Friday, December 12, 2008

Caramel Popcorn

Not often do I post a recipe. To me, cooking is the most tiresome thing on earth.......day in and day out, ya gotta do it. I figured out early in my marriage that theoretically I could spend ALL my waking hours planning and preparing meals. UGH.....and NO, THANK YOU! Fortunately, Husband isn't picky about what food I fix, as long as there is PLENTY of it. Due to the amount of physical labor involved in their work, farmers get very hungry.......Husband eats as much as several men, I think (And, he never gains a pound.....he must be immune to fat build-up......his wife is green with envy!) I pity Husband's mother, who had six sons plus a farmer husband.......that poor woman was swamped in the kitchen, and no daughters to help her. Uh......no, the sons didn't help in the kitchen.......there was too much outdoor work to keep them busy. As was the case with our four children.......even the two girls. Sigh.
*
Despite my feelings about cooking, here is a recipe.........probably one you have already, but here goes, anyway........
*
Caramel Popcorn:
Prepare about 6 quarts of popped corn. Dump it into a big bowl or dishpan. (I really, really like this Orville Redenbacher microwave corn popper......corn pops nicely, and with no oil involved.)

This recipe is from a cookbook....."Heavenly Dishes"..... published many years ago by the Baptist church I grew up in.

*
You'd better use REAL butter, or I may have to hunt you down and give you a pound!
Bring to boil, stirring constantly: 1 cup butter, 1/2 cup white corn syrup, 2 cups brown sugar, 1 teaspoon salt. Boil over medium heat for 5 minutes, WITHOUT stirring. Remove from heat and add 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

Gradually, pour the caramel mixture over the popcorn. Stir in slowly and gently. (I wouldn't lick the spoon if I were you......unless you wish to have a badly burned tongue!)

Put the caramel-covered corn in three buttered cake pans and bake in 250 degree oven for 30 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.

Ta-daa......caramel corn! Watch out for old maids!
*


13 comments:

Adventure girl said...

Yummy! My cousin always makes this. I should try it and take it to my family Christmas.

Ruth Hull Chatlien said...

I haven't made this in ages. It brings back memories of college.

rhymeswithplague said...

Jeannelle, probably the reason your bloglist thingy said my most recent post was a week ago was that the "Sing Lullaby" was in draft form since December 6th, and when I initially published it I had neglected to update the publishing date. So it appeared way down in the list until I rectified matters. Having once published it with an earlier date, however, your bloglist thingy is sticking with its original story. It *is* my "most recent post." I hope that makes sense.

Jeannelle said...

Hi, Adventure Girl,

Oh, yes......make some of this.....its yummy.

*********

Hi, Ruth,

Cool.....you made caramel corn in college, that sounds fun.

*********

Hi, Rhymsie,

Well, that explains it then. I didn't think Blogger EVER made mistakes, so figured there must be a deeper explanation.

Pat - Arkansas said...

Ta da! I haven't heard the term "old maids" applied to unpopped kernels in a long time. Thanks for sharing your easy recipe. As for using butter... is there anything else?

Nancy said...

The caramel corn looks yummy, I haven't made any for quite awhile. I did make caramels however, like caramel corn without the popcorn or old maids. I get tired of cooking too. Lately I've been making soups, casseroles, lasagna, etc. and making an extra large pot or double the recipe. Then I have enough for one day of leftovers and put the other half in the freezer to pull out on a day I don't have time or want to cook. I think it's cut my cooking in half. It works better in winter when we are eating those kinds of foods.

DesertHen said...

That looks wonderful!! I'm so hungry right now I could eat my desk.....he, he. I will have to give that a try this next week. Thank you for sharing...=)

Reamus said...

I will post my day in Ottumwa soon.

The answer to why Ottumwa is one of the writers grew up there ot=r had family there.
Such are the complex thoughts in Hollywood!

Laura ~Peach~ said...

hummmmm that looks yummmmy Wonder if there is anything to cook with other than REAL butter? thats all i cook with. Probably why My butt is larger than it should be... HA.
I may have to try this!
HUGS Laura

Deb said...

Have been visiting off and on and thought I should say "Hello". Your caramel corn recipe brings back great memories of my Grandmother. She always made caramel corn or popcorn balls for all of her grandchildren for christmas. That's was so long ago but I can picture her in my mihd, stirring that caramel corn.
I'll have to try it for my family.

Thanks for sharing your recipe.

Debi
Tylerfarm
Maine

Jeannelle said...

Pat,

So glad to hear you use real butter! Yes, what else is there?

I hope the "old maids" reference isn't considered a no-no these days....we still called them that around here.

**********

Nancy,

The plain caramels sound good! And, so does the cooking of larger amounts to use later. I did make a huge pot of chili yesterday because we had b-ball games to attend both last night and tonight and would need something to eat when we got home.

********

Deserthen,

Hey, now that you're working, does that mean you have longer to wait with eating meals? I'm such a snacker here at home; that's just how I live. A few years ago I subbed for our school secretary for a few days, and I could hardly stand the long time between meals!

************

Reamus,

Cool.....Having Radar be from Ottumwa put Ottumwa on the radar of M*A*S*H viewers!

********

Laura,

Oh, I'm glad to know you're butter-user, too! The cows will appreciate that!

*********

Deb,

Welcome to the comment box! Thank you for taking time to leave one. That's a very nice memory you have of your grandma. I always wonder what in the world will stand out in my kids' memories of me someday......

And, you're from Maine.....a beautiful state, I'm sure.....I would love to see the coast there.

Egghead said...

I haven't made caramel corn in years. I do love to cook and bake so I am putting this on my to do list.

Jeannelle said...

Hi, Egghead,

Happy holiday cooking! Thanks for stopping by!