Category Archives: the popcorn factory

Fun Facts to Celebrate National Cheese Lover’s Day!

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Cheddar Cheese Popcorn

Calling all cheese heads! January 20 is National Cheese Lover’s Day, so mark your calendars! In honor of everyone’s favorite dairy delight, take a look at these fun facts about cheese while you’re chowing down on The Popcorn Factory’s cheddar and white cheddar treats. (After all, no snack captures the deliciously creamy flavor of cheese better than popcorn!)

  • No one really knows when cheese was first made. Some say that cheese-making first started in 8,000 B.C., when the tribes in Central Asia stored milk in animal skins during their travels. Popular belief has it that the bacteria in the animal skins caused the milk to form the first cheese curds.
  • Scientists have found what they believe to be the remains of cheese buried in 4,000-year-old Egyptian tombs. Archaeologists have also discovered ancient Egyptian murals depicting the cheese-making process, which date back to 2,000 B.C.
  • Many ancient Roman homes featured a separate kitchen that was solely used to make cheese.
  • In the 17th century, people thought that eating cheese would make you, er, less intelligent.
  • The nickname “big cheese” was first used to refer to people who could afford to buy a wheel of cheese.
  • More than 900 types of cheese exist in the world today.
  • Americans eat about 31 pounds of cheese a year each, but they’re not even close to holding the world record. The Greeks consume the most cheese on a yearly basis: almost 60 pounds per person!
  • The U.S. does produce the most cheese in the world, though, and most of it comes from Wisconsin and California.
  • Wisconsinproduces about 2 billion pounds of cheese per year, and it’s the home of 126 cheese plants.
  • Ten pounds of milk are needed to make 1 pound of cheese.
  • The world’s largest piece of cheese was made in Quebec, Canada, in 1995. It weighed in at more than 57,000 pounds, and more than 540,000 pounds of milk were used to make it.
  • Eating certain types of cheese—such as cheddar, Swiss, bleu and others—right after a meal is said to help prevent tooth decay and help you sleep.

What kind of velvety cheese will you be munching on to celebrate National Cheese Lover’s Day?

National Popcorn Day Recipe: Tuxedo Chocolate Chip Cookie Popcorn (Plus Fun Family Activities!)

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Tuxedo Chocolate Chip Cookie PopcornHear ye, hear ye: We’re overjoyed to announce that January 19 is National Popcorn Day! To help you celebrate the world’s yummiest and most fun snack, we’ve gathered a list of exciting National Popcorn Day activities for you to enjoy with your kids. Plus, we’ve even put together a spankin’ new recipe just for you: Our Tuxedo Chocolate Chip Cookie Popcorn is perfectly dressed for the occasion. So get ready; this is going to be one pop-tastic holiday for the whole family!

National Popcorn Day Activities for the Family

  • Help your kids carefully string together some popcorn to create garland. Hang up your delish décor anywhere in your house, or turn it into an outdoor bird feeder by covering it with birdseed.
  • Test your kids’ knowledge with a pop quiz! Search the Web for some little-known popcorn facts, and then use them to create a flash card game. At the end of the game, each contestant gets a special popcorn treat as a prize.
  • Go to the library and take out some popcorn-themed books that your kids can read while they munch on their favorite snack.
  • Print out a bunch of popcorn coloring sheets and let your kids show off their inner pop-casso. Help them proudly display their artwork on the fridge or in a handmade Popsicle stick frame. (Tip: Decorate the frame with glitter and popcorn!)
  • Or, make a different kind of pop art: Grab some construction paper and glue, plus a few fun popcorn flavors and colors. Help your kids glue the popcorn to the construction paper to create a masterpiece.
  • To end your holiday on a very sweet note, try our special National Popcorn Day recipe below!

Recipe: Tuxedo Chocolate Chip Cookie Popcorn

What You’ll Need

8 chocolate chip cookies with white and milk chocolate chunks
8 cups Peanut Brittle Popcorn*
2 cups semisweet or milk chocolate chips
½ cup white chocolate chips

*Peanut Brittle Popcorn adds a hint of saltiness that perfectly complements the chocolately flavor of the cookies. But if anyone in your family is allergic to peanuts, use another sweet Popcorn Factory flavor instead, like caramel or kettle corn.

