I simply do not know what goes through my mind sometimes. Today is a warm 80 degree's in the south and here I am at home for the day. The book orders for today have been taken to the post office and I find myself craving home made caramel corn/With peanuts of course.
So I venture into the kitchen and begin to try and remember how to make it. Now keep in mind my stroke has left a tiny portion in my brain without memories, some significant and other totally meaningless. While I don't mind the fact that I have lost the trivial stuff the important memories are what I want and today it seems Caramel corn is at the top of the agenda.
Surprise to me I take a pen and pad and begin to jot down whats in this wonderful mess of tasty caramel (along with the peanuts) and I recall it's brown sugar, light Karo syrup, butter and salt boiled and then something is added to it to make it bubble up or fizz as one would have it. I can't decide if it's baking soda or baking powder but I figure the powder makes things raise and I also recall baking soda is the ingredient used when making volcano's with menthos and baking soda. So the decision is made it has to be baking soda.
After popping my corn, noticing the house is getting pretty warm and not being sure how much I need I popped a over extreme amount and proceeded to butter and salt it like I am going to eat it like that. Wondering if you should do that or not, but it sounded good. I was also keeping in mind that my mother makes he best popcorn in the house but she was laying in the sun and I did not want to disturb her and actually thought if it works out she will like the idea that I actually remember how to make the stuff.
I stopped and thought to myself, wow this is really sad, after spending years as the boy scout mom, the Fire Dept. entertaining food cooking lover of a good time and the person who orchestrated huge get togethers for group homes and cooked the majority of the food and all of the food at my own home I am struggling to make caramel corn. I laughed at myself and carried on.
I took out pans and poured the corn into them trying to decide what size, realizing it was going to take 2 pans that were huge to bake this in the oven. I thought, figures only you would pop enough corn for 50 people and I laughed again. After pouring this into several different baking pans I found 2 that I liked. Then the problem of how was I going to mix this shit together and I stood perplexed as to where I was going to get a pot or bowl big enough to mix it together.
Well rather than worry about it anymore I decided to use a few bowls and split the mixture up and pour it over each one and mix it together. So then I took several bowls out of the cupboard and put the popcorn in each one till I felt it was full but I could stir it easily. Keep in mind I already have baking pans that are now dirty and piled in a stack on the floor next to the sink because I didn't want my mother to see how many I had dirtied.
So now 7 bowls sit around with popcorn in them and I look at them and think “This is just crazy, quit” but oh no, not me I continue on. Now I'm not sure if my mother saw my mess because when she came in from outside I didn't even look for the mere fact I was engulfed in my project. But I do know this, she went in her bedroom and shut the door.
So back to the caramel corn. I put the caramel ingredients into a saute pan and cook them up and decide it looks right. Then the though emerges into my brain wondering how I am going to add the baking soda, because it's going to fizz up and the saute pan is not big enough. So I take out a large cooking pan and pour the caramel mixture into it then I add the baking soda amount that I see fit. All of the sudden this thought pops into my head that I had purchased a huge corn pot and it was in the garage on a shelf.
I removed the mixture from the stove and run out and climb the ladder to get it down, bring it in and wash it up and the take the seven bowls of popcorn and pour them all into the corn pot saying to myself Yep, this is gonna work”. I take the bowls and stack them on the floor next to the baking pans and then pour the mixture over the popcorn, add my can of peanuts and mix it up. Into the oven it went and it has been there for almost 45 minutes. I tasted it and damn if isn't really good. Hard to belive I worked in a bakery for three years and did everything isn't it. (Laughing here).
I turn around to see my mess of sugar Karo syrup, butter wrappers and several mixing spoons everywhere. Then I look to the floor to see I have accumulated 17 pots pans and bowls and they all need to be washed. So this story is one that has a morel.
After all of this I realize I could have saved a lot of time by asking my mother or searching the internet for the answers to all my questions rather than create this huge mess. Now to clean it up before mom gets out of bed. Man I sound like a little kid who's going to get in trouble, but it's almost embarrassing that I do not remember a lot of this stuff.
Maybe I should stick to writing. Oh well, have a great day and stay out of the kitchen... I remember a lot of other recipes...Laughing here!
P.S. I took it out of the oven worrying if it would get hard like it was suppose to and Damn if it is hard and delicious. Recipe not included, laughing again!Laura Elizabeth
