Celebrate National Popcorn Day January 19 Every Year

• By NSC
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Today is National Popcorn Day, the day to enjoy a big bowl of those fluffy kernels of popped corn. Salt ’em; butter ’em; cover ’em in caramel, cheese, or chocolate; among other things.

There’s no shortage of ways to prepare popcorn.

And no shortage of times to celebrate it. Because National Popcorn Day is not the only recognition this yummy food gets. There’s also National Popcorn Month in October. And caramel popcorn gets its own day on April 7.

It’s not clear when, why or by whom this delicious snacking holiday started.

It may have originally been tied to that big football game played every year around this time … and celebrated on the same day that game was played.

Today most people seem to agree it’s always on January 19.

But does anyone who loves popcorn really care about the details? It’s the perfect excuse to eat some popcorn (as if you needed one)!

 

A Few Bits of Popcorn Trivia

Popcorn kernels pop when the tiny drops of water inside each one heat up and expand.

Popcorn has been around for thousands of years, at least 5,600 in fact. That’s the age of ears found in 1948 inside a bat cave in New Mexico.

A popped kernel of popcorn, estimated at about 1,000 years old, was found in a cave in Utah.

Americans prove their love of popcorn by eating about 17 billion quarts of the stuff every year.

The Illinois General Assembly designated popcorn the state’s official snack food in 2003.

Illinois is the third largest grower of popcorn in the U.S., with 47,000 acres devoted to it. Nebraska is #1, producing about 250 million pounds of it each year.

Learn a little more about the history of popcorn here.

Scroll down for some ideas on celebrating this deliciously unofficial holiday.

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Ideas for Celebrating National Popcorn Day

Now the obvious choice is to eat popcorn! And we definitely advocate that. But there are other ways to celebrate, too.

 

Individuals

Ok, so we agree we want to eat popcorn. If you’d like to try something other than the standard butter and salt or caramel topping, check out these recipes from Genius Kitchen:

• Chipotle Ranch Popcorn
• Butterscotch Cashew Popcorn
• White Chocolate Peanut Butter Popcorn

 

Or try one these 50 flavoring ideas from Food Network.

So what else can you do to celebrate? Try one of these ideas:

• Make strings of plain popcorn. Hang them outside for your feathered friends to feast on.
• Kids will enjoy popcorn coloring pages and games and more from the Popcorn Board.
• Or make popcorn snowmen.
• Let kids jump around pretending to be popping kernels of corn. Popcorn can jump up to three feet when it pops. How high can the kids jump? Make it a contest.
• Play popcorn basketball. Use small cups as baskets. How many can you make?

 

Use your imagination and come up with your own games or craft projects.

 

Companies

Today is a great day for food sellers to promote their popcorn products, from unpopped kernels to already popped corn, either plain or flavored.

Even if you don’t sell popcorn, if your business is at all food or nutrition related you can mention this day in your blog or newsletter. Include some popcorn trivia and information on its nutritional value (high in fiber, low in calories, whole grain, etc).

 

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