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Popcorn in Caramel Sauce

This crisp delicious popcorn treat is created, in minutes, in a microwave oven. I use the eight-cup measuring-bowl to measure the popcorn. I cook the sauce in a large pyrex mixing bowl so I have room to stir the sauce over the popcorn. I try to have a jar of this on the sideboard at most family gatherings.  

Ingredients:

8 cups of popped corn

1/3 cup of butter, melted

2/3 cup of brown sugar

1/3 cup of Roger’s Golden Syrup

½ teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon of baking soda

Step One:

Mix the melted butter, brown sugar, and syrup in a large bowl and microwave on high for 4 minutes, stirring once or twice during cooking time. (Slower microwaves might require 5 minutes) When using my microwave oven, I stir at 2, 3, and 4 minutes, then remove sauce from the microwave oven.

Step Two:

Add vanilla extract and baking soda to the sauce and stir well.

Add 8 cups of popped corn to the sauce and return the bowl to microwave oven. Cook the mixture for 1½ to 2 minutes, stirring half way through. (Slower microwaves might require 3 minutes) I stir at 30 seconds, at 1 minute, and again at 1½ minutes of cooking, then I remove the caramel popcorn from the microwave oven.

Over cooking results in blackening! Experiment with your cooking times.

Once cooked, spread the caramel popcorn onto a waxed paper or Silpat lined cookie sheet, to cool. When cool and dry, break caramel corn apart and store in a tin or glass jar to keep it crisp and crunchy! Serve popcorn to guests in parchment bags.

Fantastic Microwave Oven Peanut Brittle

I am enthusiastic about microwave ovens, and 8-cup measuring bowls. This easy recipe for peanut brittle uses both, and, if you make it, I am sure it will become a festive favourite at your house.

1 cup of white sugar

½ cup of Roger's Golden Syrup

Mix sugar and syrup, in an eight-cup glass measuring-bowl and cook for 3 minutes on high.

NOTE: I have to reduce the heat in my microwave oven to about power eight.

When the mixture has cooked for three minutes, add 1 cup of salted peanuts

Cook for 3 minutes more. Remove mixture from microwave oven.

Add 1 teaspoon of butter

Add 1 teaspoon of baking soda

Mix and cook 1 minute longer 

Pour the hot peanut brittle mixture from the measuring bowl, carefully, onto a greased cookie sheet, tilting the pan so the mixture spreads. A Silpat-lined pan works very well.  

Let the mixture cool and then break the brittle into chunks. 

Store cooled peanut brittle in tins, or glass jars.  

News for Subscribers to From the Cookie Jar Blog

Come and sample my recipes. I will be at Peppers at Lawson Heights Mall in Saskatoon, SK on November 22 and 29, 2014. On the 22^nd, I will demonstrate making spritz cookies, both sweet and savoury, and on the 29^th, I will dazzle your taste buds with delicious angel food cupcakes. I hope to see you there.

Win a prize. I will be giving away three prizes next week. If you know anyone who has been meaning to subscribe to From the Cookie Jar Blog, but still hasn’t done so, encourage that person to sign up today. I have already given away books, autograph albums, and Pluggz shoes. Next week, my subscribers’ names will be entered to receive a gift. Only those who are subscribers to From the Cookie Jar Blog will be eligible.

Know that I appreciate you. I want to thank each of you for subscribing to my blog. I enjoy hearing from you, both in the comment space at the end of each blog and by email.

I love looking back, even though modern thinking suggests we should live in the moment and keep our eyes on the future. How could I decorate for Christmas without remembering and telling the story of every decoration? How could I serve food from the family dishes without thinking of my mom, her mom, and her grandma? How can I be who I am today, without knowing the little girl I was in the early 1950s?

The boy from Get an Even Bigger Wagon made the bell in 1953.

I know you are busy at this time of year, and usually you only hear from me twice a month, at most, but I will be sending extra posts this month. I will be sharing the recipes that I have been demonstrating in Peppers, a local kitchen specialty shop. Fast, easy, fun, and delicious recipes are my currency. Remember, if you click on a highlighted word, you go to another site.