For many families, popcorn is a favored  and inexpensive snack to have on hand for after school or T.V watching time etc.

But…

Did you know that Popcorn has been around for 6,000 years?

And…

Did you know that American vendors in the late 19th century began selling popcorn at fairs or carnivals. When these entrepreneurs  started to sell popcorn outside of movie theaters, the owners were concerned and annoyed that buying popcorn would distract their patrons from the movie they were watching…boy were they wrong!  It did take a few years for them to realize that popcorn was a way to increase revenues but once that happened popcorn had a special booth inside the movie theatre and it has been like that since 1912.

A funny thing about popcorn sold at movie theatres – The theatres make a better profit from the popcorn than they do from movie tickets, why is that?   For every dollar spent on popcorn, 90 cents is pure profit and add to that, popcorn makes a person thirsty, to people will also buy the expensive sodas – go figure!

Considering how popular popcorn is, it is not surprizing to find a web site devoted to popcorn and it is called..you guessed it.. Popcorn.org.   I highly recommend you go visit and learn some interesting facts, trivia, history, ideas and recipes.. this being one of them:

Yield: 12 servings

Ingredients

10 cups air-popped popcorn

3/4 cup dried cherries

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp. water

1/2 cup sugar-free apricot preserves

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

Combine popcorn and cherries in large bowl.

Combine sugar, water, preserves, corn syrup, and lemon juice in a small saucepan; bring to a boil and cook, stirring constantly, until sugar dissolves.

Cook until mixture forms thick, “ropy” threads that drip from the spoon.

Pour slowly over popped popcorn and mix thoroughly.

Spray 9 x 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

Press mixture into baking dish and cool completely before serving.