The Hunt for Vanilla Popcorn

OK, I may not be the world's best cupcake decorator (as seen here), but I can cook. This particular blog post comes after the obsessive search through all my recipe books and magazines for the recipe for Vanilla Popcorn. I had made it last fall as a snack for my monthly cooking group meeting and they had recently asked to have it made again. I shouldn't've promised til I knew where that dang recipe had gone off to. I spent literally 4 days and many hours on a hunt that proved fruitless.

So I set off to do the next best thing and make my own recipe. I based it off of the three cookbooks in the background, using a little of each, and adapting it for the pudding I knew was in the original recipe.

Vanilla Popcorn

Ingredients- 2 sticks (1 cup or 1/2 lb.) of butter
1/2 cup light corn syrup
3/4 cup sugar
1 small box of french vanilla pudding mix-instant
1 bag of hulless corn puffs
1 tsp. baking soda
No miniature magenta pony toys that somehow made it into the photo.

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Combine butter, corn syrup, pudding mix, and sugar in a pot and boil for 2 minutes. Take off heat and add baking soda, mix quickly til combined, then pour over the corn puffs (in a large bowl). Stir thoroughly.


Divide mixture between two WELL GREASED cookies sheets. Bake for 45 minutes, stirring after 15 minute intervals. Remove from oven (they will still be sticky). Let cool, the coating will crisp up and taste ever so good! Store in an airtight container if all popcorn is not immediately consumed.

Now then, if you ask nice, I might give you my spaghetti sauce recipe. Step aside Mario Batali!

Berry Sweet Ribbons

Lots of pretty new ribbons and crepes in the shoppe now. I was inspired by warm strawberry sauce dripping down fresh vanilla ice cream for this first set "Strawberry Sundae". Rich and red flowing mellowly, intermingaling with the cream to form soft pinks...

...or bright red varigating into rich ivory for "Strawberry Cheesecake"...

I just love the way thre ribbons fell into this flower shaped pattern.

I wrapped the ribbons around a Sweet Nothings Journal, this one a soft pink cardstock filled with vintage papers, paper lace, and a smidgen of swiss dot organza.

The next set I had the colors in mind for awhile, I just wasn't sure how I wanted to prepare the ribbons, or present them. I was struck with inspiration whilst reading the latest issue of Somerset Home, Connie Govea Stuart talked about her dyeing technique for ribbons using Easter Egg tablets. I decided to try her technique (although I still used my regular dyes). They were gorgeous even during their dye baths!

A rainbow confection of ribbons starting to appear...cherry, orange, lemon, lime, blue raspberry, and grape.

Tutti-frutti bright and scrumptiously crinkley!

The Everlasting Gobstopper!