I love a snack. I mean, didncha just long for the milk and cookies during snack time at school? I seem to remember graham crackers and juice too, which always seemed an odd combination, but i more happily remember mini red and white milk cartons and the three pack of Charles Chips cookies. Wish I had some right now.

I’m  still an avid snacker. I’ve just changed from highly caloric to healthy (or mostly, anyway). My latest snack obsession is Skinny Pop popcorn. First and foremost it has the perfect ratios of salt and oil. Secondly, a cup’s worth is only 39 calories. I am somewhat addicted to this stuff. I have actually been eating it everyday. And now my whole family is into it, so I can hardly keep us stocked. Sometimes I cruise over to Whole Foods just to get it (now you know how really snack-sick I am).

Popcorn and I go back a long, long way. I used to make giant vats of it when I was in high school, with loads of oil, and lots of salt. I was always shaking one of my parent’s oversized pans back and forth on the stove, waiting for the first kernels to explode to know how long before I could be sitting down with my bowlful and munch. I burned quite a few good pans in the process. I never meant to burn the popcorn, but secretly I did really like those half popped kernels that would sometimes come out of an overcooked batch. I can also remember a few times, when I was young, forgetting to put the top on the pan and having the stuff flying all over the kitchen, and my mom screaming at me, but also laughing at the same time. And, of course, I was momentarily infatuated with Jiffy Pop. Who wasn’t lured in by those commercials of the pan going from flat to the size of a balloon in seconds? But I found it had a tendency to burn and I didn’t really love the taste. In college, I practically lived on the stuff. Me and my popcorn maker were very popular. I once had an air popper, which made the popcorn really low in calories, but it removed all the taste too, so it didn’t take me long to ditch that thing.

During the holidays, at an ad agency, you get a mecca of gifts, many of them food. There used to be a popcorn store on Bolyston Street, right across from Copley, and big tins of popcorn would arrive from there. I remember so vividly once meeting with one of my creative directors, who also had a passion for the corn, while he was literally devouring an entire  tin of it. It was swirling around him like a snowstorm. It was in the creases of his eyes and the cuffs of his pants. My friend Debby and I can still get a howl over this when we speak of it. Anyway, I totally know how he felt in that moment, because I myself can get a little drunk on the stuff.

When Boston Lite Popcorn came out, I was hooked. Always one for a low cal snack, I quickly became a convert to the blue bag. But not at the movies. Let’s talk movie popcorn, shall we? I want to bathe in it. I don’t get butter, I just like it plain, and I don’t like every theaters corn, but there are some exceptional ones out there, namely Coolidge Corner Movie Theater, and West Newton Cinema (except for last weekend, when it was stale, and I was bummed). My husband and I can polish off a large tub before the movie even starts (and unfortunately, we too often do).

Yes, popcorn, I am grateful for you. You have stuck by me through thick and thin. I just hope Whole Foods will keep that Skinny Pop in stock, or I’m going to have to seriously detox.