McKinley is addicted to popcorn balls and has been begging me to make these often.  Before I went to Cali in Jan I was up at midnight making these to leave as a surprise, along with a note that said, 1 per day.  I had to laugh when I talked to her on the phone while I was gone, she didn’t tell me she missed me or want to talk about anything, except to say “why only 1 Mommy?”   Listening to that sweet little voice, I caved and said ok, you can have more.  Then Delaney got on the phone and said she’d already been having 2.  She went on to admit that she was just going to say Dad ate the extras if caught.  She was so quick to rat on herself and her planned explanation, and I couldn’t help but just laugh.

So last week for Valentine’s Day I promised Mckinley I would make them for school.  When Delaney heard, she wanted them to, which surprised me since she told me earlier this year that you have to have “permission” to bring snacks to school.  Apparently she forgot that she had fed me that line at some time (you never know what line you might be fed so you have to be on your toes with this budding teenager.)   That’s ok, it’s hard to be 10 and I’m reading a great book that is totally giving me a new understanding for diciphering teenager lingo with a smile.

and I was MORE than happy to make them for both the girls classes.  So 55 popcorn balls later, I was done…phew!   BTW, I probably will not make that many at once, or at least until I forget how long that took.    They were yummy though and I had some requests for the recipe, which I posted on facebook, which made me think, I should put here also.

My mom made these when I was a kid and they it’s still one of my favorite memories. Often she would hide a gumdrop inside as a treat. So sometimes I will put in a gummy bear or gummy lifesavor if we’re making them for a party.

POPCORN BALL RECIPE: I created this recipe from several I have tried and this is my favorite so far. Makes 24 balls My original recipe was 1/2 this, but 12 popcorn balls in never enough.

Need 10 quarts popped white popcorn.

In saucepan on stove, combine the following:

2 cups light corn syrup

2 sticks salted butter

pinch of salt

1 1/3 bag small marshmallows

Melt and mix until smooth.

Remove from heat and add 1 tsp. vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract.

You can add food coloring at this point, if you want colored balls.

In oversized bowl, pour 1/2 of melted sauce over 5 quarts white popcorn. Mix with heavy duty mixing spoon until all mixture covers popcorn. You can spray spoon with Pam to make mixing easier. Mold by hand in to balls using butter on hands to keep from sticking. Squeeze each tight to keep from falling apart. Place on wax paper. Finish by wrapping balls in plastic wrap.

Repeat for remaining sauce and 5 quarts popcorn. Next time I make these I’m going to try to buy pre-popped white popcorn from Sam’s or Wal-mart that doesn’t have as many hulls. But I have been popping my own using white unpopped popcorn.    So gooey and yummy!

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