Popcorn! by Frances Towner Giedt

This is my last Culinary reading of 2023, It's a short read of less than 110 pages. I got this book as part of the 'Take a Book, Leave a Book' program of the Bald Head Island Library earlier this summer. My students are always asking to make popcorn and I support them wanting to explore their culinary interests. I just would like for them to season things up a bit if I did let them make popcorn. Hopefully this book might help. Plus, with the numerous fun facts, you really learn about this history of this food stuff!

This 1995 book contains several dozen popcorn recipes divided into the categories of Sweet, Savory and Skinny. You'd think that every recipe would be the same just telling the prepper to pop the corn, then add seasonings, toss and eat. However, author Frances Towner Giedt utilizes pots, stoves, sauce pans and even the oven for making these popcorn snacks. There are several recipes that sound really good like the Rocky Road Popcorn Balls and the Taco flavor. There's even a few trail mix style recipes that incorporate nuts, fruit and chocolate into the popcorn. A few other recipes might not be so easy to create as posted. For a nearly 30 year old book, there are some ingredients called for that I don't think manufacture anymore, such as the powdered spaghetti sauce mix called for to craft the pizza popcorn dish. But if I can find out a substitute, I really want to make this stuff.

I also share a bit of concern with the skinny recipes. Not that I don't think that they could be tasty or anything like that. I think some of the nutritional values and dietary suggestions might be a tad outdated. The author has written or co-authored several healthy eating cookbooks sponsored by the Joslin Diabetes Center, a reputable medical institution. So I suspect Frances Towner Giedt's facts are accurate and sound. However, there's been tons of research that has changed dietary recommendations and requirements almost a dozen times in the last 4 decades. Plus, I think some of the butter and sugar substitutes called for are now considered carcinogenic. My advice: if you 21st century aspiring popcorn chefs out there ever use this cookbook, do your research on any of the name-brand items called for in the healthy recipe section.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.