The Longer the Life....

We are all familiar with 'use by' dates, and as regards 'best before', this seems to be on everything else. Quite a few ingredients keep for a very long time - long-grain rice is best used after it is ten years old, sugar (kept dry) keeps almost indefinitely, as does honey. In my experience Mung beans still sprout after 20 years of storage.
Foods that you would think would keep for ages are dried pulses, but the older they are the longer they take to cook, until they will never soften at all, so best used within a year of purchase. The one exception being popping corn - I have some which is over twenty years old and is still usable. Whether this is 'popped' in a pan with a little oil, or dry popped using a machine, a tablespoon of corn will make a relative large amount. Always pick the popped corn over carefully to pick out the hard dry unpopped pieces.and
Butterscotch Crunchy Corn
Into a pan put 2 oz (60g) each of butter and caster sugar together with 1 heaped tblsp. golden syrup. Melt over a low heat then bring to the bubble and cook for one minute. Pour over onto a bowl of popped corn and toss with a fork to coat the kernels. Spread the corn out in a single layer onto a non-stick baking sheet and bake at150C, 300F, Gas 2, for 10 minutes until a golden brown.. Remove from oven and as it cools it will become crunchy. Break into clusters and keep airtight. Eat and enjoy.
To make a chocolate version add a couple of teaspoons of cocoa powder to the syrup mixture before boiling.
Tip: For the very best flavour, seek out cocoa powder which comes from the Netherlands.