Catching Up

     Only one post last month?  Geez I have some catching up to do!  Most of y'all know that I've been keeping my nose to the grindstone, trying to stay ahead of the curve at school.  I came up for air today and realized we only have 5 weeks until finals, and one of those is Thanksgiving week.  I feel like this semester has flown by, and I'm not sure I'm ready for it to end.
     Besides school, I've been keeping busy with my biggest sewing project yet.  Drumroll, please....

     Monkey requested to be Rapunzel this year for Halloween, and I was all too happy to oblige when I found this awesome free tutorial for making the dress yourself!  In case you didn't see the link to the wig on my previous post, here it is.  This outfit was a total success, and I even found a paper Pascal to put on Monkey's shoulder.

     She nixed the wig after about 5 minutes, but people still got the gist.  She should have gone as Flynn Rider, as sneaky as she was being with the candy.  She'd go up to someone, say "Trick-or-treat", receive her candy, wait until they looked at the next kid, and then she'd reach into the bowl and help herself to a few more pieces.  It took me a few times of watching for it to click that she really was doing that.  Oh well, more KitKats for Mommy ;-)
   
      Speaking of treats for Mommy, I am so excited that the latest Cooking with Paula Deen issue had a recipe for Kettle Corn, and y'all know I have to share it, because it's perfect for this time of year.

Kettle Corn
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup popcorn kernels
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt

In a large Dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat.  Add a few kernels; cover until they pop.  Add sugar and remaining kernels, quickly stir and replace the lid.  Shake pan for 2-4 minutes or until popcorn is completely popped.  Transfer popcorn to a large bowl.  Remove unpopped kernels, and sprinkle with salt.  Enjoy :-)

Movie Night

     I've decided that I'm a wimp.  My daughter and husband left at about 2:00 this afternoon to join my mother and father-in-law at their home for a weekend of fishing and fun.  I stayed behind for a bit of quality sister time, and although I'm immensely enjoying my one-on-one time with my baby sister, I'm also missing my little family already.  My daughter just called me for her "nigh-night" kiss, and I almost cried!  She was so sweet, and it just made my heart ache to think that I'm missing out on a real goodnight kiss.  I think I'm going soft.

    Ah well, like I said, I'm enjoying spending a bit of quality time with my little sister.  Well, I should say "younger sister" considering she won't be my "little" sister for too much longer.  She's already close to my height, and she's only 15!  Well, anyway, it's raining here, so we couldn't go to the beach like she had asked, so instead we had a movie night.  After dinner, we made Caramel and Candied Popcorn and watched Abducted (her pick).  She wanted to watch it because it starred Taylor Lautner.  Coincidentally, that's exactly why I didn't want to watch it.  She won out though, and got to enjoy her five minutes of shirtless-Taylor-Lautner-oggling.  That's honestly all I think she remembers from the movie, as a matter of fact.  Ah, to be young and obsessed with mediocre celebrities!

   Well, at any rate, the popcorn was a big hit where the movie was a flop.  My little sister had fun helping me make (and eat) it.  Here are the recipes so you can try it too :-)

Salted Caramel Popcorn
1 batch stove-top popping corn (popped according to direction on back of the package)
1 stick butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

In a small saucepan, melt butter over low heat.  Add brown sugar and syrup.  Stir until mix, and then let sit on heat for about five minutes or until an auburn color.  Remove from heat.  Add vanilla, salt and baking soda.  Let cool for a couple of minutes.  Then pour over popcorn.  Mix thoroughly.  Spread onto baking sheet.  Bake at 275 for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Let cool completely on wax paper.

Candied Popcorn
This one would be the perfect thing to get rid of all the left-over Halloween candy.

1 batch stove-top popcorn
4 pieces Baker's white chocolate bark, chopped
Your favorite candy; you can use M&M's, Resees Pieces, Ande's, Snowcaps, etc.  I let my little sister pick, so we ended up with these:

Whoppers and Mr. Goodbar

 Yeah, that's what happens when you put the teenager in charge of snacks. ;-)

So here's what you do:

Make you popcorn according to the directions on the package, set aside.  Melt the white chocolate in the microwave at 30-second intervals.  Drizzle the white chocolate over the popcorn, stir until coated.  Add your candy.  Stir some more, and then spread onto a backing sheet before popping in the fridge (or freezer) to harden.  Yum!

Well, this tired Mama is going to go shower and head to sleep because I just realized that for the first time since my child was 18 months old, I'm looking forward to a morning where I will not be awoken before 8 am.  :-D