Caramel Corn

I have known my favorite brother-in-law Shane for 13 years now, and allegedly he's been making caramel corn for his entire life. But he's never made it for us before tonight! And it is soooo good; nobody could stay out of it! You could leave out the pecans and use an extra bag of microwave popcorn.

This is a great party snack for fall and winter, and it would make an excellent Christmas gift in a cellophane bag, tied with a festive ribbon. I hope you like it as much as we did!

Caramel Corn

2 bags of microwave popcorn, popped
1 1/2 cups pecans (can sub another bag of microwave popcorn)
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1/2 cup Karo syrup
1 t. salt
1 t. vanilla
1/2 t. baking soda

Mix popcorn with pecans in a large heat-proof bowl. Remove the unpopped kernels.

Cook brown sugar, butter, salt, and Karo syrup over medium heat until it boils, stirring frequently. Let caramel boil for four minutes without stirring. Remove from heat.

Add vanilla and baking soda to the brown sugar mixture and stir. The baking soda will make the caramel bubble up. Pour over popcorn and nuts and toss to coat.

Put caramel corn in a large roasting pan or jelly roll pan. Bake at 250 for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and turn out onto waxed paper in a single layer; cool.

Granola

This is really good granola! It's based on Alton Brown's recipe. I doubled it and was able to fill four of the plastic dishes above, with a little left over. Add some homemade vanilla yogurt, and you have a great gift for a teacher, new mom, or sick friend.

Granola

3 cups rolled oats
1 cup slivered almonds
1 cup pecans (Alton uses cashews)
3/4 cup shredded sweet coconut
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine the oats, nuts, coconut, and brown sugar.

In a separate bowl, combine maple syrup, oil, and salt. Combine both mixtures and pour onto 2 sheet pans. Cook for 1 hour (on separate racks if necessary), stirring every 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and transfer into a large bowl. Add raisins and mix until evenly distributed.

Incredible Hulk Smoothies

UPDATE: Quick, make these and call them St. Patrick's Day smoothies - I got that suggestion from a friend on Facebook.

Green smoothie recipes are all over the internet these days. I got a huge bag of baby spinach the other day, and I thought I'd try these smoothies on the boys. Ben will already drink the green juice from Trader Joe's, so I figured this wouldn't be that much of a stretch. And it wasn't! They drank them right down, flexing muscles and tearing off shirts along the way.

You can sub juice and fruit and even greens with this formula - I just put some things together I thought they'd like. I suspect spinach will be easier to use than kale or another tougher green. Don't forget the frozen banana - it add sweetness, thickness, and creaminess.

Green Smoothies

Makes 3 medium or 2 large smoothies

2 frozen bananas, peeled
1 cup frozen mango, strawberries, pineapple, papaya, etc.
1 cup orange juice
Several handfuls baby spinach (I filled the blender to the top loosely)

Process the ingredients, adding more OJ or water if it is too thick. You'll probably need to stop and stir the smoothies midway through. Blend until you don't see big flecks of spinach.