Directions

  1. Pour the Peanut Brittle Popcorn into a large mixing bowl.
  2. Crumble the cookies into tiny bite-sized pieces and add them to the bowl of popcorn. Then, add the white chocolate chips and lightly stir the mixture until the popcorn, cookies and chocolate are well-blended.
  3. Place the semisweet or milk chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl and heat it in the microwave until it is melted, making sure to stir the chocolate every 30 seconds.
  4. Once the chocolate has melted, pour it over your popcorn mixture and gently stir it to get an even coating.
  5. Pour the popcorn mixture onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper and spread it out into a thin layer. Cool it in the refrigerator for 5 minutes or until the melted chocolate has completely hardened.
  6. When it’s ready, break apart your Tuxedo Chocolate Chip Cookie Popcorn into big chunks and enjoy! Store any leftovers in an airtight container.

How will you and your family celebrate National Popcorn Day?

Win Free Popcorn Weekly: Enter the Popcorn Perks Sweepstakes Today!

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Popcorn Perks Sweepstakes

What makes The Popcorn Factory’s heavenly popcorn taste even better? Getting it for free, of course! Because we love our customers so much, we’d like to thank you by giving you a chance to win our popcorn and other snack products each week until December 28. So pop out those smart phones, tablets and laptops and submit your entry today!

Entering the sweepstakes is easy, and you don’t have to buy anything in order to enter or win. All you have to do is take a couple of minutes to send us your info, and you’re all set! Here’s how to do it:

  • If you’re not already a fan of The Popcorn Factory on Facebook, visit our Facebook page and hit the “Like” button. Then, fill out the entry form and you’ll be entered within seconds.
  • If you already like us on Facebook, just visit our Facebook page and fill out the entry form.

A new winner will be randomly selected each week, and you could be one of the lucky ones! To get a full list of details, visit the Popcorn Perks Official Rules page.

So go ahead and get poppin’, and good luck!

Think You Know Everything About Popcorn? Check Out Our Infographic for Some Fun Snack Facts!

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The Popcorn Factory Caramel Popcorn

Just because National Popcorn Poppin’ Month wrapped up on October 31 doesn’t mean the party’s over! We here at The Popcorn Factory live, breathe and celebrate popcorn 365 days a year, so no one knows this pop-able snack better than we do.

To keep the festivities going, we’ve created a super-fun infographic with tons of little-known facts about popcorn. We’ll bet you had no idea that Americans eat 16 billion quarts of popcorn each year (it’s true!), or that The Popcorn Factory is in the Guinness Book of World Records for creating the world’s biggest popcorn ball. And that’s just a bite-sized sampling of all the tidbits we have to share with you!

So sit back, grab a bucket of your favorite kernels and enjoy learning everything you need to know about popcorn. When you’re done, come back and tell us which fun fact was the most surprising to you!

Kernels vs. Colonels Infographic

How to Make a Witch Hat With Halloween Popcorn

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Popcorn Witch Hat

You don’t have to toil and trouble over your Halloween décor! With a few easy-to-find art supplies and some Halloween-themed snacks, you can brew up a wickedly cute witch hat that will spellbind your party guests (no potions necessary).

Popcorn Witch HatWhat You’ll Need

One pencil
One Styrofoam cone
Two 15-ounce canisters of Zombie Kettle Corn
One hot glue gun
One Halloween-themed wreath (handmade or store-bought)

Directions

  1. Using the pencil, draw the outline of any pattern of your choice on the surface of the Styrofoam cone. Here, we used a simple linear pattern to create bands across the base and the top of the cone.
  2. Separate the Zombie Kettle Corn by its four colors (orange, purple, green and black).
  3. With the hot glue gun, follow the pattern you drew and glue the popcorn onto the cone, piece by piece. (Watch out: Don’t burn yourself!)
  4. As you work your way up and around the cone, glue the kernels close together—like a mosaic—so the white cone doesn’t show through. Use small broken pieces of popcorn to fill any gaps between kernels.
  5. Top off the cone with the pointiest popcorn kernel you can find. When the popcorn is completely dry, spray it with glitter.
  6. To make the brim of the hat, lay the wreath face-up on a flat surface and place the cone in the center of the wreath.

