caramel popcorn

looking back, i don't know how my mom survived sometimes. my dad had various duties in our church growing up, making it impossible to always sit with us on sundays. so, that left my mom trying to take six kids {all within eight years of each other} to church on her own - which i'm sure was more of a chore than most people can handle. if one kid wasn't pulling another one's hair because he stole their crayons, then she had three kids begging and whining and pleading for her to tickle their backs - that was tough to do with only two hands. i can't help but laugh out of pure shame for what we put her through at times. my parents are smart though. they had some tricks of their own. cue "the reverence award". that sounds pretty self-explanatory right? if we were reverent during church, we got an award. simple enough. it was always a sad day when we weren't reverent though and we were banned from the goodies that would be enjoyed by the rest of the family that night. we had all kinds of stuff - dad's famous strawberry shortcake, ice cream sundaes, apple crisp, white chocolate chip cookies, but my most favorite of all was caramel popcorn.

             

the best part about helping to make this delicious treat was getting to lick the spatula after using it to pour in the sweetened condensed milk. we would fight over that thing like cats and dogs. then, after all was said and done, we would about die in anticipation, when having to wait for it all to cool, so we didn't burn our tongues. i made a batch of this the other day and boy does it take me back. now, i'm here to share this favorite recipe with you!

ingredients:

• 1 cup popcorn kernels {more or less, depending on how caramely you want it}
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1 cup karo syrup
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 extra strong prayer for continued health after eating this {added by the mr.}

directions:

• pop popcorn in an air popper. divide into two large bowl and set aside.
• in a medium saucepan, combine sugar and syrup. stir until sugar is dissolved and let boil one minute.
• add butter. once butter is completely melted, let boil for one minute again.
• add sweetened condensed milk and stir well. bring to boil and let boil for one minute.
• divide and pour caramel evenly between the two bowls of popcorn and stir well to lightly coat each kernel.
• enjoy your yummy, delicious treat! {after it cools, of course ;)}

i hope you fall in love with this just as much as i did. maybe if you're lucky, it will become a family favorite of your own!

-the mrs.