Get Poppin' today!

It is National Popcorn Day today - well, national as in U.S. but I don't think anyone would mind me borrowing another American 'tradition'.

Our very own Princess Popcorn snacking on her most favourite bag of goodness.
This photo was taken in May 2007 when we were just moving into this house, we no longer have the folding baseball-diamond chairs gracing our den!

Here are some popcorn facts, found here:

• Americans consume some 16 billion quarts of this whole grain, good-for-you treat. That’s 54 quarts per man, woman, and child. (I don't know what Canadians consume, but I'm thinking it might be close - Chloe's bringing up everyone's average!)
  
• Compared to most snack foods, popcorn is low in calories. Air-popped popcorn has only 31 calories per cup. Oil-popped is only 55 per cup.
  
• Of the 6 types of maize/corn—pod, sweet, flour, dent, flint, and popcorn—only popcorn pops.
  
• Most U.S. popcorn is grown in the Midwest, primarily in Indiana, Nebraska, Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky and Missouri.
  
• Many people believe the acres of corn they see in the Midwest during growing season could be picked and eaten for dinner, or dried and popped. In fact, those acres are typically field corn, which is used largely for livestock feed, and differs from both sweet corn and popcorn.
  
• The peak period for popcorn sales for home consumption is in the fall. (So why Popcorn day is in January is anyone's guess!)
  
• Most popcorn comes in two basic shapes when it's popped: snowflake and mushroom. Snowflake is used in movie theaters and ballparks because it looks and pops bigger. Mushroom is used for candy confections because it doesn't crumble.
  
• Popping popcorn is one of the number one uses for microwave ovens. Most microwave ovens have a “popcorn” control button. (Our button is now worn out!)
  
• How high popcorn kernels can pop? Up to 3 feet in the air.
  
• On September 29, 2006 a new record was set for the World's Largest Popcorn Ball, as measured by the Guinness Book of World Records. Eight feet in diameter and nearly 24.5 feet in circumference, this gargantuan confectionary creation weighed in at a whopping 3,423 pounds. It took two days for employees of The Popcorn Factory to create the ball.
  
• If you made a trail of popcorn from New York City to Los Angeles, you would need more than 352,028,160 popped kernels!