Caramel Popcorn and Movie Marathon, my answer to varicose problems.

After more than a week of stress filled shifts with me being on my feet most of the time, I finally got a few days off. A much deserved and revered break for my dilated and growing leg veins. My almost smoking heels need cooling off and a day on the couch with legs raised up is just the way to do it. Coach potato for a day and proud of it!

Me,  35 err  20 no  17 I mean 10   ok 3 years from now.Thanks Ren Ren for reminding me!You seemed to forget foot calluses from hours and hours of walking .

Now, a movie marathon is a good excuse to do...nothing. And when somebody says ''movie'', naturally popcorn echoes back in answer . But since I have all the time in the world...again,  I'm not settling in for a mere microwave popped corns. I'm thinking about something more calorie laden than that. Let's talk about butter and sugar and nuts and things that aren't good for you when taken in excess but we love anyway. So let have some  of it now, shall we?

Step 1. Make the pop corn

Yeeeees that's butter with capital letter B and we are having enough of it in this recipe. Fill your pan/pot with 2 tablespoon of butter  and a bit of oil . Add in about 300 g of popcorn kernels. Do it in batches if you are using a narrow pan. Just make sure each kernel touches the bottom of the pan. Cover but not seal completely to allow moisture to excape. Ok, am I explaining too much? I guess anybody who can tie his shoelace knows how to make some popcorns!( What am I thinking? Excuse me as I burry myself in it....)Transfer popcorn in a big mixing bowl when you survive this  step.

Step 2. Make the caramel sauce

Heat  250 g of butter in a saucepan and add in 400 g of brown sugar and 125 ml corn  syrup until bubbly, stirring constantly. Let the fat and sugar bubble merrily for 5 minutes without stirring. Add in 1 teaspoon of vanilla paste. Take out from the heat and add in 1 teaspoon of baking soda. Be careful, the soda causes caramel to double its volume and become vigorously foamy. That's blisters and burns waiting to happen.

Step 3: Combine everything

Stir 1 can of salted toasted peanuts ( optional and you can use other toasted nuts too). Pour  caramel over the popped corns and toss everything using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until popped corns  are well coated with that gooey caramel goodness. Line baking pans with baking paper or aluminium foil. Tranfer caramel popcorns into it and:

Spread.....

Spread....

And spread some more. Bake popcorns at 120 °c for one hour , stirring every 15 minutes.

Take out from the heat. Hold back for a while and let it cool off for a couple of minutes and break apart into clusters. Store in an air tight container. It could stay crunchy for up to 10 days.....or not. By the time I'm done with Ip Man 1, the popcorn bucket was already half empty.

Donnie Yen's  furious fist was almost a blur, his lightning speed  is astonishing. Our living room was filled with the sound of his punches..

Donnie Yen: Kachaaa! Chatachaktaktaktak chakchak chak!
Me: Crunch! Crunch! Crunch! Crunch! Crunch! Crrrunch!

We are now officially an item......I mean the popcorn and I.

My preciouuuuuuuuuusssss!