Kettle Corn

Thing 1 had a bright idea this morning...Popcorn! I haven't popped any in months.

My mom almost always made me Popcorn on the stove. When I was little she'd buy the Jiffy Pop poppers. Tell me you remember how fun it was to watch the big silver balloon puff up. 

When I got older she'd just pop it in a dutch oven. Add a little melted butter and salt and voilà. Maybe this why I've never liked the store bought microwave popcorn bags or movie theater butter, I just add salt at the theater. 

If you've never popped corn yourself it's ridiculously easy and worth a try. To boot, you'll know exactly how much salt and butter you're getting. This makes the popcorn healthier and that means you can have more!

The sugar clumps when you add it in.  Don't worry. Everything is going to be okay.

I made Kettle Corn as a party favor at Thing 1's Buggy Birthday Party back in July.  The popcorn had nothing to do with the theme.  It was just something yummy to send home with all the kids.  Truth be told, I messed up the recipe on the first go and ended up with a double batch.  Darn!  ;)

Kettle Corn

Ingredients:
1/4 cup cooking oil
1/2 cup popcorn kernels
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Directions:

1. In a large pot, heat oil over medium to medium high heat.
2. When oil is hot, add in popcorn kernels and sugar.  Stir constantly to prevent sugar from burning.  When popping starts, cover with lid.  Shake the pan over burner during popping to prevent sugar and popcorn from burning.
3. When popping has slowed to 2-3 seconds apart, pull popcorn off heat and pour into a very large bowl.  Stir the cooked Kettle Corn to help prevent clumps.
4. Cool and try not to eat the entire bowl in one sitting.