Okay lunatic fans or better known as my 9 followers. Yep that's right folks, that's 9 followers. Following little old me. Shucks, golly, me oh my. I am looking to grow this number so tell your friends. I mean if I could get say, oh... 10 or maybe even 12 I'd be over the moon. But I remain loyal to you 9 first. I promise to be true to you, at least until I hit maybe say 40 or so, then it's survival of the fittest in here. Kidding...smoochies to all.Alright now on to the long awaited recipes. Starting with some simple ones since I am working on 3 hours sleep and zero patience for anything right now. So I picked a few of the most requested and easiest ones to make. I can assure you it had nothing at all to do with the fact that they were already made and in the pantry. That my friends is just a little coinky-dink. Total chance fluke and all that jazz.
I'll start by saying none of these are Kim originals. I mean are any recipes really originals these days. Someone had to make them first so we could copy them, sometimes perfect them, and every now and then royally mess them up. Two are Paula Dean's recipes and one is a friend's recipe who I will give props to momentarily. So what shall we start with....hm....I vote caramel corn.
So caramel corn is yummy, messy, sweet and gets stuck in the old teeth for sure. But so worth it. And making it yourself I've learned is oodles of fun. There's this whole bubbly thing that is just astonishing, a thing of beauty and wonder. Trust me, you wanna see the bubbly thing. So props for this recipe and the honor of being the first Lunatic recipe go to Amy Valentino and Nate Guerette. *loud cheering and applause*
Nate and Amy's Caramel Pop Corn:
Ingredients:
3 cups brown sugar
2 sticks of butter
1 tsp salt
½ cup corn syrup
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp cream of tartar
6 quarts of popcorn
Directions:
Combine sugar, corn syrup, butter, cream of tartar, and salt in a large pot. Boil on medium heat for about 3 minutes (soft ball stage).
Stir in baking soda- WARNING Caramel will quickly foam and expand. Immediately pour over popcorn and stir to coat.
Pour popcorn mixture into 2 buttered casserole dishes. Bake corn for 1 hour at 200 degrees.
Stir 3 to 4 times while baking to break up.
This stuff is delish. And I am not a huge caramel corn fan. Yet I found myself demolishing it. Yummy beyond words. And the foamy,bubbly goodness you will see when making it is so cool. It's like cooking and doing a science experiment all rolled into one. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Hug props and thank you to Amy and Nate for sharing it with me, even bigger smoochies for allowing me to share it with everyone else. You guys rock!
Now on to granola. This is from a Paula Dean magazine. I tweak it every time I make it. And I tend to make it a little different each time. So please experiment with this one. Change it up, throw in what you like, don't throw in what you don't like. It's all about personal taste on this one. Again I am not a huge granola fan but I do this one more for the guys. I have to admit to eating large quantities when it's warm out of the oven though. This stuff is so sweet and tasty you cannot help yourself.
Granola a la Kim:
Source: Paula Deen, My Sister Deb and my imagination
Makes about 8 cups,more/less depending on what you toss/don't toss
Ingredients:
3 cups rolled oats
1 ¾ sliced almonds (you could use pistachios instead, that is how I've done it on occasion. cashews would be nice too. maybe walnuts. or throw them all in there and have a party!)
1 cup sunflower seeds
¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar
¼ cup honey
3 tablespoons butter, melted
½ tsp cinnamon
2 (7 ounce) packages of mixed dried fruit (paula recommends sun-maid fruit bits, I left these out and added coconut instead this time.don't be afraid to experiment)
Directions:
Preheat over to 250 degrees. Spray a large rimmed baking with cooking spray. (or use parchment,it rocks)
In a large bowl combine oats, almonds and seeds.(coconut too if using it)
In a small bowl combine brown sugar, honey, melted butter, cinnamon and salt. Add to oat mixture and toss gently to coat. Spread evenly in pan.Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool in pan completely. Stir in dried fruit. Store in airtight container for up to one month.
NOTE- I personally double the moist mixture every time I make this. I did not the first time and it was too gritty. If you double it then it sticks to itself better and the texture and taste is better. I am trying this with dehydrated strawberries next time I make it. My sis sent some she grew and then dehydrated herself. So eat on it's own, with yogurt and always make your family members pose for silly photos.Enjoy!
And for the finale we have party mix. This is a combo of Paula Dean, my sis and my self. And yet again I do not care for party mix. I make it for the guys. I seem to make alot of stuff I don't really like now that I think about it. Hmm! Something of kilter about that one. So here it is folks, the much anticipated party mix. We'll call it...wait for it....
PaulaDebiKim's Party Mix:
Source: Paula Deen, My Sister Deb and my imagination
Ingredients:
1 pound peanuts
1 box multi-grain cheerios
1 box Cheese Nip crackers
6 cups miniature pretzel twists or sticks
1 package whole grain shreddies
1 cup butter, melted
â…“ cup firmly packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons minced rosemary ( again I left this out)
2 tablespoons paprika (smoked if you can find out, regular if you can't)
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon thyme
1 teaspoon salt
Directions:
Preheat oven to 250 degrees
In 2 large roasting pans combine pecans, peanuts, cereal, crackers, pretzels and anything else you might want to toss into the mix.
In a medium bowl combine melted butter, brown sugar, rosemary, paprika, chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, and salt. Pour evenly over your dry stuff, tossing to coat.
Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from over and let cool. Store in airtight containers for up to 2 weeks. Eat, munch, mow, devour, nibble- no matter how you eat it you'll say yum yum. This too is particularly delish when hot. The pretzels are the best. I swear it is not me who keeps digging around in the party mix container stealing all the pretzels. I blame Kiana. Or both of us. Unless someone has hard evidence I say it was neither. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
So I hope these easy peasy recipes are enjoyed and cooking in kitchens everywhere tomorrow, or like 9 kitchens, nope wait, Bray is here in mine so technically 8 kitchens. Oh my brain, math on 3 hours sleep. With that I bid you good night everyone. Toodles...smoochies and all that mushy stuff. xx
Photos missing due to a G+ incident, will be restored soon.Â
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