Comforts Brought To You From The Other Side

With the holidays around the corner, I decided this year to purposely make these the most memorable holidays I possibly can for my children and I. My boys are starting to get to the age where they will start remembering traditions and make memories to share with their families as they get older and have kids of their own.

At age 4 my Grandparents were the most influential people in my life, and my Grandma Joan always made an effort regardless of what was going on to make this time of year pure magic. A couple of years back when their house foreclosed I was in the military. I had no ability to come back and save anything that I wanted. Truly I think the one thing that I regret now not being able to save was the entire treasure trove of recipes that she had created and accumulated over the years. They are literally now lost to time in a landfill somewhere.

However there was one recipe that I did manage to keep alive after all this time. I learned to make this when I was in high school in 2011. My local news paper had a recipe contest, and I remember scrounging around in my grandma's kitchen one day. I had all her old cook books in piles around me, and a salami and cheese sandwich in hand searching for the winning dish. After what seemed like forever I randomly came across a cook book from the 80's. My grandma was heavily involved in school functions and created this amazing recipe for my mom's annual school cook book that made my mouth water.

I have an insane sweet tooth and have chosen to recreate this recipe multiple times through out the years. Truthfully it's that amazing comfort sticky food that hits you in your soul. It hits all the salty, sweet, crunchy needs and honestly makes the best PMS food for that time of the month. So while I may not have anything physically of theirs, I have the knowledge of the love that was made when creating this recipe.

Now as an adult, instead of drinking this with milk I drink it with a glass of Stella Rosa wine. Stella Rosa is like my favorite wine of all time. I have tried all of their different flavors, but I have to say Stella Black is my favorite flavor. Its sweet but not overbearing and pairs really well with this snack. Imagine putting the kids down for bed after a long day, and grabbing a slice of this and a glass of wine. You'll unwind in a heart beat.

I think if there's one thing Grandma would be proud of this holiday season, is me gifting complete strangers with the holy grail of snack food. So below I will leave you with her instructions below. They are a little old school, but keep in mind it's pretty easy to make and will ultimately make you the cool kids at the party! Just make sure you credit Grandma Joan with this one.

Grandma Joan's Popcornmallow Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup of loose popcorn kernels (any brand do not cheat and get microwaveable)
• 2 sticks of salted butter
• 3 tea spoons of salt
• 2 bags of M&M's (you can add also any kind of candy, I just loved M&Ms)
• 2 bags of mini marshmellows
• non stick spray

Step 1: Pop your popcorn

As I stated above please don't cheat and use microwave popcorn, it will actually change the taste and make it more artificial tasting. I personally got an air popper from Big Lots a couple years ago for $10. But you can also go super old school and pop it stove top as well.

Step 2: Coat your marshmellows

This is definitely messy but fun! Make sure you wash your hands before hand. Take a mixing bowl and open the packages of marshmellows and place them in the bowl. Next place in the room temperature butter along with your salt and evenly coat the marshmellows. It should look something like the picture below.

Step 3: Melt the marshmellows

At a medium to low temperature, melt down the marshmellows until it is completely one smooth texture. Don't do it too high or you'll burn the mixture and have to start over.

Step 4: Coat your popcorn

Once your mixture is ready it will be very hot. In a separate bowl sift through your popcorn and make sure there is no spare unpopped kernels in the bowl. (Trust me this will hurt like hell if you bite randomly into one) Then pour the hot mixture over the popcorn and use a spatula to coat the popcorn evenly. Make sure to also use non stick spray on your pan you plan to put the popcorn into. This helps serve everything a lot easier.

Step 5: Add candy and place in pan

You can add little bit of M&M's or alot! I have also added snowcaps in the past and other chocolate candies. But add them in once the mixture is well coated and cooled down some. It's okay if it melts a little bit. And then finally, place the Popcornmallow in a 9X13 pan. Once it's in the pan I would put it in the fridge for 2 hours to let cool and set. When you take it out cut it like you would normally with Rice Krispy treats and enjoy!

Well that's it guys! I really hope you enjoy this recipe, and seriously try it with that wine, because it's truly amazing! My kids and I about killed the entire tray today with our neighborhood kids I was watching. It's so much fun to watch them enjoy something from my childhood. There is something about food that can bring you together and create lasting memories, I hope that this recipe will do the same for you!

-Kayla

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