This weekend we took down our Autumn decor to replace it with wreaths, stockings, mangers, ornaments, and the ilk. Among the retired ornamentation were a few ears of indian corn, which I pressed into service this evening for an amusing experiment.

“Who’s ready for Fun With Science?™” I bellowed at the unsuspecting children. They made vague apprehensive noises, which I took as enthusiastic endorsement. “Today, we see if we can pop indian corn in the microwave!” They perked up a little at this, but not enough to leave the table. I threw one of the ears in the microwave, thought about it for a moment, and hit the “Popcorn” button.

10 seconds. Nothing.

20 seconds. Still nothing.

30 seconds. This is getting dull.

45 seconds. POP!

“Woohoo!” The kids were suddenly quite interested indeed, and all ran to the microwave to watch the ear of corn noisily transform itself into a fluffy white mass. Kernels went all over the inside of the microwave, and we laughed uproariously as the mess grew. After about two minutes, things were slowing down, so I pulled open the door and said “Who wants to try some?”

The kids were once again dubious (and have, by this point in their tender lives, realized when Daddy is trying to use them as guinea pigs), so I grabbed a piece and gobbled it up. The kernels were smaller than regular popcorn, but were otherwise quite good. Everybody else soon got into the spirit of it and stripped the cob. “It’s even more delicious with salt!”

I count this experiment a success.