Popcorn!

Our family loves popcorn. We have freshly popped popcorn (made by my husband, Dan, on the stove top) almost every Sunday night.  Since this treat is so popular with us, my daughter decided to have a popcorn family night a few years ago.

Sculpting Popcorn Snowmen was a highlight of the night-especially when we were able to eat them!  I made a basic popcorn ball recipe and everyone had to make their own snowman, adding details with candies and Fruit Roll-Ups.

Basic Recipe:
1 bag plain microwave popcorn (you could use air-popped or pop kernels on the stove in a pot-one bag equals 6-7 cups popped popcorn)
4 tablespoons butter
4 cups mini marshmallows
Large bowl and spoon

1. Microwave the popcorn.  Set aside.
2. In a large, microwavable bowl, microwave the butter on high until just melted.
3. Add marshmallows and stir.  Microwave 2 to 3 minutes-1 minute at a time.  Stir until smooth after each minute.
4. Add popcorn. Mix until evenly coated.
Note: Always let popcorn mixture cool before working it with hands. Double recipe if needed.

To build your snowmen, make the basic recipe.  Each person butters hands and shapes popcorn into 2 balls-one large and one small. Provide icing (use 1/4 cup powdered sugar and 3/4 teaspoon water) to "glue" your 2 popcorn balls together.  Use icing to stick candies- like mini M&M's, red hots, etc. (for eyes, nose, mouth) and Fruit Roll-Ups and gum drops (hats, scarves)-onto snowmen.  Eat and enjoy!!

We also had games with the popcorn.  One of the games we played was blowing a piece of popcorn across the length of the table with a straw.  The first one to blow their popcorn to the other side won!
Another variation of this could be to tape a plastic cup to the center of a table for each player (be sure cup rim touches the table).  Set a pile of popcorn at the edge of the table opposite the cups.  Everyone has 2 minutes to blow as many popcorn pieces into their cup as they can using a straw.  The player with the most pieces in his or her cup wins! Another game you can play is the Spoon Game.  Divide your family into 2 teams.  Give each team a bowl of popcorn and a spoon.  Put an empty bowl across the room.  When it is time to go, a person from each team scoops popcorn onto the spoon, dumps the popcorn into the empty bowl, and runs back to the next person.  Players can't hold the popcorn onto the spoons with their hands! If the popcorn falls off, the player must stop to put it back on.  The first team to empty its bowl wins!

I would love to hear other popcorn games that you know or fun recipes that you may have.  Happy popping!!

Throw Back Family Night

What do I mean by "throw back"?  It is anything that is from the past.  The funny thing was that I didn't have to hunt down anything that we did-I just looked in our game cupboard and threw in some fun food. On this night, I did not tell my family what we were eating. They had to try to guess.

Our first game was Pick Up Sticks.  That was a blast from my past.  Does anyone remember playing this game when you were little?  Somehow we acquired this game, but I don't recall where.  I emptied the cylindrical container of sticks on the table and each one of us in turn had to use the black stick to pick up another stick without moving any of the other ones.  We had fun doing this the first time so we gave it another go.  Actually it was probably more the competitiveness of my family that we tried it again-we all wanted to win!  As we were playing, I told my family that what we were playing was a clue as to what we were having for dinner: Pizza On a Stick. You can find the recipe here. You can substitute whatever ingredients you prefer that will go on a stick. 

The next game we played was charades.  I wrote clues down on pieces of paper that had something to do with the past.  For example, leg warmers, pop rocks, Kool Aid, Happy Days......one of the clues was elephant, which has nothing to do with my theme, but it was a clue to what we were having for dessert: Homemade Elephant Ears! I took flour tortilla shells and fried them in vegetable oil until crispy.  Then you brush the tortillas with some melted butter and put cinnamon sugar on top.  Very tasty!

After dessert, we played the game Pit.  I have fond memories of this game from my youth, so I wanted to share it with my kids.  Do you remember having to trade grain cards with each other, wondering where the bear and bull were, hoping you wouldn't get stuck with them? You also had to have a certain amount of a grain (the Bull was alright to have if you went out with it) before you ring the bell.

Our family then finished off the night by watching an episode of Happy Days.  Not quite as good as I remember it being.  It is fun sharing old shows with your kids, especially the ones with special effects.  It is amazing how far technology has come.  We would have preferred to watch old episodes of The Cosby Show, but we couldn't find any on Netflix or Hulu.  Somehow that show holds up over time-it is still funny to me.

Have fun revisiting things from your past.  One game we didn't get to that hasn't gone out of style is Twister!  That is always good for a laugh, especially playing it now as an adult-not quite as flexible as I used to be.  I will probably try this again, except make it an all '80's night and see what I can come up with from that era.  Let me know what activities you can unearth from your past and share with your family. They could be hiding in your closets!