Family Popcorn Night!

"It's popcorn night! It's popcorn night!" exclaims little Sam (2 1/2).


He gets very excited when he discovers it's Friday night, our family movie/popcorn night.


This tradition began when I was a little girl. Every Sunday evening we would watch the Disney Sunday night movie, and my mother would make a large bowl of popcorn. It was the highlight of my week, and thus began my love affair with popcorn.


I decided to add popcorn night as one of our family traditions when my twins were little guys. Now they are 14 years old!


Tonight we are going to watch "Rocky." The very first of the series of Rocky movies. I figure it will motivate and encourage my boys to step up their workout programs (grin).


10 reasons to have a family popcorn night

1. Family togetherness


2. The benefit of viewing great & inspirational movies. We enjoy popular movies as well as great documentaries.
3. You get to drink pop (this is about the only night our children get to splurge on pop :O)


4. No need for supper preparation (yahoo!). Just have a light, informal and early supper of sandwiches or another simple meal. We begin popcorn night at 6:30 or 7 pm.
5. Encourages serving one another. Have a few children help with serving pop, getting bowls and napkins, and passing out the popcorn. This is great for the littler children.


6. Provides a restful evening for busy parents. It's nice to just unwind and sit with the family.


7. Allows the family to re-focus. While everyone is in one place, you could have a short family meeting/conference/devotional time, etc. before you view the movie.


8. Facilitates discussion over movie content. Sometimes the content is objectionable and the movie is turned off. Other times, we are inspired and encouraged by motion picture themes.


9. Helps get the house clean! No popcorn night until the house it tidy and laundry is put away.


10. It's cheap!!!!! Along w/ homemade popcorn and pop in 2 liter bottles (we get 3 or 4), we get our movies from the public or church libraries. Once in awhile we will get videos or DVDs from the video store. Still, it's a thrifty way to have family entertainment!

We use a Stir Crazy popcorn popper to make our popcorn. Here's our recipe:

• 3 Tablespoons coconut or other oil
• 3/4 cup popcorn
• 1 stick of butter + 2 tablespoons of oil to stretch the butter
• salt

You could also use a heavy pan instead of the Stir Crazy. Just pour the oil into the pan along with the popcorn kernels, cover with pan lid. Heat on medium-high and shake pan occasionally. When it pops, shake pan over heat until you hear just a few pops and most of the corn is popped. Remove pan from heat and pour popcorn into a large bowl.

Melt the butter over medium heat and add the 2 tablespoons of of oil. Pour over popcorn. Stir w/ a large spoon. Salt to taste.

You can also add other spices to flavor the popcorn. The possibilities are endless! We will add Parmesan cheese once in awhile.

Our family quadruples the batch listed above in the recipe. If we want leftovers for the weekend, we double the quadruple batch.

Yummy!

Hope this inspires you to have a family movie & popcorn night.

(*if the evening is simply too hot for making popcorn, we eat ice cream sundaes!)

Enjoy :o).


Blessings,

Camy

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