Kettle Corn

Pic courtesy of allrecipes.com

Christian decided about a week ago that he eats too much candy and dessert so he decided to go on a candy and dessert fast after Valentine's Day. I thought I'd try it with him. I made it til 7pm on the first day. And then my body was screaming for chocolate. Anyway, so we had some friends over for games and treats last night and I couldn't very well have all these tempting treats out without something for Christian to munch on. We both love kettle corn, but I've only ever made the microwave bags. I looked on allrecipes.com to see if they had a recipe and of course they did. So, I made it last night and it was seriously so good- it was even gone before the yummy cookies I made! I found what I call Christian's "cheat treat." :) Enjoy!

Kettle Corn
from allrecipes.com

1/4 c veg oil (I used EVOO)
1/4 white or brown sugar (using brown will make it taste more caramel-y)
1/2 c unpopped popcorn kernels
salt to taste

Heat the oil in a large pan. Put 3 kernels in the pan and when they pop, dump the remaining kernels in. Sprinkle with the sugar and cover with a lid. Let it pop, shaking intermittently to avoid burning the sugar. When there's 2-3 seconds between a pop, it's done. Sprinkle with salt to taste.

Chocolate Almond Caramel Popcorn

Everyone loves caramel popcorn this time of year, right? Here's a delicious caramel popcorn recipe with a twist. I love, love, love the chocolate. The caramel's just an added bonus! I'm not one to add any kind of nut to any kind of dessert, but it's an option for all you nut-lovers out there!

Chocolate Almond Caramel Popcorn

12 cups popcorn, popped

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1/3 cup sugar

3/4 cup butter

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/2 tsp. Baking soda

1/2 tsp. Vanilla

1/2 cup almonds, slivered and broiled (toasted) *optional

2 cups milk chocolate chips

Heat oven to 250. Spray two 9x13 pans with non-stick spray. Divide popcorn between pans. In a saucepan, combine brown sugar, sugar, butter, and corn syrup. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until full boil (7-9 minutes). Reduce heat to medium-low. Continue cooking without stirring until thermometer reaches 234 degrees (about 4-6 minutes). Remove from heat, stir in baking soda and vanilla. Pour over popcorn. Sprinkle almonds evenly over top, sprinkle 1/2 cup chocolate chips over each pan (I accidently

left out this step

, so the picture above shows less chocolate than it should). Stir it all to coat popcorn. Bake 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Spread popcorn out on wax paper and sprinkle evenly with remaining chocolate chips. Cool.