Abracadabra, your witch hat is complete! Add a little extra charm by wrapping it with ribbon and embellishing it with feathers, spiders or owls. Show off your creation by resting it on your fireplace mantel, atop your kitchen counter or next to a cauldron-shaped punch bowl.

Now that our Halloween popcorn series is officially over, it’s time to put our readers to a vote! Which creepy craft was your favorite: the popcorn centerpiece, the popcorn pumpkin or the popcorn witch hat?

Movie Night! The Best Films to Watch on Election Day

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The Popcorn Factory Red States and Blue States PopcornNovember 6 is just around the corner, and you know what that means: It’s time for everyone to break out the ballots and choose the next U.S. president! What better way to celebrate than by gathering your friends—democrats and republicans alike—and treating them to The Popcorn Factory’s Red State vs. Blue State Popcorn Mix? Pair up your patriotic snack with a movie inspired by our nation’s commander in chief, and you have a party fit for a president. We’ve rounded up the best presidential films to watch while you and your guests wait for the polls to officially open on Election Day. Here are the five movies that got our vote:

Air Force OneCandidate No. 1: “Air Force One”
Party Affiliation: Action Lovers
The Back-Story: Just after President James Marshall (played by Harrison Ford) announces to the world that he won’t put up with terrorist threats against the United States, Air Force One is hijacked by Russian radicals. Now, Marshall must find a way to save the hostages’ lives … and his country’s reputation.
Approval Rating: If you want to pump up your Election Day party guests with a double dose of excitement and nationalism, this movie is your winner.

 

Candidate No. 2: “All the President’s Men”All the President's MenParty Affiliation: Suspense Junkies
The Back-Story: When five burglars are arrested for breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters, Washington Post investigative reporter Bob Woodward (played by Robert Redford) is assigned to cover the supposedly no-big-deal story. Once he teams up with his colleague Carl Bernstein (played by Dustin Hoffman), however, the duo uncovers a much larger scandal that spells disaster for President Richard Nixon.
Approval Rating: Want to fuel some intellectual conversation at your get-together? This nail-biting whodunit is sure to keep your friends talking.

 

Head of State

Candidate No. 3: “Head of State”
Party Affiliation: LOL-ers
The Back-Story: After being kicked to the curb by his girlfriend and getting axed from his job as an alderman in Washington, D.C., Mays Gilliam (played by Chris Rock) seems to be living life in the shadow of failure. But when his party’s presidential nominee dies in a freak accident, Gilliam accidentally finds himself running for office … as president of the United States.
Approval Rating: With so many debates going on, election season can become pretty intense. This movie is the best choice for laid-back voters who want to lighten the mood.

 

The American PresidentCandidate No. 4: “The American President”
Party Affiliation: Diehard Romantics
The Back-Story: As President Andrew Shepherd (played by Michael Douglas) draws closer to the end of his term, his reelection looks like a sure thing. When a chance meeting with environmental activist Sydney Ellen Wade (played by Annette Bening) turns into a love connection, Shepherd faces career-threatening attacks from the opposing party.
Approval Rating: Who said you can’t find a great love story in the White House? Your starry-eyed pals will adore how this film brings a little romance to the presidential race.

 

Wag the DogCandidate No. 5: “Wag the Dog”
Party Affiliation: Conspiracy Theorists
The Back-Story: Just a few days shy of Election Day, the U.S. president is caught red-handed in a humiliating sex scandal. In a wild effort to divert the media’s attention from the controversy and secure his reelection, he hires Hollywood producer Conrad Brean (played by Robert De Niro) to cook up a fake war and win back his popularity.
Approval Rating: Part comedy, part drama, this movie is the perfect recipe for partygoers who love to second-guess candidates’ agendas … but still have a few laughs along the campaign trail.

"Air Force One" Image Courtesy of Columbia Pictures Corporation

 

If you need even more suggestions for your presidential movie marathon, these runners-up are also worth adding to your list: “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” “Dave” and “Thirteen Days.” Which movies will you watch to celebrate Election Day 2012?

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month Recipe: Pink Popcorn Ribbons!

