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Curbly Recession Busters: Throwing a Popcorn Tasting Party

by on Dec 19, 2008

A box of popcorn with floating popcorn pieces.

Last night we had a popcorn tasting. This came about because I was sampling recipes for take-alongs, which are in full bloom these days. As I was shaking my pot and minding the popper, I thought, what a cool idea for a party! Why? Well, popcorn is super cheap. I bought a 4 pound bag of kernels for about 3 bucks. Five pounds of un-popped popcorn makes….well, have you every seen the movie Real Genius? Okay, not that much, but still.

Anyhoo, this is my idea. Starting with the invites:

Use your printer for the What, When & Where and paste them onto a small square of popcorn paper. Yup, there’s actually scrapbook paper that features popcorn.

created on: 12/19/08

OR even easier–and cheaper–send out e-vites using a fun gif like this one: 

The night of the party, you’ll want to gather some recipes. I found some great ones on allrecipes.com and popcorn.org. You also might want to try myrecipes.com too. But don’t be hindered by them; half the fun will be in the experimenting!

Stovetop popcorn maker with popcorn overflowing from the top.

I’d pop some corn before your company arrives, just to fill the house with the smell and get everybody in the mood. Plus, they can munch a bit as they peruse the recipes. Also, you might want to make more tricky recipes, like those involving the melting of sugar, before the company arrives too.

A list of obvious and not-so-obvious ingredients you might want to assemble might include, popcorn (perhaps white and yellow for variety), butter, vegetable oil, butter-flavored cooking spray, salt, sugar (brown & white) chilli powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, Italian spice mix, curry powder & cinnamon. (And don’t worry; these spices go a long way.) If the pocket book allows, you can even include Parmesan cheese and various types of nuts.

Several colorful circles form a larger circle.

After a good amount of popcorn is made, stand back and hand over the measuring devices. Let people mix their own monster popcorn flavors. They can be Dr. Frankencorns!

Photography technology used in retro theme.

For mixing, I’d haul out every mixing bowl you have or shell out a few bucks for some tin-foil roasting pans. And for serving, you need nothing but small paper lunch bags, or even drinking glasses–paper or otherwise. I’d suggest starting out with the savory-tasting popcorn and finishing with the sweeter varieties, as you would if you were serving a meal.

If popping the popcorn isn’t entertainment enough, a movie or two would be the perfect accompaniment, of course. My choice: Real Genius.

Flying popcorn courtesy of allposters.com. 

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