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. 

Muesli Bars

Toast:

1 cup dessicated coconut
1 c unsalted peanuts
1 c sunflower seeds
1 c rolled oats

Put 1/2 c butter, 1/2 c brown sugar, and 1/4 c honey in a large bowl.
Cook four-and-a-half minutes on medium power in microwave.

Stir well and add to dry ingredients. 
Spread evenly in lightly greased 8x8 pan or larger (might make these easier to cut). Press down firmly and slice when cooled. 

I didn't have sunflower seeds except for those in a trail mix including cranberries and pumpkin seeds, so I substituted that (but removed the cranberries before toasting so they didn't end up hard as rocks, and added them after).

Our microwave is a hand-me-down that didn't come with a manual, and I have no clue how to set the power levels on it, so I made sure to take the bowl out and stir the contents after two minutes, then again at four, before putting it back in for the last 30 seconds. I don't know if it made any difference. 

The bars turned out chewy and delicious. And they held together! That was my main hope. 

 

Pumpkin Muffins

Beat 4 eggs.
Add 2 cups brown sugar, 1-and-1/2 cup pumpkin puree (mine was roasted), and 1-and-1/4 cup oil (I reduced this to 3/4 cup. And since the purpose of oil is to add moisture, what if I replaced this ingredient with pumpkin instead? I've yet to try it but I bet it'll work just fine).

Mix together in a separate bowl: 3 cups whole wheat flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 Tb cinnamon, 1 tsp salt, 2 tsp baking soda, 1-and-1/2 cup raisins or chocolate chips (optional).

Add wet ingredients to dry. Don't overmix; stir just till completely combined. 

In greased muffin tins, bake at 375F for 15-20 minutes.  

Makes 2 dozen. Allow to cool completely before removing from tins.

Sweet Potato Chips

(Any sweet potato seems to work just as well.)

Peel (if you like) a purple sweet potato and slice it 1/8" thick. 

Toss in 1 tablespoon of olive oil (per potato) and sprinkle with salt and pepper (or whatever else you fancy) to taste. 

Spread in a layer (without overlapping) on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake 70 minutes at 250F. 

I baked them an extra 10 minutes to be sure they'd be crisp, but don't know if it was necessary because they became crisper once they cooled. 

Brown Sugar Fudge

 2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup milk or cream
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1 cup flour

Mix first 3 ingredients together well and boil to the soft ball stage, about 10 minutes on medium heat. 
Stir in flour, mix well. Add nuts and vanilla.
Pour into a greased 8x8 pan and let cool and harden. 

This image is of two batches of fudge made on the same day. I made them for a public function so didn't include nuts.

Make sure to boil until real bubbly or mixture won't harden. 

Original recipe from Rita Malishewski in the Moe-Concordia (Margo) and St. Paul's (Wadena) Lutheran Church Cookbook

Butter Icing

See Helen's Pink Lady Dessert 

Caramel Corn

1 cup butter 
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
6 quarts popped popcorn

Melt butter in two-quart saucepan. Stir in the next three ingredients; bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Then boil without stirring for 5 minutes.
Remove from the heat and stir in the baking soda and vanilla.
Gradually pour over the popcorn. Mix well and turn into two large shallow baking pans. 
Bake at 250F for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes. 
Remove from the oven, cool completely, and break apart. 

Store in tightly covered containers. 
Makes 5 quarts. 
Peanuts can be added before the boiled mixture is poured over the popcorn.