King Of Popcorn

Today they layed Michael Jackson to rest. Long live the King of Pop! And now can we get back to the regularly scheduled program? There is no doubt that this guy was super-talented, that he changed music, popular culture, maybe even the world - but enough already! Judging by the all-Michael/all-day media coverage you'd hardly know that the world is still spinning and that there's major unrest going on in Iran, and a coup occuring in Honduras. And not to mention, a long-winded recession that is still squeezing us all dry. More myopically, summer and camp are happening right here, right now.

Dinner is still a couple of hours away when they get home from camp in the late afternoon, so I'm trying to devise a few semi-healthy/wholesome type snacks to tide them over 'til the main event. Yesterday I made a huge bowl of honey-nut king of popcorn. It has a homespun Cracker Jack quality to it, and was pretty easy to make. I lightened it up with that spreadable butter/canola oil stuff, used half a cup of honey and half a cup of brown sugar. Baking it at a low heat (250F) for about an hour, made it crispy. I dedicated it to Michael Jackson, because one of my fondest memories from the early 80's in Seattle, was sitting at the small TV in the kitchen and watching the Thriller video on MTV like a zillion times, and discovering how wonderfully liberating music can be. Those are honey memories for me now, my early adolescence in the early 80's. As cliched and old-fartsy as it is to say that those felt like simpler times, it's true. The peanuts in the King of Popcorn? Well it's obvious why they're there- the guy was 25 different kinds of nut. So there goes my offering to the growing cult of Michael Jackson.. Now can we talk about something else....?

King of Popcorn

Preheat oven to 250F. Put 10-12 c popped corn in large bowl (or pot). In a saucepan melt 1/2 c. light butter, 1/2 c. brown sugar, 1/2 c. honey and bring to a syrupy boil. Mix in 1/2 tsp. cinnamon and 1 tsp. vanilla. Pour over popcorn and 1 c. salted peanuts- mix well so that all popcorn is covered in syrup. Lay popcorn out on baking trays. Bake for about an hour, stirring every so often.