Christmas Cookie #21- Crunchy Caramel Popcorn

Wow.
I can hardly believe how quickly December has flown by.
What a crazy month of baking it's been!
I definitely sampled a few more tasty treats than I did last year,
but I'm sticking with the whole "I'm great with child" excuse.
;)
Today the kids and I packed up our baking tins
we talked {again} about who we were going to bless with our yummy treats
and tomorrow we will deliver our baking.

I am so excited to see Jesus in their eyes again.
I know He'll be there.....

Today was our last baking day.
Wow.
I can't believe we've made it.
Tomorrow we will hand deliver our baking and I can not be more excited!
Yippeeeeeeeee!

Our plans changed a little as far as who will be receiving our gifts but I think that God has perfectly directed our paths and knew from the beginning who would be eating our sweet treats.
(I promise to write more details on our baking delivery adventure soon.... sometime after the buzz of Christmas is over...)

So, for our last day we decided to make one of our family favorites.
Crunchy Caramel Popcorn. Yum.
We make it every year at Christmastime and munch on it after church while we sit around and visit or play fun games together.
This recipe truly makes the best Carmel popcorn and I am so excited to share it with you!

Our Lesson: Thank you God for the fun family time we have over the holidays. We can't wait to eat this yummy popcorn and visit with our loved ones. And thank you God for being with us through this month of baking. We are so excited to see you at work tomorrow! And we can't wait to celebrate your birthday.....only 2 more sleeps :D

Crunchy Caramel Popcorn

20-24 cups popped popcorn

Part 1:
1 cup margarine
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 tsp salt

Part 2:
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla

Boil syrup (part 1) on a slow rolling boil for 5 mins without stirring.
Remove from heat and add part 2 and stir.
Pour over popcorn. Stir. (don't worry if it doesn't cover all the popcorn perfectly once it's in the oven it will be easier to stir)

Bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour, stirring every 15 mins.
(I use a large roaster so that I can easily mix the popcorn)