Grown Up Night: Popcorn Balls

On Saturday night, Thatboy and I headed out for a much needed date night.  We don't do those nearly enough and they always make me extremely giddy.  Partially because it is an amazing feeling to eat dinner at a "grown up" time and have uninterrupted grown up conversation!

We sat beside a large plate glass window overlooking fountains while we ate lobster bisque, brie, steak, pork, creme brulee, key lime pie, and a chocolate brownie.  We got to talk about our days, upcoming plans, and enjoy the company.  I love nights like that, they make me feel young again.

We got home to find our master manipulator had convinced his sitters to let him stay up, as he dived into the bed and pretended to be asleep as we walked in.  But honestly, I can't get worked up about him staying up late every now and again, especially when it means he doesn't scream, cry, or wail when we leave the house.

It helps that we spent the entire day with him, catering to what he wanted to do.  There's nothing quite like spending hours making dinosaurs out of clay!  And that I made his all time favorite dinner while we headed out-  macaroni and cheese.  He ate 2 bowls!

Macaroni and cheese is his favorite food, but he shares another favorite with me - popcorn.  We both love popcorn.  And while in general I'm not a huge fan of sweet popcorn like caramel corn (I make an exception for the salty sweetness of kettle corn), there's something very fun about popcorn balls.  They're fun to make, and fun to eat, they make me feel young again.

Popcorn Balls

12 cups airpopped pop corn
2 cups light corn syrup

1 Tbsp cider vinegar

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla

1. Combine the corn syrup, vinegar, and salt in a heavy pot.  Cook over medium heat, stirring until the syrup reaches 250 on a candy thermometer.
2. Remove from the heat and add the vanilla.
3. Place the popcorn in a large greased bowl and pour the syrup over, tossing with a greased fork until the syrup coats it all.
4. Let the popcorn cool until you can handle it, and then shape into 3 inch balls.  Place each ball on wax paper until they are completely cool.