Tuesday's Twist: Popcorn Cornbread

Tuesday's Twist:  A basic recipe with a fun twist.  In other words, just another excuse for me to play around with weird recipes I've been dying to try.

This is a good example of what I was talking about yesterday.  Making cornbread once is realistic, but to make it twice in one day just for the purposes of the blog is unrealistic.  Unless you all want to show up at my door and help me eat both pans?  Hmm, that's what I thought.  

Rather than make a second pan I'll use this as an opportunity to share a little bit about my recipe development process.  Let's see, what's the best way to do this? How about bullet points:

- First an idea pops into my head- "hey, you should make bread with ground up popcorn in place of some of the flour...okay... hmmm... how about cornbread so it's a popcorn cornbread with double or triple corn? ....yes, let's go with that for now."

- Once I settle on a basic idea I compare multiple recipes for the base (unless I already have a tried and true base).  In this case I looked at various cornbread recipes, took bits and pieces of what I liked from each one, then wrote out a final recipe in my notebook.  I write everything out in a notebook to keep track of what works and what doesn't.  It's filled with notes and scribbles of chicken scratch (or rather, kitchen scratch) on ideas, improvements and results.

Flashback Friday: Kettle Corn

Flashback Friday: Revisiting a recipe from long ago

This weekend marks the annual festival at Iowa State University know as VEISHEA.  Students and alumni flock to campus for all sorts of events and entertainment.  The celebration began in 1922 and has since developed many traditions.  During my time at ISU I helped start a new VEISHEA tradition with the Culinary Science Club.  Each year they now make and sell several varieties of gourmet popcorn.  It was fun to be on the initial committee and watch how the tradition has grown and stabilized.  While I won't make it back this year I decided to celebrate on my own with a little popcorn action.

Tuesday's Twist: Orange-Ginger Caramel Corn

Tuesday's Twist:  A basic recipe with a fun twist.  In other words, just another excuse for me to play around with weird recipes I've been dying to try.

I found a new way to predict winter storms and snow days.  When Melissa has the urge to make popcorn, a winter storm is coming.  Even though I'd just made these popcorn balls during last week's snow day, I had the urge to make caramel corn.  Not long afterword a winter storm blew in another snow day.  While it's not much in the way of a weather pattern it does warrant a winter storm warning: imminent danger if stranded inside with a bowl of this crunchy orange-ginger caramel corn with cranberries and peanuts.  Proceed at your own risk.

While my popcorn impulses don't necessarily indicate winter storms, they are often times a result of the ever churning storm in my brain.  This recipe randomly jumped out of my brain around Christmas, right after I made gingerbread popcorn.  It came without warning and with such intensity that before I knew it, there was a batch of popcorn at my finger tips.  A friend asked me where I got the idea, and I said  "umm...I don't know?...my head?"  In the aftermath of said storm I happened to scribble down the measurements I used.

Flashback Friday: Popcorn Balls

Flashback Friday: Revisiting a recipe from long ago

A snow day means pure excitement, right?  I'd say any day is perfect for a school snow day, unless it's the day of a much anticipated class party.  You know, the grade school class parties you had on the last day before a long break or at the end of the quarter.  Snow days were not as welcome on those special days.

More often than not my mom made popcorn balls with us for our class parties.  We'd make red and green popcorn balls for Christmas parties, pink for Valentine's Day and orange for Thanksgiving.  Sometimes we would just pick our favorite color and go from there.  It was pretty cool to have your very own popcorn ball in a fun color.

Oddly enough, I remember making these on the kitchen floor.  We weren't quite tall enough to work at the counter and chairs had this funny tendency to tip over if wiggly children were atop.  The air-popper came down to floor level and we watched the kernels pop with more delight and excitement than you can imagine.  Gooey marshmallows magically puffed and then changed color when the gelatin was added.  After thoroughly spreading butter all over our hands we shaped sticky palm-fulls into balls, just like snow balls.  Each was then wrapped in plastic wrap so every kid in the class could have one.

Flashback Friday: Grandma's Old-Fashioned Caramel Corn

Flashback Friday: Revisiting a recipe from long ago

I know what you're thinking, another popcorn recipe?  Yep.  I bet I have enough popcorn flavors for an entire series on popcorn, perhaps we'll start that in the future.  For now we'll continue with our new Flashback Friday theme by taking a look at my grandma's caramel corn recipe.

My grandma always stirred up huge batches of her caramel corn for our Christmas Eve celebration.  She served it in one of her many antique red glass bowls.  I was able to make it with her during some of the last years she made it.  We filled huge metal pots with freshly popped popcorn.  These pots were big enough to wash a baby in.  I didn't inquire about their original use, but it wouldn't surprise me if something other than food frequented those pots in years past.  Armed with a heavy saucepan and a candy thermometer we set out to boil the sugar into caramel.

