Anna DeGoede/The Hofstra Chronicle

This flavor combination, based around ideas in Whirly Pop’s official recipe book, was a family staple when we lived in The Gambia. My dad, an avid popcorn lover, would make popcorn on the stove and mix the sweet cinnamon flavor with the spicy cayenne flavor to make a complimentary combination. Then we’d share the popcorn with our groundskeeper, a very sweet old man named Keta, every night we made it.

Ingredients:

Two packages of microwave popcorn (lightly salted flavor preferred)

Cinnamon sugar seasoning (can also substitute with cinnamon and regular sugar if needed)*

Cayenne pepper seasoning*

*The amount of seasoning you put onto the popcorn is up to the cook’s discretion

Instructions:

Sweet popcorn:

1. Pop one package of popcorn according to the instructions.

2. Open the bag while still hot and dump a generous amount of the cinnamon sugar seasoning into the bag.

3. Reseal and shake to mix.

Spicy Popcorn:

1. Pop the second package of popcorn according to the instructions.

2. You can then either dump the popcorn into a bowl and season to taste or sprinkle the cayenne pepper seasoning into the bag and shake like the sweet popcorn.

Feel free to combine the two batches or keep them separate. Enjoy!