Homemade Kettle Corn

I only recently discovered Kettle Corn in the past few years. I had heard of it and seen it at fairs and carnivals but for some reason never tasted it. Then I tried some and WOW!   But like many good foods trying to find some that taste authentic can be tricky. There are microwave versions in stores but I don't like them. One brand that I usually trust for microwave popcorn failed miserably with their kettle corn because it used sucralose. Some people don't mind artificial sweeteners but I can taste them. So I was determined to find my own recipe. Here's what I found:

Ingredients:

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup unpopped kernels
Popcorn salt

Directions: 

Using a big pot, heat the cooking oil on medium heat. I found a good way to figure out when the popcorn is hot enough: put three popcorn kernels in the oil and when all three have popped, the oil is ready.

Mix the sugar and kernels into the oil and put a top on the pot. (This keeps oil and popcorn from jumping out on you.)

Here's where it gets a little tedious. You can't let the pot stay on the heat for too long. If you do the popcorn will burn and no one likes the smell of burned popcorn.  So you have to alternate leaving it on the heat and taking it off. I do it in intervals of five to seven seconds.  So five seconds on the heat and then I take it off and shake it for five seconds. Repeat this until it seems like most or all the kernels are cooked. The popcorn has to be shaken consistently because if it stays in one place for too long it burns. Shaking the pot also makes sure that all the kernels get sugar and oil on them as they pop.

Then carefully pour the popcorn into a bowl. It will be extremely hot so I suggest a metal bowl or something that can withstand heat. Then sprinkle the popcorn salt on top and shake it around. (How much popcorn salt is truly a personal preference.  I just do a little at a time until it tastes good.)

So that's my method. It may take some tweaking because stove heat can differ and how long the pot stays on the burner can change a lot.

Tips and tricks from doing this recipe:

While the pot is on the heat, I lift the top a little. Don't lift it so much that the popcorn pops out but just enough to let some smoke out. I've found that otherwise the grease gets too hot and sometimes this can burn the popcorn.

Put the salt on AS SOON AS you pour the cook popcorn into a bowl. Because of the sugar it will stick together. It's easily pulled apart, but putting the salt on as soon as you pour it in keeps you from having to do this later while pulling it apart.

Let it cool a bit before tasting it.  Trust me on this one.

Don't double this recipe. I tried that once or twice and it was a big smoky mess. If you want two batches just do one and then another.

Fourth of July flag cake!

This was really more of a kid recipe. Like so many recipes, "I saw it on Pinterest and Facebook". 

One recipe called for yellow cake mix as the foundation. But I saw another recipe that used pre-made pound cake. Works for me.

I used: 

1 pre-made pound cake 

1 pound strawberries cut in half or quarters (I didn't use all of them)

about 1/2 pound blueberries (again, I didn't use all of them)

1 container of Cool Whip

So I sliced the pound cake and laid it in the pan. Then layered it with whip cream. The kids actually did a lot of that using the back of a spoon. I came back later and filled in the holes and smoothed out the hills.

Then I made an outline of blueberries for the square and let them fill it in the rest of the way. 

With the strawberries I simply gave them a starting point for each row. 

Easy squeezy, lemon peazy.

Pizza Hut Style Pizza!

Last night I made homemade pizza from scratch (it mimics Pizza Hut style).  I would include a picture but it was eaten...FAST.  Yay for me!!!

Here's the original recipe:  

and here is my version with minor tweaking here and there:  

Pizza Hut Style Pan Pizza Recipe

1 1/3 cup warm water (105 degrees F)

1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 package dry yeast
2 tablespoons olive oil (for dough)
enough olive oil to coat the sides and bottom of pan(s)

***Sauce***
1 can (8 ounce size) tomato sauce
1 teaspoon dry oregano
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
1/2 teaspoon dry basil
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

DIRECTIONS

Put yeast, sugar, salt, and milk in a large (2 qt.) bowl. Add water and stir to mix well. Allow to sit for two minutes. Add oil and stir again. Add flour and stir until dough forms and flour is absorbed. 

Turn out on to a flat surface and knead for about 10 minutes. Divide dough into three balls. In three 9" cake pans (or whatever size you want to use...we sometimes use two bigger pans), enough olive oil in each making sure it is spread evenly. Using a rolling pin, roll out each dough ball to about a 9" circle. Place in cake pans. 

Cover with a plate or plastic wrap. Place in warm area and allow to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. 

Sauce: 

Combine ingredients and let sit for 1 hour. 

For Each Nine Inch Pizza: Preheat oven to 450 - 475 degrees F Spoon 1/3 cup sauce on dough and spread to within 1" of edge. Place toppings of your choice in this order: Pepperoni or Ham Vegetables Meats (cooked ground sausage or beef) Top with 3 Oz. mozzarella cheese Cook until cheese is bubbling and outer crust is brown.

As you can see, I tweaked the recipe a bit.  For one, I don't use dry milk.  I use 1/4 cup of regular milk.  I also don't use that much olive oil in the pan.  I do just enough to coat the sides and bottom.

If you have any other tweaks or suggestions feel free to share!

Enjoy!