Air-popped popcorn is perfect
By: Chandy Dancey
I’ve recently discovered my new favourite snack food: popcorn. What’s captured my heart and taste buds isn’t the microwaveable bags infused with buttery-flavoured oil, though — it’s the kernels you buy in bulk and pop yourself. I’ve found it’s surprisingly easy to pop a large serving of this theatre food on the stovetop using a layer of oil on the bottom of a pot, a lid, and constant shaking to avoid burning. The end result is fluffy, warm popcorn that you can dress up however you like and that leaves you feeling satisfied but not feeling heavy like its microwaveable counterpart. Apparently popcorn cooked this way packs a nutritious punch as well since it’s a whole-grain food that’s high in fibre. So, if you have a hankering for something salty to mindlessly snack on this semester, try your hand at popping your own popcorn. It’s cheap, filling, can feed a crowd, and, hey, it’s even good for you.
Real-life adventures
By: Steve Hartwig
On a miserable, rainy day with only the promise of technological connection, I suggested to my eight-year-old son that we take a drive up the lake road and see what we could discover. He was reluctant at first; clearly Minecraft was clogging his senses, and another day could easily be lost to imaginary adventures. I persisted, packed snacks, and laid out his winter gear — a manipulative move because he’s always excited to see his winter gear. Soon, we were in the SUV and off on our day’s real-world adventure.
We turned onto Chipmunk Creek Forest Service Road and started to climb until the combination of snow, mud, and downed trees stopped us in our tracks — but it wouldn’t end our exploration. We got out on foot and continued to wander until we were cold, wet, and hungry.
On the way back we stopped at our favourite food truck to share poutine. I felt fortunate we were able to make our day trip happen. We both munched away and spoke about how much fun we had. When it was time to go, my son began grinning widely and said he was proud to have left his first yellow snow cone for the animals.
Humour will save us
By: Andrea Sadowski
Well guys, 2021 is off to a pretty rocky start already. I find this new season of “U.S.A.” to be both thrilling and terrifying, as a shirtless, face-painted, Confederate-flag-waving, Chewbacca-hat-wearing man stormed Capitol Hill last week along with a mob of other white supremacists. In this dystopian present, people are able to live-tweet and upload images to social media as historic events like this one are unfolding. So, naturally, I spent most of the day taking in all the pictures and videos of these “special” guys and the only thing I could think of is “I am really looking forward to the memes that will come from this day.”
You see, if we can’t laugh while the world is crumbling all around us, what’s the point? I would rather laugh at funny memes starring the guy who stole the podium than think about the potential aftermath of this attempted coup. We need to be able to find the humour in stressful, unpleasant situations otherwise we will be crushed under the weight of it all.
Package delivery from the miserable
By: Carissa Wiens
The post office was one of the grimmest places I found myself in last month. I only went once, but that visit was enough to ensure I delegated mailing the rest of my packages to my partner so I wouldn’t have to go back.
Canada Post shipped 7.3 million packages from Dec. 14 – 17 last year. With that figure, you can imagine how unpleasant my visit was on Dec. 15. The line snaked out the post office area (in the Shoppers Drug Mart), up through the potato chip aisle, and ended near the bath products. When I entered the shop I didn’t realize the queue of miserable looking people I was walking past to get to the counter was the line of people waiting for the post office. It was embarrassing turning back in front of everyone to walk all the way back to the end of the line until I realized legitimately every other person did the same thing before filing in line.
The cherry on top of the experience was the price of mailing a 300-page novel 40 km away: $11.43.
Hopefully next year I can just hand deliver my packages to friends.
(Rain Neeposh/The Cascade)
Chandy is a biology major/chemistry minor who's been a staff writer, Arts editor, and Managing Editor at The Cascade. She began writing in elementary school when she produced Tamagotchi fanfiction to show her peers at school -- she now lives in fear that this may have been her creative peak.
Steve is a third-year BFA creative writing/visual arts student who’s been a contributing writer, staff writer and now an editor at The Cascade. He's always found stories and adventures but now has the joy of capturing and reporting them.
Andrea Sadowski is working towards her BA in Global Development Studies, with a minor in anthropology and Mennonite studies. When she's not sitting in front of her computer, Andrea enjoys climbing mountains, sleeping outside, cooking delicious plant-based food, talking to animals, and dismantling the patriarchy.
