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Friday, December 21, 2007

I've noticed a trend lately. People are visiting my blog -- not to read anything I have to say, mind you - it's all because of an entry I posted about Logan's Calf a month ago. Fifty-five percent of my traffic is from that and the other forty-five is all about the sweets - and as Megan likes to say, I'm "bringing the haystack back" because it's my second most searched item. I'm all about revival, folks.

I have one more little recipe to share with you before the brouhaha at my mother-in-law's house Christmas eve. It's something from my childhood...much like the haystacks. I like to have a handful of this while I vigorously clean the house from top to bottom sit on the couch and watch movies with my kids while we are out of school this week. I also like to have a cup nearby while I'm goofing off on the internet researching important topics and analyzing my blog statistics. It doesn't hurt to have a cup of it when I leave the house to finish my last minute Christmas shopping go to our office. You get the idea...basically, as Martha would say, "it's a good thing." Plus, it's easy - if you can boil water, you can make this. You don't even need a candy thermometer.

Easy Caramel Corn
Makes 18 cups Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 10 minutes Bake: 1 HR Cool: 20 minutes


1-1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup butter
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 (3.3-oz) pkgs microwave popcorn, popped (16 cups)
1 (10-oz) can salted mixed nuts (optional)

-Bring first 5 ingredients to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to a medium-low, and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in baking soda.

-Combine popcorn and nuts in a lightly greased large mixing bowl. Pour sugar mixture evenly over popcorn. Using a lightly greased spatula, toss well to coat. Pour popcorn mixture into a lightly greased roasting pan.

-Bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Spreak on wax paper, and let cool 20 minutes, breaking apart large clumps as mixture cools. Store in airtight containers up to 1 week.

Speaking of things from my childhood, last night we all piled into the van and looked at Christmas lights. I remember sitting on my daddy's lap when I was just 5 years old, pajama-clad and starry-eyed, steering the car as we drove around looking at Christmas lights. It was such a magical time -- Christmas music playing on the radio, hot chocolate in the Thermos...ahhh...those were the days. ----Screeeeeech!----(cue up circus music) It was not as fun as I remember. The kids were whining and complaining about their thermostatic differences, they were hungry (we had just eaten dinner), they had to go potty, they were thirsty...sigh. I'm not sure if it's the age differences, or because there's three, or both - but by the time we pulled into our driveway, I had a migraine. I know I'm not the only mother that experiences this, but there were definitely tears of frustration on my part. How did my parents do it with seven of us? I don't remember acting this way -- it wasn't allowed and there were serious consequences if we did.

What I really want to know is how do I train these responses OUT of my children? They are so focused on self that they are barely able to see when a brother or sister is in need. Gah! Any ideas are welcome. Seriously.

I'm NOT taking a bloggy break, unlike many lovely ladies I read. So you can just feel free to return any old time and any given day during this holiday season and expect to see the same sporadic and spotty posting as you'd see any other time of the year. Only three days until Christmas eve!

Merry Christmas, y'all.

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1 comment:

Mrs Pretzel said...

lol I love the same old spotty posting comment!! LOVE IT!! Girl, I don't know WHAT to tell ya, but I felt the SAME WAY when we went out looking at the lights. *sigh*