POP!

I've heard it takes three weeks to really develop a habit; well, I'm at three weeks today, and rolling right along with my creations.

Thursday was Popcorn Day;  I don't know if every Jan. 19 is Popcorn Day, or if it's the third Thursday of January; but there it is, a day to celebrate popcorn. Which just made me want to go to a movie. But, the youngest needed to make something to bring to her Spanish class fiesta on Friday. She had to choose a recipe from a Spanish-speaking country, and do most of the prep work herself. No chips and salsa, no tacos; making the food was part of the project for the students. Yeah.

from "Taste of the Caribbean"

So, I got out some cookbooks, checked some online recipe sites, and she finally decided on Plantain & Sweet Potato Crisps. Full disclosure: the recipe comes from a Caribbean Islands cookbook, but plantains and sweet potatoes are both native to Mexico, I bought the cookbook in Puerto Morelos, on the Riviera Maya, and that's Spanish enough for me.

J. did really well with this project: she learned to peel plantains and sweet potatoes, kind of, and why it's important that the slices be a uniform thickness - for even frying. I handled the hot oil, deep-frying part of the recipe, put the chips in a paper bag and J. salted the chips with her own little shake-and-jump dance. This was J.'s project, not mine, so when we finished, I went back to planning a popcorn-themed creation.

it only looks like a poodle

I found a recipe for a caramel popcorn martini (made with liquid popcorn?!) and popcorn brittle, but I was done with cooking for the day. The youngest suggested a "plushy popcorn pillow toy", and I remembered a piece of off-white plushy fabric perfect for this.  I cut a modified square shape, gathered the cut edges with a running stitch, and started stuffing the pillow.

How to make the bumpy popcorn shape? I used a method called tufting, running a thread from the bottom of the pillow to the top, to cause the puckering. I made three tufts, to create the uneven puffy top. My daughter wanted me to add the lower part of the popcorn kernel as well, but I thought it might look too much like a tooth.  It's definitely a fine line between those two shapes.

I'm tempted to make more of these "popcorn pillows" and put them in a big popcorn tin. You know, one of those popcorn tins that people give at Christmas time, with three different popcorn flavors, and you never know what to do with the tin after the popcorn is gone. Or, maybe a tufted popcorn lid cover, and use the tin as storage for..... something. Or maybe I'll just get rid of the tin, and actually make a poodle out of the rest of the fabric. Or a costume piece, maybe a fluffy hat or muff. Or.... we'll see.