Recipes

INGREDIENTS
1 cup of your favorite nuts
-pecan halves
-whole almonds
-cashew or walnuts
1 bag of microwave popcorn
½ cup margarine
½ cup unsalted butter
 
 1 1/3 cups sugar (I use ½ white and ½ brown sugar)
¼ cup light corn syrup
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
· Preheat oven to 300 F. Coat a large heatproof mixing bowl (16 cups or larger) and a 15x 10 inch baking pan with margarine or nonstick cooking spray.
· In another 15 x 10 inch baking pan, combine the almonds, pecans, and cashews, and toast for 20 minutes, stirring occaisionally. Remove the pan from the oven and cool the nuts to room temperature.
· Pop the popcorn following the package directions. Pour the popcorn into the prepared bowl. Add the nuts and mix well.
· Melt the margarine and butter in a heavy 2 quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the sugar, corn syrup, and ¼ cup of water. Mix well and stir often. Continue to cook over medium-high heat until it reaches 275 F on a candy thermometer. Remove the pan from the heat and slowly stir in the vanilla extract. (Stir carefully because the vanilla extract will spatter when added to the hot syrup.)
· Pour the hot syrup over the popcorn-nut mixture and mix until evenly coated. Immediately pour the popcorn into the prepared baking pan. Let cool for 1 hour.
· (Oh! This is the fun part) Break into pieces and store in an airtight container.