Caramel Corn Time

It's been many many years since I've made caramel corn and I'm 98% sure this was my first time making it all by myself. Every year my father-in-law plants sweat corn in our enormous garden. This past year along with the sweat corn, he planted popcorn! I've actually had a few people quite surprised by the fact that we actually plant and grow popcorn, I had "I didn't know you actually grow popcorn like regular corn" (it just doesn't appear in bags at the grocery store people! haha). It takes extra time and care to get it from the field to popcorn kernels. Luckily I have an awesome father-in-law who did all the dirty work for me and gave me the end product, a huge bag of popcorn kernels AND an old fashion popcorn popper...


Get a load of this beauty!! A hand crank (yes you actually have to do some manual labor). As a child anytime we made our own popcorn on the stove it was usually just in a pot on the stove which easily burned if you weren't careful. This was my first time using this baby. I was told to just throw a handful of kernels in there, apparently my first idea of a handful was extremely overdone. Take One: I put a cup of kernels (a cups a handful right?!) and as popcorn started popping through the top, it was still popping! Only about half actually got a chance to pop before I had to start dumping it out. Take Two: Let's try a 1/2 cup....success! Hardly any left over kernels! Yeah me!


For those of you who are completely oblivious to making popcorn other than opening a box and throwing a bag in the microwave, it's really quite simple. All you have to do is add a little oil to the pan to coat the bottom, add the kernels but not to much, and heat on med-low until the oil starts boiling and the kernels begin to pop. But remember to constantly move the pot so it doesn't stick to the bottom and burn and DO NOT open the lid to that a peek!! You will no doubt get splattered by hot oil or get hit my a flying popcorn kernel, trust me :) Then pour the popped corn into a bowl and all I do is sprinkle with kosher salt, that's really all it needs and it is amazingly good! You should try it!


Now on to this sweet snack food called caramel corn...

My Amish Friend's Caramel Corn
Source: Allrecipes.com

• 7 quarts plain popped popcorn
• 2 cups dry roasted peanuts, optional
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup butter
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Place the popped popcorn into two shallow grease baking pans. You can use roasting pans, jelly roll pans, or disposable roasting pans. Add the peanuts to the popped corn if using. Set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Combine the brown sugar, corn syrup, butter and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring enough to blend. Once the mixture begins to boil, boil for 5 minutes while stirring constantly
3. Remove from the heat and stir in the baking soda and vanilla. The mixture will be light and foamy. Immediately pour over the popcorn in the pans ans stir to coat. Don't worry too much at this point about getting the corn coated.
4. Bake for 1 hour, removing the pans from the oven and giving each a good stir every 15 minutes. Line the counter top with waxed paper. Dump the corn out onto the waxed paper and separate the pieces. Allow to cool completely, the store in airtight containers or resealable bags.
   

This stuff is good ad definitely lives up to it's over 600 reviews!