Mom’s Famous Christmas Poppycock

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For as long as I can remember, my mom has made this poppycock (caramel corn) recipe at Christmas time. And it’s my favourite Christmas tradition. My sister, dad and I always look forward to the day mom makes a huge batch of this stuff! It’s beyond delicious! It’s gooey and salty, crunchy and sweet. It’s seriously the best thing ever. Since this is one of my family’s biggest Christmas tradition, I thought the recipe would be fun to share with all of you.

Last year, my poor mom injured her foot and was unable to do any Christmas baking. She was completely out-of-commision. We were very supportive and took good care of her, but also gave her a really hard time for getting injured the week she was supposed to make our annual batch of poppycock. It is not Christmas without this stuff! *hah* Sure, I could have made the poppycock myself, but it’s tradition for mom to make it. And I’m lazy. *hah* This year, mom made up for lost time and made a HUGE batch. Sadly, I ate my allotment in record time. I barely got this picture taken before I finished off my share of the batch. *hehe* 

Maybe santa will bring me more poppycock for Christmas….pretty please? :)


Ingredients
  • 2 cups of un-popped popcorn
  • 1 cup of salted butter
  • 2 cups of packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup of corn syrup
  • 1 teaspoon of baking soda
  • 1/8 teaspoon of cream of tartar
  • 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
  • 2 cups of pecans
  • 2 cups of peanuts

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 200’F. Pop the popcorn kernels on the stove top or in a popcorn machine. Set popcorn aside in a large roasting pan to cool. Note: make sure to sift through the popped popcorn to ensure there are no unpopped kernels. You want to limit them as much as possible.

2. In a large saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar and syrup. Bring to a gentle boil over medium-low heat and cook for 5 minutes stirring frequently.

3. Remove from heat and add baking soda, cream of tartar and vanilla. Stir to combine.

4. Pour the hot caramel mixture over the popcorn. Add the pecans and peanuts. Gently shake the roasting pan side-to-side to distribute the caramel.

Note: Do not touch the caramel covered popcorn as the caramel will be incredibly hot. Once a bit cooler, stir popcorn with a large wooden spoon.

5. Bake popcorn mixture in the roasting pan for 1 hour at 200’F stirring the poppycock every 15 minutes. Cool and store in airtight containers.

Source: Mom (original source unknown)

Curried Quinoa Mango Salad

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Happy Vegan Tuesday! Today, we are taking a break from Christmas cookies and going with a much lighter + healthy, but delicious curried mango quinoa salad. Lately, I’ve been making a point of having at least one salad a day. Normally, I have a spinach with some fresh fruit and some nuts. But every so often, I need a much more filling, unique salad that can double as a lunch. And this quinoa salad definitely fits the bill. The flavour develops over an hour or so. Therefore, I highly recommend letting the salad sit at least 45 minutes to an hour before serving. 

And I better run! I’m catching a plane in the next hour to head west for a conference for work. I’ll be back over the weekend with some new holiday food ideas. Have a fantastic week! xo
Ingredients
  • 1 cup of uncooked quinoa, rinsed in cold water and well drained
  • 2 tablespoons of canola oil
  • 1 tablespoon of cider vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons of mango chutney
  • 1 teaspoon of curry powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon of dry mustard powder
  • black pepper to taste
  • 1 cup of fresh chopped mango
  • 1/2 cup of chopped unpeeled, seedless cucumber
  • 1/2 to 3/4 cup of unsalted cashews
  • 2 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
  • sprinkle of unsweetened coconut flakes (optional)


Method

1. Bring a large saucepan filled with salted water and the rinsed quinoa to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook quinoa for 12 minutes. Remove from heat. Allow quinoa to cool.

2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, mango chutney, curry powder, salt, mustard and pepper until well blended.

3. Mix the cooled, cooked quinoa with the chopped mango, cucumber and fresh scallions. Toss in the cashews. Pour dressing onto salad and mix well. 

Allow the salad to sit for at least 45 minutes to develop flavours. Serve the salad chilled or at room temperature.

Yield: 4 servings

Source: adapted from The Tropical Vegan Kitchen by Donna Klein

David’s Tea Winners Announced!

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And the winner of the David’s Tea Holiday Collection is…

Kirsten

 “ummm… David’s Tea! My favourite tradition growing up was a secret santa game we played every year (we called it “Kringling”) – we’d find some fun way to surprise a family once a week throughout December, trying to be very sneaky and secretive. I remember dressing in all black, staying up late and staging a ring-the-doorbell-and-run just to deliver a box of homemade cookies. What fun!” 

The runners up are:

Stephanie F
+
Cadry

Please send me an email at courtney[at]thefigtreeblog[dot]com with your mailing address and I’ll send out your prizes this weekend. 

Thank you to everyone who participated in the David’s Tea Giveaway :)