Now that Christmas is over, it’s time to snuggle in and have some down time. Most of us love to eat popcorn and watch a Movie at Home…you can elevate that experience with just a bit of sugar and butter to something truly delightful… with Camellia’s Caramel Popcorn

Preheat the oven to 250º – yes a low temperature! You will need a very large bowl and three metal 9×13 baking pans, I line mine with parchment paper for easy cleanup.

• 16-18 cups of freshly popped or 2 large bags of microwave butter flavored popcorn (measure this out, you might need to pop more) If you like nuts add 2 cups of dry roasted nuts, I prefer it without.
• Divide the popcorn evenly between two of the pans and set aside.
• In a medium sized saucepan, combine ¾cup of butter , ¾cup of dark corn syrup, 1 ½ cups of granulated sugar and 2 teaspoons of good vanilla extract.-
• Bring to a boil over medium heat until the mixture reaches 260º on a candy thermometer.
• Pour one pan of popcorn in a large bowl and pour half of the hot sugar mixture over that- give a quick stir and pour onto one of the 9×13 pans, then repeat in the same bowl the same procedure with the other pan.
•  With racks evenly spaced in the preheated oven- run two pans in the oven. Keep the empty third 9×13 pan ready.
• Bake for ½ hour, halfway through the baking time, dump one pan of caramel corn in over onto another the empty 9×13 pan, repeat with the over pan onto the pan you just emptied.
• Switch pans from original position- so the bottom pan doesn’t scorch. Bake for another ½ hour.
• Pull pans out of the oven and allow to cool.

Break apart and enjoy! This may seem like a difficult recipe but believe me, it is almost foolproof!

As for movies I will be watching-my all time favorite fun and romantic Holiday Movies are:

1. ‘The Holiday’ with Cameron Diaz
2. ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding’ with Southern girl, Julia Roberts
3. ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ with another sweet southern girl, Reese Witherspoon-
4. And finally, Sandra Bullock’s award winning ‘The Blind Side’ based on a true story. Sandra Bullock has family right here in Alabama!

I hope whatever movie you choose- you will relax and enjoy the holidays! Let me know how you like my Caramel Corn…

Love y’all, Camellia

*photographs are mine