Hi there! Welcome! Enjoy a Cyclops treat!
I had a few hours off this afternoon from work and decided to make a batch of Mrs. McCool’s Popcorn balls (I don’t know who Mrs. McCool is, but thank you for the recipe if you’re reading this, Mrs. McCool!) – Mom made these for us at Halloween when we were kids. Only she made them bigger than I made these ones and I remember watching her mix the popcorn and syrup together in the big turkey roasting pan. It’s a big recipe – that’s a lot of popcorn to coat with delicious sugary corn syrup.
Stir just until combined:
3-1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup white vinegar
3/4 cup hot water
Bring to a boil stirring only occasionally. Boil till soft ball stage (240 degrees on the candy thermometer)
Please note: the smell of vinegar is pretty strong when you heat it up. Mike walked into the kitchen asking “What stinks? What are you making?” but when it’s all mixed up with the popcorn, you don’t taste it at all.
While the syrup is cooking, pop 5 quarts of popcorn. I made 2 batches of popcorn in the popper and did my best to pick out all the unpopped kernels before proceeding. Those unpopped pieces are murder on the teeth if you get one by accident.
Remove the syrup from heat and add 1 tsp. soda.
Pour over popcorn.
Yield – 30 large balls.
Here are some hints to make this recipe easier:
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Continued from the last post…
Once you’ve got the chocolate mixture bubbling for a couple of minutes, it’s time to take it off the element (or fire!) and add 6 to 7 cups of puffed wheat cereal. I know the recipe card says 6-8 cups, but 6 1/2 cups makes a nice, heavily coated batch of squares. So, add in your cereal:
Stir it in until it’s nicely coated. If it’s too runny, just add more cereal!
Get out your 7X11 inch glass pan – or any old pan, but this recipe fills this pan perfectly:
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This past Saturday afternoon I packed up some goodies and jam and headed out to meet Denise and Cynthia at Minnekhada Park in Coquitlam – we decided to meet in the middle this time (between Mission and Burnaby) and that was my bright idea. I showed up in clogs holding this plate of treats wrapped in cellophane. Sadly, the front entrance where all the picnic tables are located was closed for a special event and we would have to walk a few kilometers in to get to the picnic area. Ah boo. And since we knew it was going to rain, I decided not to have a back up plan because:
1) it wasn’t REALLY going to rain. It had been hot and dry for weeks.
2) who needs to plan anything? I’d rather just wing it. What could possibly go wrong?
We arrived at the back entrance of the park at noon with growly stomachs in the pouring rain. And no covered areas in sight. We drove around and around and eventually ended up at a place called Hyde Park – whereupon Cynthia pointed out an enormous tree that looked dry underneath. Jackpot! It really was dry. Out came the unicorn blanket from the back of the car and voilà! Lunch was served.
Denise was brilliant – she brought a pot of hot water and tea bags and proper tea mugs for this event along with salad and meat. And that tea washed down Cynthia’s freshly made pita bread with Baba Ganoush dip. Lunch was a big success in the end. Thankfully I’ve got patient friends.
We also exchanged gifts for our birthdays last month. Denise gave me this great hospitality book by Amy Sedaris – I’m reading it on the bus to and from work. And Cynthia gave me this!
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Dairy Queen was giving away free mini Blizzards today and Maëlle Ricker was there signing autographs WITH her gold medal. Remember her kicking all that a$$ at the Olympics? Here’s the video of her winning the Snowboard Cross race in February. I got to the event around 11:20 (I took an early lunch – I promise. The event was only 2 blocks away from my office.) and there was just the right amount of people there. That steadily increased as it grew closer to the noon mark.
There were plenty of treats for everyone who arrived – little cups of ice cream and some cookies. And a gold medal.
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