Hello LilyOnTheLam.Com Readers:
Last night, I saw the fabulous band The Script play at Hard Rock Live at Universal City Walk in Orlando, Florida (Opening Act - the delightful Tristan Prettyman).
On the way home, I was stuck in traffic because the police had closed all of the I-4 westbound lanes. There had been a sad accident earlier in the evening and all traffic was being diverted to drive on the shoulder.
After an hour waiting in traffic, my "reward" was to see at least ten police cars, road flares and white sheets on the highway. I could tell the objects under the sheets were not large enough to be human bodies. My stomach dropped with the recognition that the sheets were probably covering body parts.
After a fun night, breathing in the bass-pounding life air of a great band and a standing room only crowd of music lovers; the cold hard reality of mortality fell upon me with an alarming silence in a flash of red and blue lights in the cool, black night.
I arrived home 1 1/4 hours later than I expected, but I arrived home alive and safe.
The horrifyingly sad fact is that the death that occurred last night was not the only death on the road yesterday. It feels like lately all I hear about are traffic fatalities. It would be nice to have one day go by without lives cut short.
Friday morning came too soon with not enough sleep. In my non-blogging time, I work in a global corporate role for a large corporation. Little cog in a big machine. One of my international colleagues was several days late in preparing a draft that I needed before I could create a global draft. The delay caused me to have to work Friday night. I figured that after dinner and a concert on Thursday night, spending a Friday night in would not be the end all of my social life. And after reading the details about last night's accident, a night not traveling the roads was beginning to sound pretty good.
After putting the final touches on my global presentation, I decided the rest of my work could wait until Monday. My brain was jello and I needed to recharge. About two months ago, I added to what apparently seems to be my mission of self-deprivation. I cancelled my cable television and have no antenna for regular network TV. I, a self-professed, television junkie was killing my supplier. I read two books in three days before I started watching DVDs. Ahhh yes, my addiction reigns on but I am saving myself a $68 a month cable bill.
In honor of the upcoming Presidential election, I have been watching the last three seasons of the television show The West Wing. I was a voracious West Wing fan for the first four and a half seasons ... and then I fell off the wagon. Years ago, I purchased the entire DVD series set with the intention of finally watching the seasons I had never seen on network TV. But I never did. My TV embargo finally pushed me into it. For my Friday night in, it would be a West Wing season six marathon!
Many months before my cable TV embargo, I decided that I needed a Movie Theater-style Popcorn Maker. (Did I mention I am a shopaholic?) I did a shocking amount of research on the subject and finally decided upon the Paragon Contempo Popcorn Maker with a 4 ounce kettle. It works wonderfully well.
But as a shopaholic, I not only purchased a movie theater-style popcorn maker I needed to get all the accessories! I bought various styles of popcorn boxes, cups and bags - at the House of Lily, you can have your popcorn in any size container you want! (I bought most of my popcorn supplies at Home Theater Express.)
I also went on to Kernel Season's website. I had tried their white cheddar flavor at a movie theater, but good heavens I didn't realize how many different varieties of popcorn seasoning they had! Again, as a shopaholic, I ordered ALL FLAVORS. I have twenty-one ... TWENTY-ONE kinds of popcorn seasoning in my home. I wonder if I can put that on my curriculum vitae? Or is that more a sign of early senility?
In addition to my twenty-one bottles of popcorn seasoning, I also had a jar of maraschino cherries - or more factually, a jar with one maraschino cherry left in it. My refrigerator contents are shockingly sad. I ate the last cherry - woooo the Friday night festivities are rocking now! I looked at the glass jar filled with red liquid in my hand ... this was a Shirley Temple opportunity if I ever saw one. I went into my laundry room where I hide all my soda so I don't drink it on a carbonated binge. (Do you get the theme that I have little impulse control?)
