Out of the Frying Pan

Corn Cobs and Popcorn

We did like Grandpa asked and saved all of the corn cobs, then Grandpa placed them on a cookie sheet and put them into the oven.

He said, “I’ll be right back, I have to go and get something from the root cellar,” then went out the back door. My brothers and I finished washing and drying the dishes and were putting them back into the cabinets when Grandpa came back carrying a burlap bag and jars of honey. He checked the oven and said, “They’re just about ready.”

We still had no idea what Grandpa had in mind to do with those corn cobs. We watched as he went into the pantry and came back out with the popcorn shaker for the fireplace and a large bag of popcorn. Aha! We were going to string popcorn! This, at least, we understood.

Grandpa told Lenny and me to bring four large pots into the front room. We rounded up four big pots and met Grandpa on his way back to the kitchen. “Forgot something,” he said.

A moment later, Lanny appeared with lard, a tablespoon, and a measuring cup. “Grandpa said to give you these and to tell you one heaping tablespoon of lard and one cupful of popcorn.”

As Lanny started walking back out toward the kitchen, Lenny asked him, “Aren’t you going to help make popcorn?”

“Grandpa wants me to help him.”

Lenny and I started preparing the pot. He scooped the lard and I measured and poured the popcorn. Lenny put the cover on and lifted the shaker up and into the fireplace. At first we could hear the lard sizzling as it melted, then the pinging sound as the popcorn began popping and hitting the sides and the hinged metal lid of the pot. Lenny shook the pot back and forth to keep the kernels from burning. The pinging sound became more rapid and eventually the lid started to lift. Lenny poured the popcorn into one of the large pots, then we started the process all over again.

When Lanny and Grandpa came in, I asked what they were making. Grandpa just said, “You’ll see,” as he reached down for some popcorn. “I see you boys are about done. You and Lenny get needles and thread from the sewing box and start stringing the popcorn.”

Lanny took over the corn-popping and pretty soon he was done with the last batch. He and Grandpa took the lard and utensils back into the kitchen to clean. A few minutes later they came back and Lanny said to me in an undertone, “I know what he made and you don’t.”

“I’ll know sooner or later,” I replied. Lanny used to tease Lenny like that all the time, just to get him riled. It didn’t really work with me, and that would just rile Lanny up instead.

I sat quietly and calmly, stringing popcorn. Lanny tried again.

“Don’t you want to know what it is?”

“Nope, if I need to know it, I will.” I could see Grandpa out of the corner of my eye, looking around his newspaper. Lanny finally gave up.

It was quiet in the room as the three of us strung long strands of popcorn. We each took our turns saying “Ouch!” every now and then as we stabbed ourselves with the needles. Grandpa finally said we’d strung enough.

“We put this on first before we put on the Christmas balls?” I asked.

“No, Mike,“ Grandpa said. “It’s not for the tree in here, it’s for the dogwood out front, along with the seed cobs in the kitchen.”

I looked over at Lanny and smiled. He just smirked at me.

Grandpa continued, “This way the birds that are still around have something to eat for their Christmas dinner. We’ll make sure the birdfeeder is full, too.”

We all got our coats on and headed outside, carrying our strings of popcorn and our seed cobs. Grandpa went to get the ladder from the side of the house, then directed Lanny to hold the ladder steady while Lenny climbed up. My job was to keep the string from snagging or getting tangled up.

Grandpa went back up on the porch and watched us as he whittled.