Kettle Corn!

I'm thinking that since I am blogging my recipes, I no longer need to hold onto the pieces of paper that the recipes are written on. 

I did throw some of them away.  These posts are forever, aren't they?  So why do I need a written recipe?

This is my recipe for Chicken Pot Pie .  I've already blogged about it, so I happily tossed this grungy piece of paper, which is probably about 20 years old.

I love this one.  It's the roast tenderloin I make on Christmas Eve.  It took a few years to get it right.  You can see my notes--by year--on the right side of the paper.

On the flip side, we have the recipe for the mushroom gravy to accompany the tenderloin roast.  I double-starred it because I like the way it came out and that's my own personal code for "no more tweaking."  I love the way I ran out of room on the bottom of the paper so I just continued it up the right side.

The care-package-to-Caitie I mentioned in a previous post was shipped, received, and she loved it.

And then she texted me yesterday, to say that "I SUCCESSFULLY MADE BRUSCHETTA!!! so good!"

So she's putting the blog to use.

And then I thought of my friend, Danielle, who told me earlier last month that her son (21, a college senior) made the Cheesy Chicken Quesadillas With Spinach while at school.

So that started me to thinking, what would be another good recipe for a college kid?

That is the thought process which brought me to today's recipe for Kettle Corn.

Today's Playlist

• "No One Knows".........Queens of The Stone Age
• "Jerk It Out"......Caesars
• "American Idiot".....Green Day
• "Sins Of My Youth"........Neon Trees
• "What I Got"........Sublime
• "1983".......Neon Trees
• "Naive"..........The Kooks
• "Snow (Hey Oh)..... Red Hot Chili Peppers

Kettle Corn

Printable Recipe

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup popcorn kernels
• salt, to taste

Gather your ingredients.

Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat.   Add the sugar and stir it into the oil. (The large skillet is very important.  I used a 5 1/2 quart skillet.  If you use a small skillet, there won't be enough room for the popped corn!  If you are using a smaller skillet, cut the recipe in half; use 1/4 cup popcorn kernels, and 2 tablespoons each of the oil and sugar.) Also important: make sure you have a lid for your skillet.

Add the popcorn kernels and stir them into the oil/sugar mixture until they are coated.

Put a lid on the skillet.  If you're lucky, your lid has a vent built into it; if not, leave the lid slightly askew so the steam can escape.

Give the skillet a good shake every 30 seconds or so;  you don't want the popcorn to burn.

After a minute or two, the corn will start popping.  Use oven mitts, and keep one hand on the handle of the skillet and the other hand on the lid; keep giving the skillet a good shake every thirty seconds.

The corn will be popping like crazy.  When the popping slows down, that is your signal that it's done.  Remove the lid and sprinkle lightly with salt.

Immediately pour the popcorn into a large bowl.  The warm sugar-coated popcorn will begin to stick together as it cools; if you wait too long before you remove it from the pan you will have to break it up, as it will be in one large block.  If this should happen, it's not a big deal.  It breaks up easily.

After you've poured the popcorn into a bowl, sprinkle lightly with salt once again.

Enjoy!