One of the biggest treats when I was a kid was popcorn. Back in those days, there were no microwaves. Hence, no microwave popcorn.
No. Mom made it on the stove in a heavy pan. I used to love the entire magical process. We’d pour in the oil, add a healthy layer of kernels, close the lid, and wait for the sound of the pop. On high, high heat.
Like I said. It seemed like magic. But the truth was, and still is, that a single popcorn kernel is actually a tiny pressure vessel.
And that is how it pops. You see, hidden inside its hard outer shell is a small amount of water that is trapped within soft starch. As the kernel heats up, that water turns into steam.
When that happens, the pressure inside builds until it reaches nearly 135 pounds per square inch. Eventually, the shell can no longer contain the pressure and bursts open. Like magic. It pops.
Interestingly, not every kernel pops because some contain too little moisture or have tiny cracks that allow steam to escape before enough pressure builds. Just in case you were wondering.
The starchy part instantly expands and cools into the fluffy white snack we all know and love. Pop.Corn.
Yes. The snack we love. Americans eat a LOT of popcorn. It is estimated that we consume about 14 billion quarts of popped popcorn every year.
That works out to about 43 quarts for every man, woman, and child in the United States each year. Somebody is making up for me, in a big way, because I rarely have popcorn.
During the Great Depression, popcorn became one of America’s most popular snacks because it was inexpensive—often costing just 5 to 10 cents a bag. Its popularity in movie theaters has endured ever since.
But it started way before that. Yes. Popcorn is ancient. Archaeologists have found popcorn kernels in Peru that are more than 6,000 years old, suggesting people were enjoying popped corn thousands of years before modern civilization.
I only tell you this because popcorn is full of wonder. Every popped kernel is unique. No two kernels burst in exactly the same way. It is the science of it. Deliciously wonderful.
Another little reminder about our good lives. We are all unique. Just like popcorn. May we all burst into goodness and wonder even when we are under pressure. May we all show the delight and beauty in ourselves today.
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“The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.” — Chinese proverb
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“The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.” — Carl Gustav Jung
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“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
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