ITALIAN POPCORN + YOUR FIRST CHALLENGE

I wish I could tell you this went well.  I was really, really hoping.  Unfortunately, it fell quite flat.  But here's the positive, you can learn from my fail and maybe even figure out how to make this stellar.

INGREDIENTS:
1 100-calorie pack Orville Redenbacher popcorn
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS:
1. Pop popcorn in microwave according to directions on bag.
2. While popcorn is popping, mix the remaining ingredients.
3. Combine seasoning with freshly popped popcorn and shake to coat.  (Unfortunately the coating part works in theory but not in practice.  I blame food.com.)

FYI: When mixing popcorn with seasoning,
shake with vigor, not reckless abandon.

I don't like heavy butter on my popcorn, so maybe that's the problem.  When I go to the movie theatre and see that nasty yellow goo that people use to ruin this delicacy, I want to slap the box out of their hand and tell them not to defile my movie with it.  I like cheese popcorn, however (also fake, but go figure), so I thought this would be a nice, spiced up, lighter version of it.  The result: too light.  Even with olive oil added, the mixture doesn't stick to the popcorn and it's not that flavorful.  On top of that, it took plain ol' good popcorn and made me not want to eat it at all.  Super sad face.

Official Grade: F


YOUR CHALLENGE: Hook me up with a better seasoned popcorn recipe that'll bump a good bagged popcorn from decent to delicious.

WHAT THE HECK HAVE YOU BEEN EATING?!

It appears that people have been starting to wonder.  Has she fallen off the food wagon?  Has she been eating out all summer?  Is she gorging herself on Cheerios just to get by?  Weeeeell...there's a simple yet complicated set of answers: No, sort of, and no.  I've fallen behind because, well, life happens, so the next few posts will be me playing catch-up and then I'll fill you in on my summer shenanigans.

In the mean time, let me clue you in to a delicious upgrade to an old standard of mine.  I'm a fan of Lean Cuisine frozen pepperoni pizza, but after awhile it get's old, so I discovered a great way to liven that puppy up: The Great and Powerful Pepperoncini.

While the pizza alone ain't bad in itself, pepperoncini gives it a little pickley zing that wakes it up a bit.  Of course, fresh pizza is your best option, but if you're in a pinch, I definitely recommend.

Official Grade: A