October 12, 2009

popcorn on the cob

Was anyone else amused by the "popcorn on the cob" in their Abundant Harvest box?

It's hard to tell from the picture, but the yellow corn on these cobs was all dried up, and meant to be used as popcorn kernels.

We are big fans of popcorn around here. Makes a GREAT late night snack when you get the munchies. Low in calories AND fills you up. I thought the boys and I could make some of this popcorn for Finn to take to school today.

Well, that was not going to happen this morning. It was just one of those mornings. Nothing was going right.

Remember that sweet little baby that I just wrote a post about the other day?

That same sweet baby seems to have discovered his voice between now and then. And he was screaming all morning to be held...or to eat...or because he was stuck (again) under the piano bench.

And Finn and Calvin were having fits because Ollie kept wrecking their crafts. And Ollie did not understand why he could not play with their stuff, so he was crying. All of these things were making us late for school and I HATE being late.

Needless to say, Finn did not get popcorn and had to take a granola bar to class instead.

After dropping Finn off, I needed something to keep Ollie and Calvin busy. And Mickey Mouse Clubhouse was NOT an option. Seriously, they could watch it every day if I let them.

So I busted out the popcorn cobs. I thought it would be fun for the boys to pick the corn kernels off of the cob. And some of those kernels literally had to be pried off.

Calvin took his job very, very seriously.


Ollie did NOT understand and kept trying to bite into the hard corn on the cob. I quickly decided this could be a choking hazard and took his cob away. Which did not go over so well. Ollie was just devastated.
This seems to be our favorite thing to do these days. Sigh.

So I gave him some pretzels instead, which seemed to cheer him up.


Calvin was never so diligent.


Getting closer. This activity took up a nice chunk of time.


And finally, Calvin was done. Just one cob yielded enough kernels for a whole batch of popcorn.


So I brought our air-popper onto the deck and plugged it in.


The boys were fascinated. Normally the popper is up high on the counter, out of reach.


Cam you tell what Ollie is thinking?

I could tell instantly. A mom just knows.

"No, No, NO Ollie, Do NOT touch the socket!"


For some reason it took longer than usual for these kernels to pop, so the boys had to wait a little while.

Such excitement when the first kernels popped!


After drizzling a little butter, we had quite the tasty snack.


Mmmm... It was really good!
Well, that was a fun and different fall activity! Try it!

24 comments:

  1. Love these pictures! I've never gotten popcorn in our harvest box. :(

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  2. Davi what a fun time for my twerps:)

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  3. OK, even more fun... sticking the whole cob in a paper bag in the microwave... most of the kernels popped off, but there was indeed a few that stayed put when they popped and we had literal popcorn on the cob. Hehe!

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  4. hehe...how fun! And they are just too cute!

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  5. OH I can so relate having a toddler myself (but only one right now, well, and one on the way). We assume "the position" several times a day it seems. And light sockets? They're like toddler magnets!

    Looks like fun! Gotta love Fall.

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  6. haha! My mom got us these a couple of times when we were younger but I remember putting the whole cob in a bag in the microwave, your way was a FABULOUS way to keep little boys entertained, i love it!

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  7. Okay those pictures are SO adorable! We have one of those popcorn popper things, we picked it up at a yard sale not long ago. But I think I like doing it on a pot on the stove better :)

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  8. Those pictures are so precious! I love the picture of Ollie's despair, and Calvin's adorable hands working on the kernels. The expression on Ollie's face when the popcorn begins to pop is absolutely priceless! Such fun!

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  9. ok, how is it that you are able to make something so simple as popping corn look incredibly cute, like something from a book?? I love it!! Calvin's diligence is beautiful to behold. And Ollie, face-down in despair... well, he just melts me. :)

    Kourtni was telling me about this too... so fun!! I think I want to buy my kids some corn on the cob so they can try it out.

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  10. My Mom gave us one of hers and we did the whole cob in the micro approach last night. It was hilarious - and tasty! You gave your boys some really good fine motor skills practice there!

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  11. We popped ours right on the cob. We stuck one in a paper bag and microwaved it! So fun! I'm glad you are enjoying the adventures of the box!

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  12. Looks like fun! I love fall activities. Even more, I love the picture of "Devastated Ollie" So cute and dramatic :)

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  13. Love the popcorn on the cob! Another fun activity is to scrub your kitchen floor really well and take the top off of the popcorn popper and let it fly everywhere and the kids can catch and collect it.

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  14. love these pics! so cute. Also reminds me that we need to get an air popper. I've wanted to check thrift stores for a long time and keep forgetting...stove top popping is fun but hard to make it quite so interactive as this and somehow I think my girls would enjoy this just as much as your boys obviously did (will minus the bits of meltdown here and there but when ISn't that part of the fun with a toddler!)

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  15. SO FUN!! wow I don't even own an air popper. I'm a sucker for the packages kind.

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  16. I too haven't thought to take it off the cob...I thought the fun was the novelty of leaving it on. But this looks like a good project to keep little hands busy!

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  17. What a fun afternoon activity! We don't have an air popper, but we could put them in a pot. Sounds fun, we'll have to try it.

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  18. Yeah, I'm with Talia- you make it look great (although no doubt I actually was). I see photography in your future!

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  19. It was so much fun!!! I burnt the one from this week though. Bummer. The kids were completely fascinated!!!

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  20. such a fun activity! that picture of ollie eyeing the socket is awesome! such a great capture.
    do you ever put on sesame street videos from sesamestreet.com? i do that sometimes when i really need to get stuff done. its nice cos you can choose a theme like a certain number or brushing teeth or cars or whatever. then i attempt to turn it into a "lets talk about what we just learned" kind of thing, which only rarely works, but then i feel better about it :o)
    where did you get the boys' thermals? they look so comfy!

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  21. You are so cute =) And where did you find those thermals at?!

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  22. We also popped ours on the cob in the microwave but I think you were definitely the smarter one to make this an activity that took time. Lots and lots of time. That is what I need for the littles these days! And I tried to serve mine with no toppings but Ella was onto me. "Can't we have some butter or SOMETHING on it?" It's like it wasn't even worth eating plain. :)

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  23. What a fun activity! I'm not a huge fan of popcorn so we almost never have it around here. I really should try to be a bit more fun. ;)

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  24. Looks great! this is nice and this article is very helpful
    thanks for sharing

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