When I saw the date today I remembered it was my due date with Cali 29 years ago. She didn’t come until three long days later. (I swear that last week of pregnancy lasts nearly as long as the entire nine months. Don’t you agree?) Memory: it’s what separates people from fish. I’m grateful for memory.
I finished reading Unbroken yesterday. I have a 90 year old friend and sometimes we read a book together and discuss it. Unbroken is our book this time. Her eyesight is failing and so we decided she should have a big head start on the book. I worried I’d ever catch up as she loved the book and moved steadily forward before I even had a copy. Each week she told me what she’d read. I finally got a copy last week and quickly finished it. My, my, my. I’m a better person for having read it. I’m grateful for good books and read-along friends.
I'm grateful for Sunday evenings, too. Popcorn is almost as much a part of our Sunday as hymns or high-heels. Plain, buttered, carameled...it doesn't matter. Calvin likes hard caramel popcorn while I prefer soft. The cracker jack variety takes an hour to bake while the soft kind takes five minutes on the stovetop (that may have something to do with my preference). Tonight I made both.
Cracker Jacks
8 quarts popped popcorn
2 cups brown sugar
½ cup corn syrup
1 cup margarine
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp cream of tarter
½ tsp soda
1 cup peanuts (give or take)
Boil sugar, corn syrup, salt, margarine and peanuts for five
minutes. Add cream of tarter and soda. Pour over popped
corn and stir. Bake in a large pan in a 200 degree oven for one
hour. Stir occasionally.
*It's fun to individually bag this popcorn with a small party favor as a prize, or bagged in a 2 gallon recloseable bag with lots of prizes for a
family.
½ cup brown sugar
1 cube butter
½ bag of marshmallows
½ tsp salt
½ tsp vanilla
4 quarts popped popcorn
Boil sugar, butter, marshmallows, and salt until
marshmallows are melted. Add
vanilla. Pour over popped popcorn and
stir well. *This is a variation of rice-krispie bars.
How about you? What's something you're grateful for this week?
9 comments:
Ooh yummy! I've been craving something sweet and crunchy today. Now I know what would be perfect. We used to make popcorn, special popcorn, every fast Sunday. I don't recall when the tradition stopped. I think I'll start it again next month. Maybe it'll help our time go faster with Danny gone.
My vote is with Calvin. I like the crunchy caramel popcorn. Though I'm not opposed to gooey goodness either.
Milo grew up with that Sunday tradition as well. I keep forgetting they used coffee filters so they didn't dirty bowls with all those kids. I like that idea.
Tonight I made a caramel marshmallow popcorn I found on Pinterest.
I finished reading Unbroken last week while we were in San Diego. I hurried much too quickly through it and was left with nothing to occupy my time in the hotel during naps. I suppose that's the problem with good books; they go too quickly. (Though some of the more brutal parts were much too long.)
Growing up it was always popcorn and Nature. We've veered into bigger desserts and it would be better for us if we got back to air popped popcorn.
Saw our friend Clinton for a brief moment on the way out of my parents' Sacrament meeting. He says hello. I didn't get to see what he's up to these days though.
I don’t mind popcorn but I never crave it, sweet, crunchy or otherwise. But I grew up with a father who did and regularly made it not only on Sundays, but lots of weekday nights as well. It is a favorite treat of Jay’s too. Thankfully, a bag of microwave popcorn satisfies him!
I enjoyed Unbroken immensely one I allowed myself to get into it. I think the author’s personal story in writing it is equally inspiring.
Thanks for getting me here mom. The older I become, the more grateful I am.
I love you,
cali
Calvin and I grew up with a mom that made it every Sunday night. . . .and I LOVE popcorn too! Can't imagine a good movie without it either. We love carmel popcorn here at our house something fierce (don't get to eat it too often anymore thanks to lousy genes), and we make it every year for our neighbor Christmas gift....just finding a fun and different way of what to put it in for delivery. But we do it in the microwave in a brown paper bag! We usually have 2 microwaves going and make it a family activity to pound it all out at once.
Carmel Popcorn
18 cups popped popcorn (use a hot air popper)
Pour into a clean/new brown paper grocery bag
In a glass bowl melt:
1/2 cup butter (no margarine here!)
After melting add:
1/4 cup light karo syrup
1 cup brown sugar
Cook 30 seconds on high, then stir. Cook 3 more minutes on high. Take out and stir, then add
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
Stir until foamy. Pour onto the popped corn in the bag, roll down the top a bit and shake well. Put into the microwave and cook for 1 1/2 minutes on high. Take out and shake well again. Cook 1 more minute on high. Take out - shake, then pour onto parchment paper- spread out to cool. Yum!
We put it into ziploc bags according to the size we're giving away-- this is way easy and fast when you need some quick. If I want it gooey and chewy, I just nuke it for a shorter time--my favorite way! I could eat the carmel part straight out of the bowl (I have burned my tongue WAY to many times doing it too)
You'll have to try it and let me know what you and Calvin think.....
Love you all, Charlotte
I am thankful to be in Utah for my grand daughter's baptism with my healthy husband!pen
I totally agree with the last week of pregnancy. With Blake, I went a full week overdue and I thought I was going to die.
My family loves, loves popcorn. I know now what our Sunday treat will be! The gooey popcorn. Although I know Jason will prefer the cracker jack but since I will be making it we'll try the gooey first! Ha!
We have that book and I need to read it. Blake and Jason have both read it and loved it.
I liked Unbroken. I also recommend Life and Death in Shanghi.
Lynn
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