Not Sorry This Time

We are heading off to Florida to have Christmas with our middle daughter and her family. This time Dennis is with me, having had his shoulder repair surgery and then receiving the doctor’s okay to travel. I’m sure we’ll have nicer weather there. As the annoying commercial says, “Not sorry.”

We’ll both get to watch our grandsons compete in an ice hockey game Friday night. And they are in the championship game in their roller hockey league. It was rained out last weekend, so that game will be played Saturday morning. I really hope those games are as fantastic to watch as the games I attended a few weeks ago while babysitting them. I bragged the boys up so much that a so-so game just won’t do.

I soaked all my houseplants before we left. Our local daughter will head north and water them for me in our absence, as well as check the house to make sure it’s still there. I expect it will be just fine. Our wonderful neighbors will also be keeping an eye on things for us, as we do for them when they travel.

My Arizona bushes have both expired, unfortunately. A while back I talked about them, and thought the one had drowned. So I withheld water from the other for an extra week. I guess I shouldn’t have done that. Next time we get down there to visit friends and family, I’ll look to snitch more seeds from those plants and try again. And next time I won’t leave their pot outside when frost threatens. I did lose a few other plants to that early frost, although I tried to save them. A couple others that were nipped are coming back, but aren’t so very beautiful right now.

Last week I mentioned making caramel popcorn, and that I thought I’d shared that recipe in the past. However, maybe I have some new readers that didn’t get to see it then. And maybe others meant to try it, but misplaced the clipping. And maybe I just thought about sharing it and procrastinated too much and didn’t actually get it sent in. Anyway, I decided I’d share it again. As usual for me, I’ll share the recipe as I first got it, and then explain how I make it, with additional comments. The recipe was given to me by my wonderful mother-in-law.

Caramel Popcorn

3 qts popped corn

1 1/2 C unsalted peanuts

1 C brown sugar

1/2 C butter

1/4 C light corn syrup

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

Place popcorn and peanuts in a large paper bag. Combine brown sugar, butter, corn syrup, and salt in a 2 quart bowl or casserole. Microwave 3-4 minutes, stirring after each minute until mixture boils. Microwave 2 minutes more, without stirring. Stir in baking soda; mix well. Pour over popped corn. Close bag and shake it will. Microwave one minute. Shake bag well. Microwave another minute. Shake bag again and microwave another minute (three times in all). Shake again, then pour contents into a large roaster. Stir while it’s cooling to keep pieces separate.

Now for my comments: When measuring out the popped corn, remove the unpopped kernels. Sometimes I don’t put in any nuts at all, so use another cup or two of popped corn. Sometimes I use mixed nuts. Sometimes I used shelled pistachios. And I don’t worry overly much about whether the peanuts are salted or not.

Make sure wherever container you use is microwave safe and doesn’t get too hot. The caramel sauce gets really hot and you definitely don’t need the container breaking. You also really don’t want to get it on your skin. It will leave a nasty blister, so work carefully.

I always use real butter, so have no idea if margarine works or not. I’ve used regular brown sugar and I’ve used dark brown sugar. Both work just fine. I like to melt the butter first (about 30 seconds), then add the brown sugar, syrup, and salt. After three single minutes and stirring, I then zap the mixture for the full two minutes without stirring. If you’d like a bit more flavor, you can add a teaspoon of almond extract with the baking soda. I always do this. Use a spatula that takes high heat to stir in the soda and extract, stirring a lot. It should foam a little and turn lighter in color.

Working fairly fast, pour that hot caramel sauce into the large paper bag (the brown paper bags from the grocery store are perfect for this) over the popcorn and nuts. Roll the top of the bag down and shake it several times. This is where I only zap it for 45 seconds, not a full minute. Shake again, and zap 45 seconds. Repeat once more, then shake and pour into a large roaster. (If I do the full minute each time, I get burnt pieces because the bag is too large to rotate as it should.) Be careful opening the bag because the steam can surprise your face.

I stir the hot mixture with a wooden spoon for the first minute or so. There will be pieces that stick in the bag. I scrape those out with the wooden spoon. But once the bag cools you can try to pry those pieces loose with your bare hands. After a minute or so of stirring with the spoon, it cools enough to break up the chunks with your hands. I find a batch fits nicely in a gallon zip loc-type bag. The paper bag will be crispy and of no further use. Scrunch it up and toss in the garbage.

Maybe I should have put this recipe in The Courier’s Holiday Gift and Receipe Guide, but I didn’t think of it at that time. In fact, I was babysitting in Florida when I submitted the recipes I did get sent in. Those I searched out online while the boys were in school. I knew the sites where I’d gotten them before. My second mom had this recipe before we all had access to online recipe sites, so I’m not sure where I’d find it now. But better late than never, right? I think you could leave out the nuts and shape this into popcorn balls too. I just don’t care much for popcorn balls. They stick to my teeth too much. This recipe is one I always make at this time of year. Enjoy it.