Caramel Popcorn

Now... I know that this isn't the best thing to eat. It's obviously not all that healthy, but when that fatty inside you comes out... sometimes, you just can't help it. I found this recipe at allrecipes.com, and it's DELISH. It is so addicting that I have trouble not eating handfuls of it when I actually make this for friends and family members. I cut the butter amount in half.


recipe;
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 bags popped popcorn (approx.)

directions;
1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (95 degrees C). Place popcorn in 2 foil covered baking pans (the bigger, the better [for easy mixing]).


2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in brown sugar, corn syrup and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil without stirring 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in soda and vanilla. After it begins to foam up and lighten in color, pour in a thin stream over popcorn, stirring to coat.



3. Bake in preheated oven, stirring every 15 minutes, for 1 hour. Remove from oven and let cool completely before breaking into pieces.

Notes:
If you'd like for the popcorn to be more on the chewy side, bake for less time.
For even BETTER popcorn, add a cup of roasted cashews to the mix.
If all you have is salted butter, just omit the salt that's called for in the recipe.

Appalachia!

Appalachia... such a wide stretch of land. Covering thirteen states and 420 counties, you can imagine that the cuisine is anything but limited. Who else better to make the discovery and try it out other than THE Andrew Zimmern, master of eating just about anything and everything that is edible?



Andrew, you never cease to amaze me. From stinky tofu to the variety at the "penis" restaurant... you're a god in your own way. But do you want to know something? Even though there are many things that you've had that I will probably never try, there is one thing that i have the upper hand in... and that is the fact that I can eat durian!