It's an Old-fashioned Halloween at Our House

The plan for the day was to make jelly apples and popcorn balls with my daughter, all before her afternoon soccer game. Surprisingly enough, that's just what happened.

We popped three batches of popcorn, mixed them with Paula Deen's sugar syrup, and then with buttered hands turned them into popcorn balls.

My daughter loves to measure, pour and stir, but once the candy syrup began to boil, I kept her a few arms lengths from from the bubbling sugar syrup on the stove.

Without a candy thermometer, we had to use a cup of cold water to check the syrup and she got the chance to see how the sugar water became molten syrup in stages, from soft ball to firm ball to hard ball. 

We went through a similar drill for the candy apples, and soon enough, we had a dozen of both--the makings of an old-fashioned All Hallows' Eve.

Popcorn Balls

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1-1/3 cups water
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1.In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, water, syrup, vinegar, and salt. Cook over high heat until mixture reaches 255 degrees F (hard-ball stage) on a candy thermometer. Stir in vanilla.

2. Pour over popped corn, tossing gently to coat. When mixture is cool enough to handle, press popcorn into 3-inch balls with lightly greased hands. Cool completely on waxed paper.

Makes 14 popcorn balls

Popcorn Balls, Paula Deen

--Tracy Schneider