Wednesday, 19 February 2014

Caramel Popcorn

Want a sweet and salty and crunchy snack? Ya, me too......

Let's make some caramel popcorn!



I have never made caramel popcorn, ever! So I thought I should do some basic research. 

It seems to me that most recipes are pretty much the same. Melt some butter, add some sugar(s), and a bit of salt, let that boil then add some baking soda. Pour the yummy caramel over some popcorn. Done! 

It really is that easy.

When I was looking for a recipe I thought "Who would know butter and sugar the best?" and I came up with the lovely Paula Deen. Yes, I do love Paula Deen! There has been much talk about her racial comment and all I will say is this: If I was robbed at gun point, I may use inappropriate comments too.

Please see here: Paula Deen, context of her comment


So, first to make the popcorn. You could use microwave popcorn, no butter or lightly buttered, or you can air pop some, or you can go old school and use a large pot on the stove. That's what I did and it was super easy and tasted great.



Stove top popcorn was pretty fun to make!

Just heat a few tablespoons of canola oil in a large heavy bottomed pan. Put in 3 kernels only, these will be your "guide" kernels, letting you know when the oil is ready. When these 3 kernels pop, remove the pot from the heat and put in 1/3 cup of kernels. Wait 30 seconds before returning the pot to the heat. This method first heats the oil to the right temperature, then waiting 30 seconds brings all of the other kernels to a near-popping temperature so that when they are put back on the heat, they all pop at about the same time.
Return the pan to the heat. The popcorn should begin popping soon, and all at once. Once the popping starts going like mad, gently shake the pan by moving it back and forth over the burner. Try to keep the lid slightly ajar to let the steam from the popcorn release (the popcorn will be drier and crisper). Once the popping slows to several seconds between pops, remove the pan from the heat, remove the lid, and dump the popcorn immediately into a wide bowl.



Now you have the popcorn,  and here is Paula's Recipe.

Ingredients
1 cup butter
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup light corn syrup 
1 teaspoon baking soda
8 cups popped popcorn

Directions
Preheat oven to 200 degrees F

In a saucepan over medium heat combine the butter, sugar, salt, and corn syrup.


Boil for 5 min. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda. Mix together really well. 


Pour over the popcorn and stir to coat. Taste it very carefully, it will be hot!



Bake in a pan for 1 hour, stirring every 15 min. This makes it dry and crunchy.


Spread on waxed paper to cool and dry.


Enjoy! 


Store the leftovers in an air-tight container....that is if you have any leftovers!


Sunday, 9 February 2014

Two Crafty Girls come from Two Crafty Parents

In honour of our parents' birthdays, it seems appropriate to share just how awesome we think they are and to give them all the credit for teaching us to be crafty. Though we are both grown adults, and do know quite a few things by now, we both still look to our parents for advice and as the examples for how to live our lives.

It was somehow a combination of having high expectations for us and instilling the self-confidence to be able to say "of course we can". You want to learn to knit? Of course you can, and it's completely OK if it's just a long strip (the infamous "snake blanket") that has a different number of stitches on each row. You want to learn to sew? Of course you can, and Dad will proudly wear the plaid tie you made for him.

If you want to try to make something on the mechanical or wood-craft side, such as a built-in cabinet or learning to do an oil change, it starts as "Dad, can you help me...", which really means "Dad, can I help you...", and often turns into "Dad, can I watch while you....". Alright, not entirely true as we both know how to change the oil in the car.


With Mom, she would start with making you do it yourself. If it was something you could do but didn't want to, like hemming a pair of pants, all you had to do was keep asking her questions or starting doing it so badly that she couldn't stand it anymore. She would try to stand back but eventually caves-in, and usually with the phrase, "You're giving me a stomach ache".





So HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our Two Crafty Parents from these Two Crafty Girls!