Caramel Corn

 1 cup butter or margarine
2 c brown sugar
1/2 c corn syrup
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla

6 quarts popped corn

Melt butter in two-quart saucepan.
Add next 3 ingredients and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.
Then boil without stirring for exactly 5 minutes.
Remove from heat and add baking soda and vanilla.

(I saw a recipe online that advised putting the popped corn into the oven at 250F while doing the above. It didn't say why but I did it last time; didn't notice any difference.)

Gradually pour sauce over the popcorn. Mix well and turn onto 2 large, shallow baking pans. (You'll see below that I use one high-sided pan. It's less messy when stirring while baking, and it works.)
Bake at 250F for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. 

Remove from oven, cool completely, break apart.

Store in tightly covered containers. Makes 5 quarts. 

If you'd like to add peanuts, toss them into the boiled mixture before pouring over the popcorn. This may help them stick better to the popcorn instead of ending up at the bottom of a bowl when chowing down on this delicious treat.