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Movie Night? Try Some (Flavored) Popcorn

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Movies and Popcorn – A Classic Combo

When you think movie, do you also think popcorn? A good percentage of movie viewing people do.

And what’s the biggest movie night of the year?  The Academy Awards, of course.

Oscar has been around for a long time – the first Academy Awards ceremony was in 1929 – but the main snack food that’s associated with movies has been around a lot longer.

The Evolution of Popcorn

The puffy goodness we know as popcorn is a strain of corn (from maize) cultivated in Central America about 8,000 years ago.  North American whalers probably brought popcorn to New England from Chile in the early 19th century. Popping popcorn was fun and its appeal spread across the country.

By the mid 1800’s popcorn was widely available, especially at places like circuses and fairs. The invention of the steam-powered popcorn maker in 1885 meant popcorn could be made anywhere.  Amazingly, the only place where it wasn’t available was in theaters, which typically had carpeted floors. Theater owners didn’t want popcorn “dirtying” up the place.

Popcorn and Movies

Because of its popularity, theater owners began to allow popcorn vendors to sell popcorn outside their theaters.  During the Great Depression people looked for cheap diversions and movies were it.   Popcorn — at 5 to 10 cents a bag — was an affordable luxury.

Theater owners began to lease their lobbies to popcorn vendors, but figured out they could make more money by selling it themselves. Selling popcorn, candy, and soda from their own concession stands meant higher profits. Sugar shortages during World War II made sweet treats hard to come by, and popcorn became the main snack.  By 1945 over half of the popcorn eaten in the US was consumed in movie theaters.

It’s still king.  Americans eat, on average, about 13 gallons of popcorn a year. It’s cheap to make and allows for a huge price mark-up. You might pay $5 for a bag of popcorn, but it costs the theater about 50 cents. Plain popcorn doesn’t have all that much flavor, so yellow oil (it isn’t butter) and salt are added to make it tasty and make you thirsty.  So, you buy a soda. No wonder movie theaters make an estimated 85 percent profit from concession sales.

Popcorn Recipes

This Sunday as you prop your feet up to watch the glamorous stars grab their golden statues, make sure you have a good supply of popcorn on hand.  You don’t have to settle for the plain variety – unless you want to.  There are some fantastic popcorn recipes with names like Bacon Bourbon Caramel, Cinnamon Candy (red, like the red carpet), Peanut Butter Popcorn, and Endless Caramel Corn.

For even more popcorn recipes to accompany your cheers, boos, oohs, and ahs on Oscar night, check out:

19 Creative Ways to Flavor Popcorn

11 Popcorn Recipes to Take Your Movie Night to the Next Level

50 Flavored Popcorn Recipes

 

 

Movies and Popcorn – A Classic Combo

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When you think movie, do you also think popcorn? A good percentage of movie viewing people do. And what’s the biggest movie night of the year? The Academy Awards, of course.

Although the Oscars have been around for a long time – the first Academy Awards ceremony was in 1929 – the main snack food that’s associated with movies has been around a lot longer.

The Evolution of Popcorn

The puffy goodness we know as popcorn is a strain of corn (from maize) cultivated in Central America about 8,000 years ago. North American whalers probably brought popcorn to New England from Chile in the early 19th century. Popping popcorn was fun and its appeal spread across the country.

By the mid 1800’s popcorn was widely available, especially at places like circuses and fairs. The invention of the steam-powered popcorn maker in 1885 meant popcorn could be made anywhere. Amazingly, the only place where it wasn’t available was in theaters, which typically had carpeted floors. Theater owners didn’t want popcorn “dirtying” up the place.

Popcorn and Movies

Because of its popularity, theater owners began to allow popcorn vendors to sell popcorn outside their theaters. During the Great Depression people looked for cheap diversions and movies were it. Popcorn, at 5 to 10 cents a bag, was an affordable luxury.

Eventually theater owners began to lease their lobbies to popcorn vendors, but then figured out they could make more money by selling popcorn, candy, and soda from their own concession stands. Sugar shortages during World War II made sweet treats hard to come by, and popcorn became the main snack. By 1945 over half of the popcorn eaten in the US was consumed in movie theaters.

It’s still king. Americans eat, on average, about 13 gallons of popcorn a year. It’s cheap to make and allows for a huge price mark-up. You might pay $5 for a bag of popcorn, but it probably costs the theater about 50 cents. Plain popcorn doesn’t have all that much flavor, so yellow oil (it isn’t butter) and salt are added to make it tasty and make you thirsty. So, you buy a soda. No wonder movie theaters make an estimated 85 percent profit from concession sales.

