MoFo 11: Caramel Corn

I've never been a fan of popcorn. While other people munch away happily at the movie theater (in fact I've known people who want to go to the movies sometimes just so they can get some popcorn) I don't see the appeal. However, if you cover it in sugar then I'm a believer! I picked up a bag of Divvies caramel corn as a sweet snack while in Disneyworld last year and ever since then I've been wanting to make my own (I've also recently tried their kettle corn, which is also great). This was my first attempt. I found the recipe on VegWeb (using their handy dandy iPhone app). It was pretty good. It wasn't super special though. A few days later I tried again and using the variations I left out the margarine and added peanut butter. Wow was that a winning combination! My only complaint is that the popcorn doesn't get firm. And after a few hours it was a little bit soggy. There's a recipe in the latest VegNews for a chocolate caramel corn and it has directions to bake the popcorn after adding the caramel to firm it up. I think I'll try that one next!

This was also the first time I tried popping my own popcorn kernels. I found them in the bulk section and followed these directions from wikihow.

Blog posts to peruse:

1) I grew up making just about nothing from scratch. My parents were busy and it was convenient not to. In fact, I honestly didn't know until my adult cooking years that it was even possible to make certain things without a bag mix (silly, I know). The first time I made a cake myself I was amazed. I had a bit of that same old feeling when I saw this post on pumpkin nog over at Manifest:Vegan. I have no idea what's in traditional eggnog (egg?), but it's another one of those things that never occurred to me to make from scratch or to make a different version. This one sounds great. So warming and perfectly spiced for this time of year.

2) Oh, Isa. Another fabulous looking recipe over at the PPK, this time for Cashew Vegetable Korma. I was looking at this post at school and I had someone come up to me and ask me what I was looking at because it looks amazing. I have to agree!

3) I've made several different recipes for chana masala (here's one, and another). I love it. I've been wanting to find a recipe for one that's a little saucier and this one over at Oh She Glows looks like it might fit that bill perfectly! Also, this recipe for garlic pumpkin mashed potatoes with spinach that Angela wrote up later the same day sounds sooo good.

4) mmm...these baked tofu steaks with mushroom gravy look so tasty. This recipe is from Veggie Belly and the texture of that tofu looks perfect!

5) Pretty much the only way I'll eat cauliflower is if it's curried (here and here) or spiced up like crazy (like here). So, naturally this spicy cauliflower with sesame seeds from 101 Cookbooks spoke to me. It said "eat me." Who am I to argue with talking cauliflower?

6) This gingerbread house post from the gluttonous vegan has visions of sugarplum fairies dancing in my head. I can't believe it's almost Christmas-time! Her gingerbread house looks adorable (and tasty). It reminded me of when I first went to DisneyWorld with my family (heavy on the Disney in the post, but I love it...). It was on Christmas eve and decorated so beautifully. The details they go to are just unbelievable--I mean check out this gingerbread house! It is actually the size of a house. Now if only it were vegan...

Win! Robin's at it again. This time she is offering up a copy of Vegan Unplugged. Noelle over at an opera singer in the kitchen has some coconut products from Coconut Secret up for grabs.