Well folks the day has come. My FIRST DAY OF WORK has come and gone. I have known it was approaching, looming there around the corner, but in May when school got out October just seemed so far away. As much as I tried to prepare, nothing can quite fully smooth the transition from being a full-time stay at home dog mom to being a full time, 8:30-5:30, forty-five minute each way commuting, adult working person.
I used to be a person who stayed home all day dreaming of recipes, playing with my dogs, and occasionally dabbling in the kitchen. Now I am a person who talks about fascinating topics weather, traffic, the effect of weather on traffic, and Excel on a daily basis.
And let me tell you, it’s kind of a struggle. I LOVE cooking and even I don’t want to cook when I get home. It must be so hard if you don’t really like being in the kitchen to begin with. I promise as soon as I figure it out I will be back with lots of tips! For now though, all I have is a treat. Make it this weekend and take it in your lunch all week!
- Coconut oil (or non-stick cooking spray)
- Roughly 8 cups popped popcorn
- 1 cup pecans
- 1½ teaspoons baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 3 cups brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- ½ cup water
- Grease two large mixing bowls, two large spatulas, and two large baking sheets with coconut oil or non-stick cooking spray.
- Toss popcorn and pecans in two bowls (one really large bowl will also work, but leave yourself some room).
- In a small bowl, mix pumpkin pie spice with baking soda.
- In a small saucepan, combine sugar, butter, salt, and water. Cook on high heat for 10-14 minutes, WITHOUT STIRRING. I know this seems scary and you will want to stir, but it really takes that long. Just leave it alone. Mine took the full 14 minutes. It will eventually turn to a golden caramel. When it does, remove from heat and add pumpkin pie spice/baking soda mixture. Be careful because it will bubble.
- Pour caramel over popcorn and immediately toss using prepared spatulas. Try not to make a mess. Fail. Resolve to never make caramel corn again.
- Pour popcorn on to baking sheets and separate into small pieces. Cool.
- Taste caramel corn. Decide mess was worth it. Repeat weekly until tired of pumpkin spice.