Farm made Christmas Gifts

Tomorrow is Christmas! I am so excited - almost as much as the kids. One of the things I so enjoy doing is making special treats. No, not fruit cake (although I have had some amazing homemade fruitcakes before), but treats everyone will enjoy. When one of our friends brought caramel corn to our weekly Family Life group, I knew exactly what I was going to do with all that organic popcorn we got earlier this year. Here is my version of Kristi's Caramel Corn.

1c. organic popcorn kernels, popped
1 1/2 c. organic butter
3 c. brown sugar
1 c. light corn syrup
1 1/2 t. salt, Kosher preferred
1 T. real vanilla, or the seeds from inside 1 vanilla pod
2 t. baking soda
1 c. roasted, salted peanuts

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

Melt butter,sugar and syrup in pot. Once melted continue to cook over med-high heat for 5 minutes (until boiling). Stir constantly so it doesn't burn. Remove from heat and add in soda and vanilla. It will foam a bit and "grow", but keep stirring - about 2 minutes. 

Start with the peanuts if your adding them in. Put them in a large bowl and drizzle the syrup over (approximately 1/4 cup) and stir, stir, stir. The nuts need to be mostly coated with the syrup. Set them aside on a baking sheet or roasting pan. Add 1/4 of the popcorn in the large bowl and drizzle 1/4 of the remaining syrup over the popcorn and again stir, stir, stir. Put it on the baking sheet and repeat. You will want to have a few pans to go in the oven as it makes the next step easier.

Set your timer for 15 minutes and take your pan out and stir. Mix up the popcorn and pop it back in the oven. Do this 3 more times (for a total of an hour in the oven) stirring each time. Remove from the oven the final time, mix the nuts in and let cool.

I put the popcorn in clear cellophane plastic bags and tied with a festive ribbon. If you are not bagging it up, don't expect for it to last long. My boys will go through a bucket of this stuff in no time flat!

What is your favorite Christmas treat? Enjoy the rest of your evening and Merry Christmas from Willows Edge Farm and the Logan home.