Patriotic Popcorn Balls

I love popcorn. I love popcorn balls too.  On a recent shopping trip, I found red, white and blue popcorn kernels and I had to get them. I thought what a fun way to make popcorn balls for a patriotic post for my blog. Shortly after my shopping trip, I found red, white and blue M & Ms.  My recipe would be fine with regular popcorn and any color of M & M’s. 

Ingredients:

1/2 stick of butter, 4 Tablespoons

1 package of mini marshmallows 

1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed, if you are using kettle corn or caramel corn or any other sweet popcorn, do not add sugar 

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

3 quarts of popped popcorn

1 cups of M &M’s

Sprinkles/Jimmies, optional

Pam for spraying on hands 

Melt butter on low.  Stir in mini marshmallows and melt, stirring frequently. Once marshmallows are melted, remove from heat and stir in salt, popcorn, M&M’s, sprinkles, whatever you like. Spray hands with Pam and form into balls. Let dry on a parchment lined cookie sheet.  Store in an airtight container. Enjoy!

Patron Pecans

I love nuts, even the human ones. I made a recipe over the holidays for Jack Daniel’s Pecans. I am not really Jack Daniels fan. In fact I had to go buy some to make the nuts. They were pretty good. I do have Patron on hand so I decided to give it a whirl. These nuts are so good, they are addicting.

Ingredients:
1/2 stick of butter
1/4 cup sugar
2 T Tabasco Sauce
1/4 cup Patron or good tequila*
1 t salt
1/2 t garlic powder
1# pecan halves
Pam

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Spray a jelly roll pan or a big sheet pan for cakes with Pam. I used a sheet pan!

In a medium sauce pan, melt butter and add the rest of the ingredients except for the pecans. Stir and mix to combine. Boil for 4 minutes, stirring often.

Remove from heat and add the pecans. Stir and mix the pecans in the butter/sugar mixture. Spread the pecans in a single layer into the pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Stir every 10 minutes to prevent burning. Remove from oven, let cool and store in an airtight container.

*You can experiment with the alcohol. If you use 2 tablespoons of Tabasco Sauce, it could overpower the liquor taste. The Tabasco Sauce can be adjusted too. If you make it like I did in the recipe, you should love them.

Adapted from Sumptuous Spoonfuls.