One of my favorite memories of being a child are the nights that my mom would make malts and popcorn for dinner. Oh yes, once a week (usually a Saturday night, after Mom had finished all of the grocery shopping for our then 8 member family!), I would get so excited to help mom get the blender out, pull out the blue chair so I could stand on to reach the counter-top, and help mom make dinner...our ice cream dinner!
Of course, Mom and Dad would always make sure that we had a piece of fruit or a vegetable before we had our "dinner".
As Mom got the malts started, she then began to make homemade popcorn. Oh man! Mom's homemade popcorn is the best! She would get out the big pot, pour a little oil in the bottom of it, and then she would let us drop about 3 or 4 kernels in the pot - these first kernels were just to let her know when it was hot enough to pour the rest in!
It was always such an amusing thing to hear all of the kernels slowly begin to "pop!". And I will never forget the one time that Grandma was visiting at our house from Neosho...Well, needless to say, Grandma was not used to the way we made popcorn...As she entered the kitchen to see if she could help my mom in the kitchen with dinner, I can remember her commenting, "Libby, is something burning on the stove?" Yep, she did it...She lifted the lid from the big pot of popping popcorn! We couldn't help ourselves but to laugh at the scene of popcorn flying up into Grandma's face, onto the stove, and on the floor! The surprise that Grandma experienced was expressed in her all too familiar comment, "OH MY!!".
Ohhh, those were such fun nights! After we had helped Mom out at the store all day, and after we had all bathed, and put on our oversized t-shirt night gowns, it was such a fun treat to sit down in the living room, each with our own little plastic tray to prevent the inevitable spills, and enjoy our malts and popcorn.
Here is a picture of my family having malts and popcorn before I leave for India...
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