Well, folks. It’s 12/21/12. {Insert joke about world not coming to an end.}

Okay good. Now that we’ve taken care of that…let’s get back to the snacks.

More specifically: popcorn and cheese “crackers”.

Last week, I made popcorn on the stove for the first time. In a pot. All by myself. (Pat me on the back?) I even took a video because, really, what’s more fun than watching popcorn pop?! Unfortunately, I don’t know how to convert the file to something WordPress-able. I guess you’ll just have to imagine what it’s like to watch popcorn pop in a pot on your stove. Can you hear the lovely popping noises and the rattling of kernels as they ricochet off the lid? Soak it up, friends.

I decided to make it from scratch so that I could use olive oil instead of butter (thus making it vegan and healthier). I adapted this super easy recipe from Healthnut Foodie. Think of this as movie theater popcorn’s distant, more refined cousin. Of course if you’re used to the full-fat, buttery, salty version, there will be an adjustment period; however, I’m pretty sure you’re arteries will thank you. Here goes!

Savory Popcorn

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup popping corn (I picked mine up from the bulk aisle of my local health food store)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried dill
• 2 Tablespoons grape seed oil + additional to drizzle
• Sea salt, to taste

Instructions:

1. In a 4-quart or larger soup pot, heat 2 tbsp of your grape seed oil and the dill over medium heat for about 5 minutes. When the oil is good and hot, add 3 popcorn kernels.  When one of them pops, add the rest of the kernels. Stir with a wooden spoon to thoroughly coat kernels with oil. Cover with a tight fitting lid.
2. Allow kernels to pop until the popping slows to one kernel every two seconds. Remove the lid and immediately transfer to a large serving bowl.
3. Drizzle with additional oil – I used some Tuscan herb-infused olive oil for additional flavor. Season with sea salt, according to your own salt preference.

Next up – cheese “crackers”!

Now, some of may recall that my first attempt at cheese crackers was an epic fail. Great news! When you actually follow Alana’s directions, they go from fail to fabulous! I decided to cut them much smaller (maybe 3/4 inch?) to make them party-size.

You may notice that I brought back the oft-used quotation marks around the word cracker. This is because, for the life of me, I cannot get them thin enough to qualify as a cracker. They are more like flaky, crispy mini-biscuits. Whatever you call them, they were amazing! The first guest who tried them said – “Meg, these taste just like Cheezits!” SUCCESS!

The popcorn and cheese crackers were a nice complement to the other party snacks that we made: chipotle rosemary nut mix and kale chips.

Heather also made some homemade pita chips to go with our edamame hummus and a new cilantro hummus that we tried (recipe coming in the next few weeks).

Alright, friends. Stay tuned for some really spectacular award-winning cookies coming your way soon. : )

Enjoy!