Finally an october sweet corn that I can really enjoy, not the horrible stuff called candy corn. Blech.

Our family loves a big bowl of popcorn fresh off the stove, but until today, we’ve never made Kettle Corn.  The inspiration came from a treasure I discovered earlier this week.  It’s called the Book of Days, and it’s a monthly downloadable book full of seasonal activities, recipes, and discoveries for families.  I love everything about this whimsical, artistic, inspiring book. Two nights ago we tried the pumpkin butter recipe, deliciously topping off our pancake dinner.

From the Writer and Illustrator:

“Our goal with the Book of Days is that any family, with just a few minutes to spare, can do something fun and meaningful together. Our hope is that those few minutes will lead to lots of exploring, creating and following your curiosity together.”

And, yes, we do have plans to get to the other less, ahem, food related activities very soon!

The kids and I just finished the entire bowl of kettle corn.  The perfect snack for a cloudy autumn day, with a view of falling leaves.

Do be careful making this with your kids, my 7 year old and I both got zapped with hot, popping kernels during first few steps.

Kettle Corn

from the Books of Days, Autumn Book 1

• 1/4 cup oil
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup unpopped kernels
• large pot with lid
• salt shaker

DIRECTIONS

1.Heat the oil and three or four kernels of popcorn in a large pot over medium heat.

2.Once all the kernels pop, stir in the sugar and wait until it dissolves. Then stir in all the popcorn.

3.Cover the pot and let sit as you count to five.  Then raise the pot up and shake as you count to five.  Once the popping has slowed to once every 2-3 seconds, remove pot from heat and continue to shake for a few minutes until the popping has fully stopped.

4.Pour into a large bowl, and sprinkle with salt.  Stir the popcorn as it cools so that it doesn’t form clumps.