meal worthy of the red carpet

While in New York, we caught the exhibit of the Oscar statues in Times Square. Yes, I'm one of the goofy tourists who jumped at the opportunity to stand behind the podium, accept my Oscar and have my picture taken. Mostly, though, it's because I wanted to see just how heavy these bad boys are - recipients at the Academy Awards always say, "It's so heavy!" And yes, they are.

I thought Ellen did a great job. It was funny seeing her do her Ellen thing. I wish the hosts had more of a chance to do their thing though - but, I perhaps it's not about the host, afterall. I just don't find the scripted jokes dryly read from the teleprompter to be very amusing. The Al Gore/Leo Decaprio bit was funny, but the rest I can do without. I almost think I'd rather just see the host giving away all the awards. But, whatever.

So, for our red carpet meal, I made mini hamburgers and mini hot dogs (or, pigs in a blanket). For the hamburgers I actually used a hot dog bun cut into three mini square buns. (I'm very proud of this ingenious discovery, personally) And for the pigs in a blanket, used croissant dough and lil' smokies. I have no idea how this relates to anything particularly Oscar, but it's different and fun and that's just where the inspiration led me while I was wandering the aisles at the grocery store, hungry - never go to the store hungry.

For desert, I did go with special popcorn as mentioned in the previous post. I used a recipe that I've been using practically my entire life from my very first cookbook - Better Homes & Gardens, "New Junior Cookbook." (it's so seventies - check out the groovy paper cup next to the bowl of carmel corn!) Between my sister and I, I think we had something like six copies because my sweet grandma gave one to us nearly every single Christmas. Oh my sweet, precious grandma. (miss her So much!) The very last recipe in the book is for caramel corn. So that's what I made. Mmmmmmm! Here's the recipe for those not priveledged enough to own a copy of this inspirational cookbook:

Caramel Corn

8 c popped popcorn
3/4 c packed brown sugar
6 T butter
3 T light corn syrup
1/4 t salt
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t vanilla

1- Put popcorn onto a baking pan. Remove unpopped kernels.
2- Mix brown sugar, butter, corn syrup and salt in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stirl until butter melts. Continue cooking until mixture starts to boil. When mixture starts to boil, stop stirring. Cook for 5 minutes. Turn off burner and remove from heat.
3- Stir in baking soda and vanilla. Pour mixture over popcorn and gently stir the popcorn until it is completely coated.
4- Put pan into a 300 degree oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove pan from oven and stir. Put pan back in oven and bake 5-10 minutes longer. Remove popcorn from pan and let cool in a large bowl.