Popcorn Recipes

On Oscar night as you prop your feet up to watch clips of nominated movies and famous actors grab their golden statues, or on any movie viewing night in the comfort of your own home, make sure you have a good supply of popcorn on hand. You don’t have to settle for the plain variety – unless you want to. There are some fantastic popcorn recipes with names like Bacon Bourbon Caramel, Cinnamon Candy (red, like the red carpet), Peanut Butter Popcorn, and Endless Caramel Corn.

For even more popcorn recipes to accompany your cheers, boos, oohs, and ahs on Oscar night, check out:

19 Creative Ways to Flavor Popcorn

11 Popcorn Recipes to Take Your Movie Night to the Next Level

Movies, Popcorn, and the Oscars

By Leave a Comment

When you think movie, do you also think popcorn? A good percentage of movie viewing people do.

And what’s the biggest movie night of the year? The Academy Awards, of course.

Oscar has been around for a long time – the first Academy Awards ceremony was in 1929 – but the main snack food that’s associated with movies has been around a lot longer.

The Evolution of Popcorn

The puffy goodness we know as popcorn is a strain of corn (from maize) cultivated in Central America about 8,000 years ago and probably brought to New England from Chile in the early 19th century by North American whalers. People discovered that popping popcorn was fun and its appeal spread rapidly across the country.

By the mid 1800’s popcorn was widely available, especially at places like circuses and fairs. The invention of the steam-powered popcorn maker in 1885 meant popcorn could be made anywhere. Amazingly, the only place where it wasn’t usually available was in theaters, which typically had carpeted floors and theater owners didn’t want popcorn “dirtying” up the place.

Popcorn and Movies

Because of popcorn’s popularity, theater owners began to allow vendors to sell popcorn outside their theaters. During the Great Depression people looked for cheap diversions and movies were it and popcorn — at 5 to 10 cents a bag — was an affordable luxury.

Eventually theater owners began to lease their lobbies to popcorn vendors, but then figured out they could make more money by selling it themselves. Selling popcorn, candy, and soda from their own concession stands meant higher profits. Sugar shortages during World War II made sweet treats hard to come by so popcorn became the main snack. By 1945 over half of the popcorn eaten in the US was consumed in movie theaters.

Popcorn is still king. Americans eat, on average, about 13 gallons of popcorn a year. It’s cheap to make and allows for a huge price mark-up. You might pay $5 for a bag of popcorn, but it costs the theater about 50 cents. Plain popcorn doesn’t have all that much flavor, so yellow oil (it isn’t butter) and salt are added to make it tasty and make you thirsty. So, you buy a soda. No wonder movie theaters make an estimated 85 percent profit from concession sales, with those sales accounting for 46 percent of their overall profits.

Popcorn Recipes

On Oscar night – or any movie night — as you prop your feet up to watch the glamorous stars grab their golden statues, make sure you have a good supply of popcorn on hand. You don’t have to settle for the plain variety – unless you want to. There are some fantastic popcorn recipes with names like Bacon Bourbon Caramel Popcorn, Cinnamon Candy Popcorn (which is red, like the red carpet), Pizza Popcorn, Peanut Butter Popcorn, and Endless Caramel Corn.

For even more popcorn recipes to accompany your cheers, boos, oohs, and ahs on Oscar night, check out:

Food Network’s 50 Flavored Popcorn Recipes

19 Ways to Flavor Popcorn

27 Healthy Popcorn Recipes to Cure Any Snack AttackPopcorn Recipes

allrecipes Popcorn Recipes

Movies, Popcorn, and the Oscars, too!

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Popcorn and the Oscars

When you think movie, do you also think popcorn? A good percentage of movie viewing people do.

And what’s the biggest movie night of the year? The Academy Awards, of course.

Oscar has been around for a long time – the first Academy Awards ceremony was in 1929 – but the main snack food that’s associated with movies has been around a lot longer.

The Evolution of Popcorn

The puffy goodness we know as popcorn is a strain of corn (from maize) cultivated in Central America about 8,000 years ago. North American whalers probably brought popcorn to New England from Chile in the early 19th century. Popping popcorn was fun and its appeal spread rapidly across the country.

By the mid 1800’s popcorn was widely available, especially at places like circuses and fairs. The invention of the steam-powered popcorn maker in 1885 meant popcorn could be made anywhere. Amazingly, the only place where it wasn’t usually available was in theaters, which typically had carpeted floors. Theater owners didn’t want popcorn “dirtying” up the place (have you ever tried to vacuum up popcorn from carpeted floors).

Popcorn and Movies

Because of its popularity, theater owners began to allow popcorn vendors to sell popcorn outside their theaters. During the Great Depression people looked for cheap diversions and movies were it and popcorn — at 5 to 10 cents a bag — was an affordable luxury.