I found a lone can of Sprite Zero - aha! That is all I would need. I grabbed a wine glass and filled it with ice cubes, Sprite Zero and a splash of maraschino cherry liquid. It wasn't until I wrote this blog post that I found out that a real Shirley Temple has ginger ale, lime juice and grenadine. But to me it's always been Sprite or 7-UP with maraschino cherry liquid.
I fired up the Paragon Contempo Popcorn Maker. My cats still do not understand what to make of it. They watch with bewilderment and wonder from positions far enough away to make a quick break for it, if necessary. I decided that in addition to the mock-Shirley Temple that my "wild" Friday night in needed to include a Popcorn Seasoning Taste Test.
I used a Great Northern Popcorn 4 ounce portion pack for the popcorn. I like Great Northern's portion packs because the salt is in its own compartment so I can control how much, if any salt I use. For this seasoning taste test, I chose not to use any salt when making the popcorn. Instead of butter topping, I went with a lower calorie option - Kernel Season's Butter-flavored Popcorn Spritzer.
Next came the challengers ... I decided to do three rounds of taste tests.
Round Two: Kernel Season's White Cheddar vs. Kernel Season's Cheesy Jalapeño Popcorn Seasoning. (Side note: Kernel Season's also has a Jalapeño Popcorn Seasoning that is quite good if you're looking for heat without the cheese flavor.)
Round Three: Kernel Season's Milk Chocolate Caramel vs. Kernel Season's Chocolate Marshmallow.
I am not a novice taste tester. (Have you read my Tale of Four Clam Chowders, Tale of Three Strawberry Shortcakes, Ahi Tuna Comparison and/or a Tale of Four Pot Pies?) My taste buds can compare and contrast with the best of them! I figured that of six bottles of popcorn seasoning there had to be at least a couple that tasted awful. But surprise, surprise - they were ALL tasty! Great flavors - not chemical tasting. I really enjoyed all six flavors!
But this is a competition, so I do need to make a determination on the three rounds listed above. However I would like to emphatically state that these rounds were all neck and neck-- very close calls! I enjoyed all six of these flavors.
For Round One - chili lime vs. bacon cheddar. I love lime. I love bacon. I knew this would be a tough one. If you are a lime lover, then get yourself Kernel Season's Chili Lime seasoning RIGHT NOW. It is amazingly tart and refreshing. The citrus shines through without an artificial chemical taste. The bacon cheddar has a nice smoky/cheesy factor, but the strong lime was really amazing.
For Round Two - white cheddar vs. cheesy jalapeno. This contest comes down to what you prefer cheese or jalapeno. The white cheddar has a better cheese flavor than the cheesy jalapeño. However I like heat, so even though the white cheddar had incredible cheese flavor; I prefer the cheesy jalapeno. The cheese in the cheesy jalapeno may not taste as good as the cheese in the white cheddar, but the jalapeno adds a smoky, spicy heat that I love on popcorn.
For Round Three - milk chocolate caramel vs. chocolate marshmallow. I am a kettle corn fan and I love Nuts On Clark's caramel corn, but overall I still think of popcorn as a savory treat versus a sweet one. I wasn't sure if I would like either of Kernel Season's sweet flavors. They were both nice with a smooth, chocolatey finish. But I have to give the nudge to the chocolate marshmallow. I felt the rich desserty flavor came through more in the chocolate marshmallow than in the milk chocolate caramel. It does a nice job of settling down my post-dinner sweet tooth.
I have fifteen more Kernel's Seasons flavors to taste test, but they'll have to wait for another DVD marathon night!
While I will never ever be known as a homebody, once I finished my long night of extra corporate work I very much enjoyed my evening of The West Wing, Mock-Shirley Temples and Popcorn Seasoning Taste Challenges. My chances of getting run over by a car diminish greatly from my seat on the couch. Life is short and sometimes it's best to slow down and just savor life ... remember all that you are grateful for and appreciate all that you have. And if you have a big bowl of popcorn next to you at the same time, well that's a pretty amazing thing too.
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