I have bought some of those single serving packages of popcorn--the little 1 oz. ones, to see if they're worth anything. I'm trying to cut down my popcorn consumption at one sitting. One of those normal, 3 oz. bags has a lot of popcorn in it, three servings worth, and the popcorn really isn't worth anything if you eat some now and save the rest. It goes stale quickly.

So I got the 4 pack of Orville Redenbacher popcorn. They had garlic-flavored popcorn, and I said, "Okay, I'll bite."

And I did. I really like this popcorn.

Now, I haven't compared it to his other, buttered popcorns, but what I had tasted like the kind of popcorn you get in a big bag that you have to pop in a popper. That kind of popcorn is just no good unless you pop it in oil. In fact, I remember we had a dome-shaped popcorn popper when we were kids where you could watch the popcorn rise to the top of the lid and know it was finished.

Then came the fun part--turning it over. The plate part was still hot, so it was tricky. However, it was built to be turned upside down. Then the lid served as the bowl, unless Dad or Mom said to dish it out into single serving bowls. That took the fun out of it. Then again, I'm sure that was to make sure that they didn't have to listen to us three sisters holler about who was hogging the popcorn. (It was usually my older sister.) We still hollered anyway. I don't know that we ever gave our parents a break.

So back to the taste: this Orville Redenbacher's garlic popcorn tasted like the popcorn of my youth; the traditional pop-in-a-popper type popcorn. Wonderful! Ah! Memories!

I think I'm convinced I should go back to being brand-specific about popcorn. I have always had high regard for Orville Redenbacher, ever since he started his commercials in the late 70's, early 80's. He did them himself, and they were quality commercials. The most memorable part was his own look, like the turn of the 19th century with the wavy, middle-parted hair and hornrim glasses. That was probably a caricature of his personality. It worked. It worked very well. I hope he retires a rich man. Or maybe he will never retire! Maybe he is doing what he likes best! That's always the best way to live, in my opinion.

Popcorn went with Christmas specials: Rudolf the Rednosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Merry Christmas Charlie Brown, and many others. It also went with movies that were shown around Thanksgiving and Christmas: The Wizard of Oz, The Sound of Music, and the various incarnations of A Christmas Carol including my favorite, Scrooge. I think the original one had Alistair Simms in it, but I was partial to the one with Albert Finney in it. Both excellent productions.