Yum.

I only got one present for Christmas this year which is totally fine for a number of reasons. (I don't really care about Christmas; it's really all about the kids; I don't like obligatory gifts; and most importantly, I got the only two things I wanted this year (the Marcus/Long kids together and an expensive, but totally worth it day at the spa with my friends.)

But I did get a gift from Amy and Eran. It wasn't as nice as giant canvas of our family of course but it was damn fine.

A nice sampling of different gourmet popcorn. And I love, love, love popcorn. I really only like to go to movies to eat popcorn. I make it myself all the time. I had a air popper in my dorm room in college and I covet those old time-y cart popcorn makers that they sell in airplane online catalogs.

For some reason I can't explain (well, I probably could if I wanted to think about it more), I hadn't tried any of it until today. The girls were sleeping and Michael and Parker were at Marine World. I had just finished a bowl of Michael's home made split pea soup and popcorn sounded like just the ticket.

I tried the Wisconsin white birch variety because I do love a small white popcorn a lot. The first thing I noticed was how quickly it popped. The second thing was how much of it popped. I usually have some kernels left over but not in this case. And of course, the third thing was the taste. De-licious!

I look forward to trying Starshell Red (crunchy with rich flavor), Savanna Gold (mild, smooth flavor), and High Mountain Midnight (robust wild flavor).

Not sure if I will try the four toppings that came with it (white cheddar, butter burst, salt, and carmel pecan) because, honestly, putting anything else but pure butter on my popcorn seems just plain wrong and perhaps slightly illegal.