Festive Friday: Gingerbread Popcorn

Festive Friday: You always need room to squeeze in a few more treats around the holidays. 

Friday's in December are going to look a little different around here.  December is the one month I can bake all day and then whip up way too many treats without trying to find a decent excuse.  Christmas parties and treat trays are the perfect time time to try out those new cookie recipes or stir up a batch of candy.  Between our traditional treats and all the new ones I'm planning to try, I decided we'll replace Fermented Friday with something a little more festive.  That's not to say our Festive Friday treats won't contain some form of fermentation, (eggnog? rum fudge? brandied cherries? fruitcake???...only time will tell) but no guarantees either.

Now that that's out of the way, let's get to our first Festive Friday treat. Gingerbread popcorn. It's like caramel corn on crack.  Okay, not really, but you know what I mean.  It is super addicting though.

Tuesday's Twist: Peanut Butter-Nutmeg Caramel Corn

Tuesday's Twist:  A basic recipe with a fun twist.  In other words, just another excuse for me to play around with weird recipes I've been dying to try.

Pairing peanut butter and nutmeg may not be your first instinct, but you'll be pleasantly surprised with this cozy combination.  You know that extra flavor peanut butter gets when it's all warm and melty?  Nutmeg seems to capture and enhance that extra toasty warm peanut flavor. In return, the nuttiness of the peanut butter mellows and softens the spice of the nutmeg.  Pairing nutmeg with peanut butter highlights the nuttiness while drawing out the warm, delicate side of this often overused spice. 

Tuesday's Twist: Monster Cookie Popcorn

Tuesday's Twist:  A basic recipe with a fun twist.  In other words, just another excuse for me to play around with weird recipes I've been dying to try.

Between my obsession with peanut butter and my love of popcorn, it's not too surprising for me to combine the two.  I've been making peanut butter caramel corn for a while, but decided to jazz it up a bit for this week's twist.  Popcorn coated with the quintessential ingredients of a monster cookie leads to inevitable munching.

I can justify the munching, no problem.  You see, eating this crunchy snack is much healthier than just eating cookie dough.  Popcorn is a whole grain, so are rolled oats. Win, win.  Peanuts and peanut butter provide protein and raisins count as fruit.  Chocolate is made from cocoa beans so it's practically a vegetable. Wait a minute, that doesn't sound right. Don't believe everything you read.  Are cocoa beans similar enough to black beans to aid in our justification?  Hmmm, maybe we should just go with all things in moderation.

Tuesday's Twist: Poppy Chow

Tuesday's Twist:  A basic recipe with a fun twist.  In other words, just another excuse for me to play around with weird recipes I've been dying to try.

Whether you call it puppy chow, Muddy Buddies, or monkey munch, I'm sure you'll agree this classic treat is addicting.  It's also extremely versatile, so let's give it a twist and run with it.

Traditional puppy chow is made with cereal squares such as Chex or Crispex. This fun twist uses popcorn in place of the cereal. (Get it?  POPpy chow. And no, I did not come up with that, I saw it here a couple of years ago.)  I love popcorn, but why stop there?

Weird Recipe Wednesday: Caramel Corn Muffins

Weird Recipe Wednesday: Because some recipes are so weird I just HAVE to try them.  My curiosity always gets the better of me.


Do you still have some browned butter caramel corn left from yesterday?

Let's make muffins with it. Just for fun. 

Tuesday's Twist: Browned Butter Caramel Corn

Tuesday's Twist:  A basic recipe with a fun twist.  In other words, just another excuse for me to play around with weird recipes I've been dying to try.

These browned butter chocolate chip cookies opened my eyes to the magic of browned butter.  Heating butter slowly until golden brown adds nutty, toffee notes on top of the rich, buttery flavors.  It reminded me so much of caramel corn I figured why not use browned butter IN caramel corn.  Because caramel corn just isn't addicting enough as it is.

Weird Recipe Wednesday: Cake Mix Caramel Corn {and another baking (mis)adventure}

Weird Recipe Wednesday: Because some recipes are so weird I just HAVE to try them.  My curiosity always gets the better of me.

I love popcorn, the possibilities are endless.  Sweet, savory, salty or a little of each (...cinnamon kettle corn with cayenne, so much better than it sounds).  When I came across a caramel corn recipe using cake mix I was too curious to pass it up.  I wondered how cake mix would hold up in the syrup.  Would it get grainy, would it actually taste like cake?