Caramel Corn

Homemade Caramel Corn

One of the most amazing, aromatic, mouth watering scents I can think of is the smell of fresh caramel corn.  Caramel corn is a fall favorite!  Along with kettle corn, it's also a favorite when we go to Disneyland.  

When we arrive at Disneyland, whether by tram or in the Downtown Disney parking lot the first thing we smell is either the fresh caramel corn or kettle corn.  Both are amazing!  For about $8, the large bag of this delicious treat can be purchased for the whole family to enjoy.  As far as Disney treats go, I feel it's on the more economical side.  For the $8, everyone in the family gets their fill and there is usually leftovers.  Compare that with the $4 ice cream only one to two people get to share.

Even better than buying at fresh caramel corn at Disney, is making it at home.  One benefit of making it at home is we spend a fraction of the cost.  A huge negative to making it at home, is I usually eat WAY too much of it!  Usually I can say, "No," to treats, but Caramel Corn is a weakness.

This recipe can be found in my Grandma's Favorite Recipes book.  It's her collection of her hand written recipes given to me by my parents.  I had to have the book laminated and rebound when I received it.  It has been loved!

This is Cookbook History

Caramel Corn

(This recipe in the book is written by my mom, in my Grandma's book.  I can't remember where the recipe originated from, but we LOVE it)!

Ingredients

6 quarts popped popcorn (We pop ours the old fashioned way on the stove in a pot with oil- no microwave popcorn).

1 cup butter

2 cups brown sugar

1/2 cup light Karo syrup

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

Melt  butter in large saucepan on stove.  Stir in brown sugar, syrup and salt.  Bring to boil.  Boil 5 minutes without stirring.

Remove from heat, stir in baking soda and vanilla.  It will bubble up and foam!

Pour brown sugar/caramel mixture over popped corn.  Mix well.  Pour into large shallow baking dish.  I use a large roasting pan.

Bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.  After the hour, remove from oven.  Allow to cool a bit, then break apart.

Enjoy!

Fresh, popped popcorn

Brown sugar and syrup mixture beginning to boil

Caramel poured over popcorn

Fresh out of the oven

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Pancakes

Pumpkin Sour Cream Pancakes

Pancakes are one of my favorite foods.  I grew up enjoying stacks and stacks of pancakes.  They were one of the only foods that could fill me up and satisfy my hunger pangs until lunchtime when I was in school.  I remember my mom serving stacks of 4-6 pancakes and scrambled eggs for breakfast almost every morning. Her pancakes, made from scratch, were filled with wheat germ, bran, oat bran and whole wheat flour.  They were HEAVY DUTY pancakes!

I also have many memories of my Papa whipping up pancakes on Sunday mornings. He and my grandma would eat some type of hot cereal (Cream of Wheat, cornmeal, oatmeal, farina, etc) every weekday morning.  On weekends my Papa would make pancakes from scratch.  We'd sometimes sneak little surprises into the pancakes, unbeknownst to our patrons.  Sometimes we'd stick a chocolate chip or a raisin in them. Other times we'd be really sneaky and we'd cook a piece of thread inserted in the batter in a circular motion.  The recipient of this pancake would find they couldn't easily cut the pancake.  It was a bit like an April Fool's joke.  We chuckled many times over this trickery.

Although these days I rarely eat grains, since limiting intake, I still love to make and experiment with all types of pancakes.  I make them, but don't get to enjoy them. Bummer!

My family still enjoys them.

On Halloween, I woke early to make the kids Pumpkin Pancakes.  We enjoy these every fall!  I found the recipe in a magazine about 15 years ago.  The recipe comes from Cambridge House Inn, a bed and breakfast in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

I've never had a problem with this recipe, but I have heard people struggle with it. Some people have tried it and their pancakes turn out raw in the middle.  Keep this in mind. Our pancakes have turned out great, so I'm not sure what advice to offer.  Give them a try and see what happens.

Pumpkin Sour Cream Pancakes

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup canned pumpkin
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 tablespoon oil

1.  Mix flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar together in medium-size bowl.

2.  Combine remaining ingredients in small bowl.  Slowly whisk liquids into dry ingredients.

3.  Spray a grill pan with cooking spray (I use a non-stick pancake griddle (at 300-325 degrees), so there is no need to spray).  Our pancakes are pretty thick and fluffy.  I usually pour the batter on the griddle then spread it out a bit.

4.  Serve with butter and syrup.

I miss pancakes!

Halloween Costumes Revealed

Here are my little sweethearts.  Did you guess what they'd go trick-or-treating as?

Last chance to guess before I spill the peas...

Here are my P's with their crazy dad.  He's so proud of  his 'fro and obnoxious chest hair.  Oh my!

We asked "Dad" not to pet the chest hair for the photos.

The Black Eyed Peas