Vinegar Candy Popcorn

I decided to make a recipe from my 4-H club for Vinegar Candied Popcorn.  I really wanted to make caramel popcorn but thought I would try this one out.  I wasn't sure about using the vinegar because it smelled so strong, but it ended up tasting delicious.  I added green food coloring to mine because it was almost Easter.

Vinegar Candied Popcorn


1/2 Cup unpopped popcorn - pop and set aside in a large bowl (Remove all unpopped kernels)
1/2 Cup of peanuts or nuts (if desired)

2 Sticks Butter
1 1/2 Cup Sugar
1 Tsp. Vanilla
1/2 Tsp. Salt
1/3 Cup Vinegar
1/3 Cup Water
1 Tsp. Baking Soda

In a large heavy pan, cook the butter, sugar, vanilla, salt, vinegar and water to a soft ball stage.  (Soft Ball stage is around 235-245 degrees.  Drop a spoonful of hot syrup into a bowl of very cold water to test.  If the mix has reached soft-ball stage, it will form a ball while in the cold water, but flatten when removed from the cold water.) Watch Softball Stage Video.

Remove from heat and add baking soda and food coloring if desired.  The mixture will foam.  Pour over popcorn, add nuts if desired and stir until well coated.  Cool on a wax paper lined cookie sheet. Store in air tight container.

Easy Cake Mix Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

One of my family's favorite new cookies are Easy Cake Mix Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies.  These cookies are so easy to make, you'll be eating them in just 20 minutes from start to finish!

Easy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 Can Pumpkin (15 oz)
1 Spice Cake Mix
1 Bag Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips (12 oz)

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix pumpkin and cake mix well.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Scoop with a large cookie scoop, for uniformity in cooking, on to greased cookie sheet.  Bake for 15-18 minutes or until done.  Best eaten hot and gooey from the oven!

Bulk Freezer Pie Dough Recipe

 This week for Young Women's we made a pie crust mix that makes 20 pie crusts!  It was crazy.  We use giant bowls to mix all the ingredients.  Sister Rogers helped us make the dough.  It was really fun. I made my mom a card and gave her the pie crusts as a surprise to tell her I love her.

Bulk Pie Crust Mix:

5 lbs All Purpose Flour
2 Tbsp. Salt
1 (3 lb) Can Vegetable Shortening
3 Cups Cold Water
1/4 Cups All Purpose Flour

Combine flour and in salt in a VERY LARGE bowl.  Mix Well.  With pastry blender, or fingers, cut in shortening until evenly distributed.  Mixture will resemble cornmeal in texture.  Add cold water all at once and mix lightly until the flour absorbs all the water and the texture resembles putty.  Knead until dough clings together in bowl.  Divide into about 20 oblong rolls.  Place in sandwich bags or wrap with plastic warp and foil.  Freeze. Use within 12 months.

Spider Deviled Eggs

It's fun to decorate your food for the holidays.  This week my mom and I made Spider Deviled eggs.  I also got to make them at Young Womens. They were super easy!  Just make deviled eggs as you normally would and decorate them with black olives.

Olive Spider:

Cut one whole olive in half lengthwise to make the spider body. Cut two more halves and then cut each half into 4 pieces which equals 8 legs.  Press the spider body and spider legs into the deviled egg filling for a spooky addition to dinner.

Halloween Fun Food

I had fun this Halloween making Halloween treats with my church group.  We made Goblin cheese stick and bell pepper fingers, black olive spider deviled eggs and doughnut hole, white chocolate and chocolate chip eye balls.  We also made apple and almond silver vampire bites!

How To Crack An Egg Without Eating Shells!

I learned the best way to crack an egg for any recipe is to use a measuring cup or bowl to crack your egg.  That way if a piece of the shell falls in the cup you can get it out easier than trying to scoop it out of your mixing bowl full of ingredients.  Also, sometimes the egg could be bad - we cracked a rotten black egg once - yuck!  You don't want to mix a rotten egg in with your cake mix :)

Shredding Meat - The Easy Way!

Every year my mom is the emcee for the Taste Of Home Cooking School in Utah.  She gets to talk to a chef about fun recipes and give away prizes.  I even won a prize once!  The Taste of Home Cooking school is where a chef from the Taste of Home Magazine comes to teach everyone how to cook.  This year I learned a cool tip on how to shred meat.

If you cook a roast or chicken and you need to shred it while it's still hot, instead of using your fingers and a fork, why not use your Kitchen Aid Mixer!  Use the paddle attachment and turn your mixer on low.  The meat will shred quickly so don't over do it.