Stories from our series aging while queer I'm Melissa Harris Perry and that's next time on the takeaway week afternoons at three on 93.9 FM Later on morning edition here on WNYC 30 years ago Soviet president Gorbachev announced a reporters the disillusion of the USSR He looked very tired He expressed his trepidation about the future But I thought he just seemed relieved We'll hear how the Soviet collapse frames current tensions between Russia and Ukraine that's coming up next hour 32° now cloudy skies this morning expecting mostly sunny skies this afternoon with rain coming tonight and tomorrow This is morning edition from NPR news I'm a Martinez I'm Sarah mccammon And I'm Stevens The celebrity chef Jack bishop as a motto My kitchen mantra is pretty simple I serve whatever I cook and I smile No one will actually complain even if the food isn't perfect Go for it in other words and don't worry if things go wrong Keep that thought in mind as we pass through the dramatic story that follows Jack bishop hosts the PBS television show America's test kitchen He occasionally talks about cooking with us and is the holidays arrive he offered to show me a seemingly simple holiday recipe It doesn't show signs of stopping and I brought some corn for popping Popcorn What could be simpler than that You just pop it But Jack bishop says you can dress up your popcorn to make it an elegant snack So elegant that you could package it and give it as a gift So we're making spicy caramel popcorn It's got just enough heat to compete with the saltiness and the sweet and we're gonna use smoked almonds So you have another layer of flavor rather than just general nuts So here's the setup I'm in my kitchen and Jack bishop is watching from his kitchen over Zoom and cooking along with me We're mixing together popcorn nuts and spices and the key is the caramel the sauce that will harden and make it all stick together I don't claim to be high class so I started by using microwave popcorn which Jack reluctantly allowed You can use bagged popcorn You can use microwave popcorn I pop my own popcorn 'cause that's just the way I roll But it really doesn't make much difference How do you pop the popcorn Do you do it over an open fire What's your method The trick is to take three kernels put them in three tablespoons of oil put the lid on and then as soon as they pop you put the remaining kernels in and just do it in a covered saucepan I'm trying to figure out why you do the three in advance is to give the other popcorn confidence to pop What are you doing there It's a signal that the oil is hot enough It basically as with pops.