Nate's mom came out to visit this past Saturday, and we decided to take advantage of having a babysitter in the house and went on a mini vacation. It wasn't a big trip- just to the Sheraton in Uptown Albuquerque, but after 5 months of no alone time for us it could have been on the moon. We spent the last three days relaxing, watching lots of episodes of 24 from previous seasons, going to the movies (more on that in a bit), and eating terrific food. Last night we had an Indian feast, and it was so incredibly delicious. I have not had Indian food since we moved here, and it was great to discover a terrific restaurant where I can indulge my love of Indian cuisine whenever I want.
Yesterday we went and saw "Watchmen" at the theater. Yes, Nathan worked on this movie for a couple of years, which was the reason why I wanted to go see it. Honestly, I was expecting a sort of campy, cheesey super hero film that tried really hard to be bad-ass and as gory as possible. What we saw, though, was an intense, gritty, dark, and very human movie about love, life, and personal motivations for how people choose to live their lives. It was gorgeously directed and produced, and I was enthralled from the opening credits to the end. Yes, it has super heros in it. Yes, it was violent, and deserved it's R rating. But it would not have been the same movie if they went for the PG-13 rating- it would have lost a lot of it's punch and realism. I highly recommend this movie, and look forward to seeing it again.
Considering how often we get out for dates, I am assuming I will be seeing the movie again once it is out on Blu-Ray.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
I'm Back, With Caramel Popcorn!
So, I've been MIA for a month and a half. I have to blame it all on my friend J, since she was the one that wore me down and convinced me to join Facebook. I joined the day after my last post on here, and as you can see it has sort of kept me away from my blog. Oops. Facebook is so much fun, though, and I highly recommend it to everyone. It is Crackbook, as my friend M calls it.
Anyhow, things have been the usual topsy turvy around here. My Dad came out to visit last month right after we all took turns with the stomach flu, the week after he left my pygmy hedgehog gave birth to 5 babies that I was not expecting, and then the following week several of us came down with the flu. It's been, you know, busy.
So tonight after the two little ones went to bed, I searched around and found a recipe for making caramel popcorn in the microwave. Those of you that have made it the old fashioned way know it can be a bit laborious- making the caramel on the stove, popping the popcorn, coating it, baking it, etc. This recipe cut down on time and resulted in the best caramel popcorn I have ever had, bar none. It is so tasty, so easy, and so yummy! Here's the recipe, followed by a couple of tips.
Microwave Caramel Popcorn
4 quarts popped popcorn
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup margarine
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Place the popped popcorn into a large brown paper bag. Set aside.
In a 2 quart casserole dish, or other heat-proof glass dish, combine the brown sugar, margarine, corn syrup, salt and vanilla. Heat for 3 minutes in the microwave, then take out and stir until well blended. Return to the microwave, and cook for 1 1/2 minutes. Remove from microwave, and stir in the baking soda.
Pour syrup over the popcorn in the bag. Roll down the top once or twice to close the bag, and shake to coat the corn. Place bag into the microwave, and cook for 1 minute and 10 seconds. Remove, shake, flip the bag over, and return it to the microwave. Cook for another 1 minute and 10 seconds. Dump the popcorn out onto waxed paper, and let cool until coating is set. Store in an airtight container.
Notes- Since microwave ovens vary, start with less time than the directions call for. I nuked the syrup for 3 1/2 minutes total, then the covered popcorn for 2 minutes total. I also used 1/2 cup kernels in my hot air popper to make the popcorn, but you can do two batches of 1/4 cup kernels in brown paper lunch bags for the popcorn. You can also use *gasp* microwave popcorn from two bags, but I don't recommend that. See my other post about microwave popcorn!
Enjoy this recipe with someone you love, even if it is just yourself. ;)
Anyhow, things have been the usual topsy turvy around here. My Dad came out to visit last month right after we all took turns with the stomach flu, the week after he left my pygmy hedgehog gave birth to 5 babies that I was not expecting, and then the following week several of us came down with the flu. It's been, you know, busy.
So tonight after the two little ones went to bed, I searched around and found a recipe for making caramel popcorn in the microwave. Those of you that have made it the old fashioned way know it can be a bit laborious- making the caramel on the stove, popping the popcorn, coating it, baking it, etc. This recipe cut down on time and resulted in the best caramel popcorn I have ever had, bar none. It is so tasty, so easy, and so yummy! Here's the recipe, followed by a couple of tips.
Microwave Caramel Popcorn
4 quarts popped popcorn
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup margarine
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Place the popped popcorn into a large brown paper bag. Set aside.
In a 2 quart casserole dish, or other heat-proof glass dish, combine the brown sugar, margarine, corn syrup, salt and vanilla. Heat for 3 minutes in the microwave, then take out and stir until well blended. Return to the microwave, and cook for 1 1/2 minutes. Remove from microwave, and stir in the baking soda.
Pour syrup over the popcorn in the bag. Roll down the top once or twice to close the bag, and shake to coat the corn. Place bag into the microwave, and cook for 1 minute and 10 seconds. Remove, shake, flip the bag over, and return it to the microwave. Cook for another 1 minute and 10 seconds. Dump the popcorn out onto waxed paper, and let cool until coating is set. Store in an airtight container.
Notes- Since microwave ovens vary, start with less time than the directions call for. I nuked the syrup for 3 1/2 minutes total, then the covered popcorn for 2 minutes total. I also used 1/2 cup kernels in my hot air popper to make the popcorn, but you can do two batches of 1/4 cup kernels in brown paper lunch bags for the popcorn. You can also use *gasp* microwave popcorn from two bags, but I don't recommend that. See my other post about microwave popcorn!
Enjoy this recipe with someone you love, even if it is just yourself. ;)
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