TAKING POPCORN TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL | 'POPCORN CRAVINGS' GOURMET POPCORN

To all my fellow popcorn-loving fans out there, this one's for you. Why do you love popcorn? For me, I suppose it's a nostalgia thing... 

Delicious, fresh, made-to-order gourmet popcorn from Orange County-based company, Popcorn Cravings

Every time I eat popcorn, it transports me instantly to the movie theaters of suburban Chicago where I spent Summers as a kid with my favorite cousin, Katherine. Katherine taught me the true meaning of popcorn-eating. She has always been a petite little thing - much smaller than I - but dang. When it comes to popcorn, that girl knows how to throw it down.

We're not talking measly kid-size popcorn bags for our movie outings - oh, no. Those would not do. We got the BIG popcorn buckets - I believe they could legitimately be called 'tubs'. Extra-Large. One each. No sharing. There was absolutely no sharing when it came to movie theater popcorn & my cousin. She had a system for buttering & salting it too... it involved layering... she'd instruct the guy behind the counter, "A little popcorn, then butter, then salt, then some more popcorn..."  And, of course, she'd ask for a to-go cup of popcorn salt for our in-theater salting needs. Not to be confused with the iodized salt that they had at the kiosk out in the lobby... no no no... popcorn salt. The superfine orange stuff that the popcorn guy had to reluctantly dish out to us upon request. Only the best for us!  I'd usually make it through about 1/3 of my bag and have to throw in the towel. Not Katherine. She'd finish hers and then be ready for some of my leftovers. I was mesmerized. She was my popcorn hero.

So, when the opportunity presented itself recently to photograph some gorgeous gourmet popcorn made by the Orange County-based company 'Popcorn Cravings', naturally I couldn't refuse.

It's over 20 years later now, though, and I must admit that the movie theater popcorn of my youth just doesn't do it for me anymore. So, it had been quite a while since I'd eaten popcorn. And thanks to Popcorn Cravings, it was absolutely worth the wait. Their amazing popcorn not only looks adorable when it arrives in its brown paper packaging with green & orange polka-dot accents, but it smells & tastes amazing too.  Made with 100% natural, real ingredients - no powder, no sprays & no artificial flavoring - and cooked-to-order from scratch in small batches.  

Popcorn Cravings' popcorn was a ton of fun to photograph - as a Food Photographer, it's always great to shoot food that's whimsical, colorful & full of texture. But, I must admit that the best part was after the shoot when I got to dive in. The taste is out-of-this-world - so fresh & delicious. And, the flavor combination that I had the opportunity to shoot (Caramel & Cheese) was a perfect mixture of sweet & salty - my favorite.

So, sorry about that movie theater popcorn... my tastebuds are all grown up and I'm afraid I'm all over you now. But, something tells me next time I get to see my cousin Katherine, she & I will now have the PERFECT thing to pair with a glass of wine while we're catching up! Bring on the Popcorn Cravings! (One bag each, of course.)

Below, feast your eyes on the simple, delicious, homemade beauty of Popcorn Cravings' Caramel & Cheese popcorn. And if you feel your stomach growling, you can satisfy your craving by visiting their online store and trying it out for yourself. Enjoy!

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