Popcorn Balls!

For Eid, we made popcorn balls. They were super easy to make and tasty. I used a recipe from Taste of Home.com

Ingredients

• 7 quarts popped popcorn
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Food coloring, optional

Directions

1. Place popcorn in a large baking pan; keep warm in a 200° oven.
2. In a heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup, water and salt. Cook over medium heat until a candy thermometer reads 235° (soft-ball stage).
3. Remove from the heat. Add the butter, vanilla and food coloring if desired; stir until butter is melted. Immediately pour over popcorn and stir until evenly coated.
4. When mixture is cool enough to handle, quickly shape into 3-in. balls, dipping hands in cold water to prevent sticking. Yield: 20 servings.

Things We Did:

-7 Quarts of popped corn is about 28 cups. We used 3 bags of microwave popcorn which yielded around 28/29 cups.

-I made up one batch of the sugary sweetness and poured it over the popped corn but it didn't seem like enough to coat them enough so I made another batch.

-Our corn syrup had vanilla flavoring in it already so I probably could have skipped adding vanilla but I added it anyway.

-We used two colors of food coloring (each batch of the sugar mixture was a different color). Although you can't really see it in the pictures, our popcorn balls were red, green (and yellow from the popcorn itself)

-We got about 31 balls, not sure how big each ball was, we might have made them smaller as we got more balls than the 20 the recipe says it yields.

Our mixture bubbling

Right after we poured the mixture over the popcorn

These were really good and pretty easy to make, however they make you feel like you want to run to brush your teeth directly after eating them :)

Ummy, How Do You Make Deviled Eggs?

My 15 year old son came in and asked how to boil eggs. (He wanted some for breakfast).

Well, when I cook, if I'm not specifically following a recipe, I just... do...stuff..

Ok, put them in the water, let it come to a boil....... but he needed specifics.

So I wanted to give him a good set of instructions that he could carry with him to adulthood (When I got to college, I did not  know how to boil an egg at all!)

I turned to Better Homes and Gardens (an oldie but goodie). I told him verbally, but I wanted to have a good recipe that I could refer to when the next child was ready to boil an egg.

How to Boil an Egg

• Arrange the eggs in a single layer in a large saucepan so they cook evenly. Do not stack them.
• Add enough cold water to cover the eggs by 1 inch.
• Heat saucepan over medium-high heat until the water comes to a rapid boil (water will have large, rapidly breaking bubbles).
• Immediately remove pan from heat.
• After removing from heat, cover the saucepan and allow it to stand for 15 minutes.
• Drain the eggs, then run cold water over them or place them in a large bowl filled with ice water until the eggs cool.
• To peel an egg, gently tap it on the counter to crack the shell. Use your fingers to peel off the shell.
• Rinse the peeled egg under cold water to remove any remaining bits of shell.

Well, after the eggs were boiled, he asked me, "How do you make those devil's eggs?" (He was being funny, he's knows their real name.)

Again, when I make stuff, sometimes it's just a throw together kind of deal. But, again, I wanted him to have a good recipe to be able to follow to get the proportions right.

So, I came across another BHG recipe  (via Food.com), tweaked it ever so slightly for clarity and let him have at it.

This is what he needed:

• 6 hard-boiled eggs
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon vinegar
• 1 teaspoon prepared mustard
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 dash ground black pepper

And this is what he did:

Cut 6 hard boiled eggs in half lengthwise.

Removed the yolks

 and mashed them with a fork.

Mixed the egg yolks with all other ingredients.

Filled the egg whites with the yolk mixture.

Sprinkled paprika on top of each yolk mixture.

And voile!

He loved them.  

He--loved--them! 

How do I know?

He made more for lunch.........

Want more great kids' cooking basics resources? 

I've started a collection of them in a Pinterest board:

Follow TJ HOMESCHOOLING's board Cooking-Kids Basic Cooking Skills on Pinterest.