag + electromagnetic waves = potential burning down of the building.
I'm feeling a little shaky...not sure if it's the smoke inhalation or the knowledge that I could have set off the sprinkler system in our building. What a bad start to the afternoon!
It was a nice idea, though. Thanks for trying to make us a snack.
If you happen to be leaving the office to get food anytime soon, I'm hungry. I forgot my lunch.
Posted by: Cathy Resmer | May 01, 2008 at 12:26 PM
It's the thought that counts, Suzanne!
Posted by: Allison Davis | May 01, 2008 at 05:48 PM
Popcorn is so easy to make in a pan, I never make microwave popcorn. If it's on the ear, just pull the kernels off, drop them in a deep soupish pot with a cover and a dollop of some oil and turn it on high and shake it around until it starts popping, turn it down a little and keep shaking until the popping slows to one pop a second or so and voila voici popcorn or pipocas (as they are called in Bolivia). Delicious and no weird microwave vibes.
Posted by: popcorn is delicious | May 07, 2008 at 06:48 PM