Theater owners began to lease their lobbies to popcorn vendors, but then figured out they could make more money by selling it themselves. Selling popcorn, candy, and soda from their own concession stands meant higher profits. Sugar shortages during World War II made sweet treats hard to come by, and popcorn became the main snack. By 1945 over half of the popcorn eaten in the US was consumed in movie theaters.

Popcorn is still king. Americans eat, on average, about 13 gallons of popcorn a year. It’s cheap to make and allows for a huge price mark-up. You might pay $5 for a bag of popcorn, but it costs the theater about 50 cents. Plain popcorn doesn’t have all that much flavor, so yellow oil (it isn’t butter) and salt are added to make it tasty and make you thirsty. So, you buy a soda. No wonder movie theaters make an estimated 85 percent profit from concession sales, with those sales accounting for 46 percent of overall profits.

Popcorn Recipes

This Sunday as you prop your feet up to watch the glamorous stars grab their golden statues, make sure you have a good supply of popcorn on hand. You don’t have to settle for the plain variety – unless you want to. There are some fantastic popcorn recipes with names like Bacon Bourbon Caramel Popcorn, Cinnamon Candy Popcorn (which is red, like the red carpet), Pizza Popcorn, Peanut Butter Popcorn, and Endless Caramel Corn.

For even more popcorn recipes to accompany your cheers, boos, oohs, and ahs on Oscar night, check out:

Food Network’s 50 Flavored Popcorn Recipes

19 Ways to Flavor Popcorn

30 Healthy Popcorn Recipes That Satisfy Every Snack Craving

Popcorn Recipes

What Do You Eat With Your Movie?

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Movie Calories

When you enter a movie theater lobby what do you usually notice first?  After the cost of the ticket, it’s probably the delicious smell of freshly popped (maybe or maybe not) popcorn. It’s no accident that the concession stand with it’s popcorn popper and glass cases filled with the candy that reminds you that you were once a carefree kid — is right smack in the middle of the lobby.  It’s there to send your already conditioned eyes, nose, and salivary glands an urgent message:  “Buy some, eat some”!

There’s No Escaping the Movie Theater Munching

Even if you make it through the lobby without buckets and boxes in hand, all you have to do is sit down in the theater with someone near you noisily munching away.  Up you go – back to the lobby and the concession stand.

It’s amazing what triggers us to eat. There’s a research study by the Cornell food lab that shows that people overeat when they have large portions — even when they don’t like the food. Moviegoers given stale popcorn in big buckets ate 34% more than people who were given the medium size of the same stale popcorn. People who had large buckets of fresh popcorn ate 45% more than people with the medium size.

If you’re going to eat it, at least give some thought to what you’re doing.  Would a small size bag of popcorn rather than jumbo bucket do it for you?  How about a regular candy bar instead of a king size?  If the popcorn, pretzels, or nachos are stale and nasty do you really want them?  Can you ditch the soda for plain old water or a sugar free drink (most 12 ounce sodas have between 9 and 10 teaspoons of sugar)? You could bring some healthy snacks with you — like a lower calorie protein bar or trail mix (a crunchy apple doesn’t lend itself to quiet eating).

FYI:  Some Popular Movie Theater Snacks – And Their Calorie Counts

(Note the serving sizes, movie theater boxes of candy are often huge and may be double or triple the size shown below and what’s considered a large popcorn in one theater chain might be a medium in another. The number of cups of popcorn sounds crazy – but that’s how much is in the bucket or bag that’s commonly available.)

Popcorn, Nachos, Soft Pretzel

  • Buttered popcorn, small, 5 cups:  470 calories, 35g fat
  • Buttered popcorn, large, 20 cups:  1640 calories, 126g fat
  • Cheese nachos, large (4 ounces):  1100 calories, 60g fat
  • Soft pretzel, large (5 ounces):  480 calories, 5g fat

Soda and Lemonade

  • Coke, small (18 ounces: 218 calories, 0g fat
  • Coke, large (44 ounces):  534 calories, 0g fat
  • Minute Maid Lemonade (18 ounces):  248 calories, 0g fat
  • Minute Maid Lemonade (44 ounces):  605 calories, 0g fat

Candy

  • Junior Mints, 3-ounce box:  360 calories, 7g fat
  • SnoCaps, 3.1-ounce box:  300 calories, 15g fat
  • Milk Duds, 3-ounce box:  370 calories, 12g fat
  • Raisinets, 3.5-ounce bag:  400 calories, 16g fat
  • Goobers, 3.5-ounce box:  500 calories, 35g fat
  • Twizzlers, 6-ounce bag:  570 calories, 4g fat
  • M&Ms, 5.3-ounce bag:  750 calories, 32g fat
  • Peanut M&Ms, 5.3-ounce bag:  790 calories, 40g fat
  • Reese’s Pieces, 8-ounce bag:  1160 calories, 60g fat