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Popcorn RibbonIt’s officially National Breast Cancer Awareness Month! All throughout October, charities across the country will be spreading the word about the battle against breast cancer and raising money for a cure. Millions of men and women will be donning pink as a reminder that breast cancer can be defeated with regular breast exams, mammograms and other early-detection screenings. Plus, hundreds of organizations will be helping patients and survivors understand their diagnosis, choose the best treatment and get emotional support.

The Popcorn Factory Pink Kettle CornTo do our part in the national movement against breast cancer, The Popcorn Factory has launched a brand-new snack: pink kettle corn! You too can help support the campaign by giving this delicious gift to the women you care about most. Every time you buy a container, we’ll donate a portion of the proceeds to charity! There are dozens of ways you can use pink popcorn to send your message: Mail it to your friend as an invitation to get a screening together, or serve the sweet and savory treat at your next fundraising event. Throwing a pink-themed party? You can get crafty and whip up these easy-to-make pink popcorn ribbons:


IngredientsPopcorn Ribbon

20 cups pink kettle corn
3/4 cup corn syrup
1/4 cup margarine
2 5/8 cups sugar
1 cup marshmallows
2 teaspoons water

Directions

  1. Place pink kettle corn into a large mixing bowl.
  2. Combine corn syrup, margarine, sugar, marshmallows and water in a saucepan. Heat on medium until the mixture starts to boil.
  3. Once the syrup has boiled, pour it over the pink popcorn and stir until the popcorn is completely covered in syrup.
  4. After the popcorn has slightly cooled, butter your hands and mold the popcorn into the shape of a pink Breast Cancer Awareness ribbon. Rest the ribbons on wax paper.
  5. Melt a bar of white chocolate in the microwave. Once the chocolate has melted, add two drops of red food coloring. Stir the chocolate until it turns pink.
  6. Lightly drizzle the melted pink chocolate onto the ribbons.
  7. Let the ribbons cool at room temperature until they harden.
  8. Once they’ve cooled, remove them from the wax paper and serve them on your prettiest platter!

How will you chip in to help women learn more about breast cancer? Are you starting your own charity or fundraiser to help find a cure? Do you want to inspire women by sharing your own experiences as a breast cancer survivor? We want to hear your inspiring stories!

Halloween Treats and Gifts Preview!

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halloween treats and candyWelcome back Popcorn Fans!

The combination crisp air, changing of the leaves and an abundance of sweaters everywhere signifies the end of the summer and our anxious countdown to our favorite holidays! We know it’s early, but we just couldn’t wait to share all of our hard (yet fun!) work with all of our loyal customers and fans. Today is the start of our Halloween treats and gifts preview! It’s your chance to order these festively fun, scrumptious Halloween candy and popcorn before the rush and share the excitement with us! halloween tin owl

Get started on the Halloween spirit with these scary good gifts! Our newNight Owl design is terrifyingly festive and gives any gift that ghostly touch. Our Happy Halloween and Gimme Popcorn designs are whimsical, fun, and in the spirit of the haunting season! Kids will love the ghoulish cartoons and playful lettering just as much as the gourmet popcorn and candy awaiting them inside. The Gimme Candy tote bag is great for enjoying our premium popcorn and snacks, and then reusing the tote for trick-or-treating. There’s a design in our new Halloween collection for everyone! halloween candy bag gifts

Back by popular demand are our Mr. Bone Jangles and Boo Bats designed Halloween gifts! Take your pick with colorful gift towers and hauntingly delicious popcorn tins. Get set for Halloween night with our Boo Bats Backpack gift, filled with Halloween candy, popcorn and ready to reuse for a secure night of trick-or-treating.

halloween boo mini tins Making their debut are some frightfully delicious new gourmet popcorn flavors like sour green apple, zombie kettle, skinny sea salt, and more! We’re also welcoming back our favorite chocolate popcorn flavors like dark chocolate and sea salt, chocolate drizzle, and s’mores.

When the goodies inside the tins and gift towers are done, reuse this spooktacular gifts as Halloween decoration around the house! The popcorn tins would make the perfect candy bowl for Halloween, too.

Check out our whole collection here and order before they creep back into hiding!

Happy Hauntings!

Popcorn Tin Reuse DIY

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Welcome back readers!

