I remember now. It was Popcorn.

I remember, of course, the old tall, yellow popcorn-poppers of the eighties and seventies... and the little foil-wrapped stovepacks, and I know families who pop popcorn in large pots on the stove... But for much of my life, microwave popcorn has been standard, and the saltier and more buttery, the better, in my humble opinion. I love getting the remnants of salt and butter coating off the side of the bag.

I brought some microwave popcorn over to my international friends', and they were surprised and happy and excited... apparently it's rare for them to even see this in stores, much less actually cook it. Some of them plan to take a bunch home with them to give/show to friends when they leave here. They didn't even realize that we sell it on base, because they didn't ever think to look for it since it's just not a part of their lives.

The girl stood right near the microwave and watched it every second, laughing and clapping. I gave them the micro-popcorn 101 lesson about listening for the three-second gap in pops to know it's done and not burn it. It was just so surreal to me to see folks who are in my generation, though a few years older than I, who were so impressed by microwave popcorn!