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Posted by Christine Metz August 22, 2008 at 2:19 p.m.

Putting some pop back in the diet

I'm the first to admit that the 100-mile diet hasn't been much of a diet at all. I've indulged in glass upon glass of milk, slathered on the butter, poured on the honey, and stuffed myself full of peaches, corn and potatoes. Still something was missing. I have since given up pining for coffee and chocolate. Yet right around 3 p.m. or 4 p.m., when the mid-afternoon brain lull settled in, I craved a snack that would bring some excitement to cubicle life. A slice of cantaloupe or a nice big bowl of kale, while delicious, wasn't what I had in mind. I wanted something a little less wholesome.Perhaps some popcorn.Jennifer Kongs, the Kansas University student who spent a month on the 100-mile diet last September, first turned me on to the idea. While interviewing her a few weeks ago, she mentioned that there were several old men who sold vegetables out of their garages in North Lawrence. Among them was one who sold popcorn.I next checked the collective memory or our News Center in hopes of getting closer to my target. Typically this is one of the best places in town for tracking down old men who sell random things. Alas, this time it failed. But my luck turned about a week ago, when I picked up lawrence.com's "Things to do in Lawrence if you're not quite dead" edition. Among the reader submitted suggestions was "Go visit Harry Cross, who lives in the 500-600 block of North Street in North Lawrence."It was the clue that I had been looking for. As it turns out, the address was 530 North Street and the owner was Harry Cook, who just so happened to be in his garage sitting in a lawn chair next to his wife when I pulled up Thursday afternoon. Yes, they sold popcorn, he said. There were a few kinds in fact. And, they sold tomatoes, potatoes, onions and, depending on the day, eggs.For more than 20 years, Harry has been growing and selling popcorn. He had been a regular at the Lawrence Farmers' Market, but now he operates mainly out of his garage, like many in the neighborhood. The couple's hours are when they are there. It's as simple as that. Hanging in the garage are signs just in case they are not home. "Out at noon" and "Running errands, be back soon" they read on white sheets of paper. Harry told me he didn't plant any corn this year. But he had more than a 1,000 pounds from the year before to sell. And, it's a hard job. One variety grows ears no bigger than fingers, five to a stalk. Imagine shelling those, Harry said.I purchased two quart-size bags of popcorn. One was of the small, white, fluffy variety. The other was big and yellow. I also bought a carton of eggs from chickens raised in the backyard. The total came to $7.Now, all I needed was something to pop the corn. It had been years since my popcorn came in anything other than a microwavable, expandable bag. I was hoping to get the old-fashion popcorn popper that Harry showed me. It was a large metal pot that you heated over the stove. So, I was disappointed when all I found at Target was Orville Redenbacher's Hot Air Popper and the Stir Crazy Pop Corn Machine. I went for the Stir-Crazy Pop Corn Machine, a globe shaped device that doubles as a bowl and requires less oil.I popped the kernels just shy of scorching them, went light on the butter and added no salt. After a few bites, I detected a sweetness, but other than that there wasn't much difference from other popcorn I had had over the years.And, yet it was just what I wanted.