What to do with that tin of delicious popcorn and treats now that it is empty? That has been the big question on all of our minds here at The Popcorn Factory. We recently asked our loyal customers to tell us how they reuse their popcorn tins, resulting in us trying out a few ideas of our own. One of our many ideas we gathered was reusing the tins for dog food, or any kind of pet food for that matter. Makes sense to us when you see how sturdy our popcorn tins are and how fresh they keep our delicious gourmet treats!

Here is a detailed, easy to do, step by step way to turn your old popcorn tins into a decorative fun alternative to storing dog food.

popcorn tin upcycle DIY

Popcorn tin upcycle DIY project!

First, gather all of the necessary supplies for this project. This will include: chalkboard spray paint (which can be found at any craft stores or Home Depot), chalk, some sort of newspaper or garbage bag to cover the surface you will be using to spray-paint or to let the tin sit on top of to dry, gloves, and of course your popcorn tin!

popcorn tin upcycle DIY

Popcorn tin upcycle DIY step 1

Next, you will want to make sure the popcorn tin is clean, wiped down, and ready to be sprayed. Using primer is a good way to create a clean foundation before officially spray painting the tin, but it is optional. We did not choose to use this step and the results were still great!

popcorn tin upcycle DIY

Popcorn tin upcycle DIY step 2

Now it is time to apply the chalkboard paint! Make sure you stand about 5 to 6 feet away from your tin. The paint should begin drying fairly fast so for a smoother look make sure you evenly spray around the tin; trying not to do more than two coats. Trust us, you’ll need the gloves for this!

popcorn tin upcycle DIY

Popcorn tin upcycle DIY step 3

We then spray painted the lid to our tin in the exact same fashion. Whether you do the actual tin or the lid first does not matter, just make sure you let your finished products dry completely before continuing. We set ours on the garbage bag pictured in our first step and let our tin and lid dry overnight to make sure everything was set. With a touch test, we noticed the tins drying within the first hour or two, but better safe than sorry with black chalk board paint on your belongings!

popcorn tin upcycle DIY

Popcorn tin upcycle DIY step 4

Next comes the fun part (or at least for us it was!) decorating your chalkboard painted tin. Any sort of chalk will suffice, even sidewalk children’s chalk comes out fantastic. Here are the end results of our up-cycled popcorn tin. We hope you find this to be a great and fun way to reuse those old popcorn tins just like we did.

Good luck! 

popcorn tin upcycle DIY

Popcorn tin upcycle DIY final step

12 Days of Christmas (in July)

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Christmas gift tin popcorn Have you been celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas (in July) with us? We’re nearly rounding down to our last day of Christmas and ready to choose some lucky winners!

Why Christmas in July? Don’t we know it’s over 100° outside! Well yes, it might be a little toasty outside and Frosty would never make it in this heat, but we love the holidays and think one month just isn’t enough to show and share our giving spirit with our loyal fans and customers! Plus, as an expert gifting company, we put a lot of thought and hard work into creating our exclusive gifts and decided to share a little bit of our creative process with all of you. Right now is our time to work on all your favorite holiday gifts and tins and we couldn’t wait to show off our original designs (and also get your opinion!). Christmas gift tin popcorn merry christmas snowmen

These four Christmas gift tins are just a sneak peak at what we have in store for everyone this holiday season, but they are certainly some of our favorites! The red, jolly “Merry Christmas” tin with playful holiday colors and cartoon sketches is definitely one of the best popcorn tin designs we’ll have this December. Makes you think of being young and seeing your presents pile up and decorations take over the town.

Christmas gift tin popcorn snowflakesOur gold and Christmas lights decorated tin is bright and welcoming, making for the perfect popcorn gift that brings warm wishes even before you get to the presents inside!  The dark blue and white snowflake popcorn tin captures winter perfectly, with crisp and cool colors and intricate snowflakes unlike any other. And last but not least, our favorite snowman popcorn tin playing in the snow fall and dressed to celebrate the winter season and all its gifts!

Pick your favorite and mark your calendars for some delicious holiday gifts to come! And don’t forget to enter the last days of our 12 Days of Christmas (in July) Sweepstakes for your chance to be one of our lucky 12 winners to receive a scrumptious serving of popcorn or become our Grand Prize winner to receive a $100 gift card to The Popcorn Factory and ensure many more days of gifts!

Merry Christmas! (in July)

Christmas gift tin popcorn snowman