Monday, February 17, 2014

Ham & Cheesy Potatoes

1 bag frozen diced potatoes with onions and peppers, thawed
2 cups shredded Cheddar and Monterrey Jack cheese blend (8 ounces)
1 can condensed cream of celery soup
1 container (8 ounce) sour cream
2 cups cooked ham, cubed

Spray 5 - 6 quart slower cooker with cooking spray.
Mix potatoes, cheese soup, ham and sour cream. Add to cooker
Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or until potatoes are tender.
Stir gently before serving.
Saturday, February 8, 2014

Caramel Popcorn

I've been looking for a Caramel Popcorn recipe and finally asked Aunt Becky for her's. She gave me some great tips too. Most recipes recommend baking for 1 hour. Aunt Becky suggested 45 minutes so the sugar doesn't have a burned taste. She bakes hers in a couple of blue roasters. I found this less messy than using cookie sheets. However, I used parchment paper on the cookie sheets with no sticking. I didn't treat the roasters and ended up with caramel stuck all over the pan.

Ingredients:
2 gallons prepared popcorn in large bowl
2 cups brown sugar, packed
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1 cup Karo syrup
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups peanuts or almonds, optional
a pinch of love

Preheat oven at 250. In a large saucepan heat the brown sugar, butter and Karo, stirring constantly. Bring to a full boil for 5 minutes without stirring. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda, (soda will cause caramel to foam up slightly) vanilla and nuts (optional). Drizzle over popcorn while mixing gently until all popcorn is coated.
Place in 2 blue roasters sprayed with Pam or 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.
Remove from oven and break up popcorn quickly before in cools into a large chunk!