Our Amore Blog: A Little Bit of Sweet and a Little Bit of Salty

Several years back my friend Terry and I would go to Slippery Rock, PA twice a year to scrapbook. We would scrapbook the entire weekend from about noon on Friday to about noon on Sunday. Yes, we would have 48 hours of uninterrupted time… no children, no husbands, just a room filled with happy women scrapbooking. Terry and her sister Chris were the masterminds behind these fun weekends. We stayed at various church camps in facilities set up similar to a college dorm. During these weekends we scrapbooked our family memories, made new friends, sang out of tune to various CDs and we snacked. Oh my did we snack. My favorite snack was the kettle corn that Chris would make. This yummy popcorn was the perfect combination of sweet and salty. I found myself eating way too much of this tasty treat but seriously y’all, I tried to limit myself to just two scoops… but I think you know THAT-DID-NOT-HAPPEN! Finally, last Christmas at Terry’s annual cookie exchange, I asked for this recipe. Much to my surprise it was very easy to make, but it did require a “Whirley Pop” popper. However, it was worth making and I can just about guarantee your taste buds would agree. I made it for our family bingo night and it was a hit. What is so wonderful is this treat can be made to match any given holiday or theme. For example, I made a batch of red and a batch of pink since the theme was Valentine’s Day.

P.S. Soak your popper in warm water after you use it because trust me or shall I say trust my husband (bless his sweet soul for cleaning it for me… wink wink) it is not fun to clean with hard sugar stuck to the sides!

Ingredients :

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil (I used Trader Joe’s sunflower seed oil)

1/2 cup of white cane sugar

1/2 cup of popcorn (white corn works best…I purchased my popcorn in bulk at a local Amish market)

Food coloring (6 – 8 drops)

Sea salt (I used all natural sea salt by Alessi purchased at Target)

Note: Instead of using cane sugar and food coloring, I used colored sugar (1/2 cup) purchased at the local Amish market.

Put oil, sugar, food coloring and popcorn in bottom of popper. Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly, until you hear it start to pop. Continue to stir until it is too hard to stir and popping has stopped.