Friday check in and Cracker Jacks

Well, I've had a pretty good week. I feel like I am getting back into the routine of exercise. I've logged 7miles running this week, and will run a 5k race tomorrow bringing my count up to 10miles since Monday. I also had my day at the gym. Let me tell you I could FEEL every muscle in my upper arms and chest when I woke up this morning. Wow! My goal next week is to run on 3 days and go to the gym on 3 other days for cross training and strength training. One step at a time. :)

Ok, fall is officially here. The nights and mornings are crisp and cool and the days are wonderfully pleasant. I love this time of year. It always means the beginning of all the wonderful holiday cooking that I love! Yesterday I made one of my favorite fall treats, Cracker Jacks. I got this recipe in 2001 from a friend in Utah. It is easy to make but it does take about an hour and 15 minutes to finish, and you have to pay attention. So, save it for a day when you have the time. I had pictures of the topping syrup cooking but once again my camera showed that it was an unknown format. How can it be an unknown format when I took it with that camera? Anyway, here it is.

Cracker Jacks

You will need:

*1 cup butter

*2 cups brown sugar, packed

*1/2 cup light or dark corn syrup

*1 teaspoon salt

*1/2 teaspoon baking soda

*1 teaspoon vanilla

*6 quarts popped popcorn
*1 cup roasted peanuts (I left out to save money, and my kids don't like them anyway)

1. Pop your popcorn and set aside. I don't think this is 6 quarts, but after I pulled everything out I realized that our air popper didn't make it through the last move. So this beautiful bowl of popped corn came straight off the stove after popping in a little oil. I have to say I felt quite proud that I didn't burn it. So, this can be done on the stove (directions are on the bag), but an air popper is WAY easier.

2. Ok. Here is where my pictures are missing. Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add brown sugar, corn syrup and salt. Bring it to a boil, stirring constantly. Once it starts boiling, let it boil for 5 minutes without stirring.

3. Remove from heat; stir in soda and vanilla. The pictures were cool because you could see how it starts this nice dark rich color. Then when you add the soda and vanilla the reaction makes it lighter and "fluffier" or "foamier". Science is cool! Wish those pictures had not been the ones messed up.

4. Gradually pour over the popped corn, mixing well. I drizzle some, stir, drizzle, stir, just like that. The great part about this step is you can coat the popcorn as lightly or heavily as you want. If you coat it lighter, just make more popcorn to use up the syrup.

5. Dump into two large shallow baking pans and bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. The stirring is important because the heat will cause the syrup to melt off a bit and the stirring re-coats everything. Tip: don't use your pizza pan with holes in it. Yeah, I wasn't thinking very well yesterday and now I have to clean out my oven.

6. After the hour is up, remove and cool completely. Break apart and store in tightly covered container. I actually dumped mine onto the counter onto wax paper so they would cool very quickly. Within 5 minutes the kids and I were munching the yummy treat. I went to book club last night and the whole bowl was gone when I returned. Good thing I filled a baggy and hid it in my hidey hole!