Hope you guys had a successful Thanksgiving!
We did.
Actually this year we decided to go low-key..meaning we stayed home and didn’t invite anyone over.
No traveling.
No stress.
No loads of prep.
Totally different for us…and it was awesome.
We have never had Thanksgiving with just us…meaning I have never had to prepare an entire Thanksgiving meal on my own.
And since I know not what I am doing, I decided that Thanksgiving dinner wasn’t that hard to throw together, so we ditched the prep and went to the movies Thursday morning.
We thought we would be the only ones in the theater.
We were wrong.
My husband even had to forgo his “buffer seat” so a lady with a loud laugh would have a place to sit…
He wasn’t pleased. Apparently lots of people procrastinate like I do.
But back to the meal.
So I guess there is actually something to the whole, “prepare for days” thing.
Yeah, it’s a lot of work..especially starting at 2 pm.
Alas, we finally did sit down to Thanksgiving later than expected.
Only to hear from my son, “Thanksgiving dinner isn’t that much different than a regular meal”.
Needless to say, I felt like I failed at Thanksgiving.
It shouldn’t be normal, should it?
So next year, everyone is invited over…and I will prepare for days and days and days.
And days.
And then I will cry and wish I was at the movies with no buffer seat.
Now that turkey is in my rear view mirror, let’s talk Christmas.
I’m easing into the baking month ahead with a quick treat… Candy Cane Kiss Kettlecorn.
I got a few bags of these when I was visiting Hershey a few weeks ago…only one of the bags made it home!
I love kettle corn, and ever since I made it HERE, it has quickly become a favorite!
First make the kettle corn (click here for the step by step)…
Once you’re done with the kettle corn, go ahead and unwrap all your Kisses…
I melted them over a double boiler.. it worked perfectly!
The kisses have these little crunchy bits in them that are so yummy! They also make the popcorn pretty!
Just drizzle the melted Kisses over top of the kettle corn…
And if you’re feeling extra fancy you can add some festive sprinkles!
I used a coarse sugar to add some extra crunch.
Just let it set up and then dig in!
Candy Cane Kiss Kettlecorn
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup popcorn kernels
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 (10 oz) bag Hershey’s Candy Cane Kisses, unwrapped
- *optional 2-3 Tbsp red sprinkles, or coarse sugar
Instructions
- In a large pot (have the lid handy) heat your vegetable oil over medium-high heat.
- Place 3 kernels in the pot until they pop so you know the pan and oil are hot enough to add all the kernels.
- When your “test” kernels pop, Add in the popcorn and sugar, stirring quickly until coated. Cover the pot and immediately start shaking the pot back and forth, keeping the kernels moving in the hot pan so they don’t burn, occasionally lifting the pan off the burner, while shaking.
- Allow the kernels to pop, this will take about 1-2 minutes and when the popping slows to about 1 second in between pops immediately remove from heat, continuing to shake the pot, and empty onto a large baking sheet, to stop the cooking. Immediately sprinkle with salt. This will all happen very fast and I suggest you use pot holders on your hands while shaking the pot, as the pot and lid will get very hot.
- Now line a counter with wax or parchment paper and transfer all your kettle corn onto the lined counter in a single layer.
- Over a double boiler melt your unwrapped Candy Cane Kisses.
- Once melted, drizzle over kettle corn evenly.
- Sprinkle with coarse sugar or sprinkles, if desired.
Notes
Store in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
Yum! That looks so good, I may have to give it a try.
day before is the way to go…just warm things up the day off. but oven space sometimes is a problem– so i cooked the turkey on the grill. amazing! love the kettlecorn!!
too fun for words!! Great Xmas gift!
Good grief this looks delicious! I just tried a Candy Cane Kiss this weekend and was floored at how amazing they are. I usually am not a fan of the crazy kisses, but these are amazing! Can’t wait to give this recipe a try. 🙂
I’m ENVIOUS of your Thanksgiving. It sounds like tons more fun than overeating and feeling like a slug for the rest of the day (er, week).
The kettle corn looks awesome, and I’m going to take a shortcut and use a few of the 120 packs of microwave kettle corn I bought last month.. darn those boy scouts.
We always do Thanksgiving at home, and I always do all my cooking the day before…then on Thanksgiving I just pop it all in the oven and sit around drinking too much wine. If we had talked about this, I could have advised you. I”m pretty much the turkey day whisperer.
Also. Buffer seat. I got stuck with some man next to me at Breaking Dawn who smelled like cigarettes and took his shoes off. BUFFER, PEOPLE!!!!!!!!
Love the popcorn, perfect for bagging up and taking to the neighbors!!
I don’t know HOW you come up with all these ideas, but I like it!
We decided not to travel for Thanksgiving either & we ate random things from Whole Foods. I feel like this makes me a bad food blogger in some way? But yes, let’s move on! With delicious kettlecorn! I love this.
Love this Shelly! Any popcorn is a big hit in my house. 🙂
Oh so festive! This looks like so much fun!