Last week, a 26 year old Venezuelan who I’ve never met had me weepy eyed, staring at the TV as I jumped up and down with cheers and fist pumps in the middle of my living room.
Have I ever told you that I love baseball? I grew up with grandparents watching one game on TV while another blared away on the radio. Back then, I was all about the Los Angeles Dodgers. But in 1995, Keith and I got married and moved to Seattle. That year the Mariners made it to the post season – in dramatic fashion – for the first time in franchise history.
We were hooked.
On Wednesday, I returned home from an appointment to a wide-eyed Keith who met me at the front door and said, “You’re just in time. Felix is 3 outs away from a perfect game.” So on a hot day in the middle of August, we witnessed history as Félix Hernández dismissed the last three batters to become the 1st Mariner ever to pitch a perfect game and only the 23rd pitcher to do it since the start of major league baseball!
Adding to the fun, my dad texted me with just 2 outs left (he’s a SF Giants guy) – here’s how it went:
Dad:
Am watching 24 up and 24 down for Felix!
Me:
ME TOO!!!!!
Me:
26
Me:
Heart pounding
Dad:
I know!
Me:
tears
Dad:
You bet!
Maybe you’ve heard about the historic game, but have you heard about ‘Felixing’ – here’s ‘King Felix’ in the moment of the win.
By Otto Greule Jr, Getty Images
Here’s Eddie Vedder getting into the act!
Seeing a live baseball game is so fun – I can’t even imagine what it felt like to be at Safeco last Wednesday! In our fifteen years in Seattle, we were lucky to see the Mariner’s play often, first at the Kingdome and then Safeco field. In fact, we spent our first anniversary in a Kingdome suite with a bunch of friends from work.
One stadium treat that always tempted me but I never bought was kettle corn. I couldn’t make myself buy a Hefty-size bag of it. But at home, every so often, we make a batch.
Plain oil-popped corn drizzled with butter and sprinkled with salt is a staple in our house – we have it at least once a week. But sometimes it’s fun to have the salty-sweet kind. I had some toasted coconut and coconut oil in the pantry and when a kettle corn craving hit, I thought, why not? And you know what? It is so. good. Magnificent even.
Okay, maybe not as magnificent as Felix, but few things are. Long reign the king!
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ½ cup yellow popcorn kernels
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons coarsely ground toasted coconut (see headnote)
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt (or more to taste)
- If you have a stove-top popcorn popper (like this one), use it. Otherwise you’ll need a large pan with a tight fitting lid – that’s light enough to lift and shake – and a couple of pot holders.
- Heat the coconut oil over medium heat until melted, then add the butter to melt. Add popcorn kernels and sprinkle sugar and ground, toasted coconut evenly over the top. Cover pan with lid and increase heat to medium high. Shake a couple of times to coat kernels with oil/butter, sugar, and coconut.
- As soon as you hear the first kernel pop, place a potholder over the lid on each side of the pan to secure it when you lift. Now lift and shake the lidded pan just above the heat for a few seconds, then place back on the heat for a few seconds, and repeat until the popping slows almost to a stop. You’ll need to keep the pan moving to keep the coconut and sugar from scorching. (If you’re using a popper, turn the handle the entire time, varying the direction often.)
- Remove pan from heat and tilt the lid to let the steam escape, being careful not to have your hand in the path of the steam. Remove the lid and transfer to serving bowl. Sprinkle with ½ of the kosher salt, then stir carefully with a wooden spoon and sprinkle with remaining salt. Serve immediately.
Welcome! I'm Marissa, and I write this blog. I write about the recipes that propel me (and hopefully you) into the kitchen. 
Popcorn is one of my all time favorite snacks and adding coconut to kettle corn is brilliant, love it. Btw i’m a huge Mariners fan, anytime I go home I try to see a game.
My husband and I love popcorn, this is such an unusual but nice twist to regular popcorn. Thanks for sharing 🙂
I love coconut AND popcorn. So excited to try this!
I know how you feel. Like your dad, I’m a SF Giants fan, so, like you, I cried tears of joy when SF’s Matt Cain pitched a perfect game earlier this summer. When I read about King Felix, I felt equally as emotional. I saw the Giants play in Seattle in June, and even though I can’t stand to see the Giants lose, it somehow hurts less when they lose to the Mariners (Felix pitched the game we saw, and he was great). If I don’t stop talking about baseball now, I’ll never stop (Ichiro to the Yankees! The Giants sweep the Dodgers!), so I’ll just mention how fantastic that kettle corn looks and try not to get too baseball-gushy as I sign off.
I can’t tell you how fun it is to hear from another baseball lover. Yay! It seems out of place to speak of baseball on a food blog, but I couldn’t help myself. 🙂 I know what you mean about loving one team but being happy for other teams (except the Yankees of course (sorry Kat) – though I’ll be rooting for Ichiro). When the Giants took the crown from the Rangers in 2010, I was texting with my dad and felt at least 87% of the thrill he did when Brian Wilson threw that last pitch.
I was never a huge baseball fan, but I got dragged to a game once and hearing the fans of the other team booing Yankees seriously made my blood boil (lived in NYC for over a decade). Definitely nothing like being at a live game. And I love the popcorn recipe (I love cooking with coconut oil).
So true – nothing like a live game. I love it that your blood boiled at the boos. There’s something about the Yankees that draws undying love or unrivaled sports-hate – nothing between. That’s part of what makes baseball so much fun…
Ciao!!! my husband and my son love popcorn, i’ll try this recipe !!!
Ciao Giovanna. I’d love to hear how they like it…
You guys are so cute! And Eddie Vedder-now that was a nice surprise! I love his voice 😀 And last but not least, this popcorn flavour sounds amazingly good!
Thanks Lorraine. Eddie Vedder is pretty amazing AND that he’s a Mariner fan makes him that much better!