Top Tips For Christmas 2014–#4

My final tips this year are inspired by this lady. She calls herself a ‘trendcaster’ and ‘futurist’ – and by studying consumer behaviour and the way people act, she predicts how we will be living and what choices we will be making in the years ahead [and by knowing in advance, we can better prepare ourselves]

Personally I am not particularly convinced by many of her arguments, but what fascinates me about this grinning lady is her name – she is

Faith Popcorn

I mention her because at this time of year, popcorn is a fabulous, thrifty thing to have around, and has a variety of wonderful uses.

You can eat it – obvious, I know, but popcorn is very cheap [especially if you buy the kernels and pop your own] There are dozens of recipes out there on the internet [I shall post a couple tomorrow]. I made batches of both sweet and savoury corn to serve up as snacks at our Open House. If you are careful [and do not overdo the butter and sugar coatings] it is much better for you than fat-laden crisps. 

You can hang it – thread some popcorn onto cotton to make garlands- intersperse with dried cranberries if you want to be extra festive. Put it inside, round the tree, to delight your family, or outside round the trees, to delight the birds.

You can pack it – it will cushion delicate gifts like the china ornament you are giving your auntie. Include a note with the gift suggesting that the corn be put outside to feed the birds once the gift is unwrapped!

You can give it. Make a batch of fancy popcorn, put it in a lidded glass jar which you’ve decorated prettily, and that’s a good hostess gift. Or make a batch, put it in a sealed plastic bag inside a box, and tape a cinema token to the lid. That gift gives not just the chance to see a film, but also something to nibble whilst the recipient watches it. And it means there is something to unwrap, not just an envelope to open.

Popcorn - You can use it in loads of ways, it is cheap and cheerful! And making it is such a fun thing to do! I actually checked out Faith Popcorn in a bit more detail, and was really disappointed to discover her original name was Faith Plotkin.

So my final tip this Christmas [which will not surprise you regular readers] is just don’t worry about popcorn, or anything much else - just have…

Faith!