Easy Popcorn Recipes

Homemade Cracker Jacks

Ingedients:

10 cups popped popcorn
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 (3 ounce) package fruit flavored gelatin mix
1 tablespoon corn syrup
3 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:
· Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (150 degrees C). Grease a 1/4 sheet pan or two 8x12 inch baking dishes. Butter a heavy 2 quart saucepan.
· Distribute popcorn evenly in prepared baking pans. Place in oven to keep warm.
· In prepared saucepan over medium heat, combine butter, sugar, gelatin, corn syrup and water. Heat to 250 to 265 degrees F (121 to 129 degrees C), or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms a rigid ball. If you do not have a thermometer, bring the mixture to a boil and boil it for 4 minutes.
· Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in the baking soda
· Pour mixture evenly over popcorn and stir until coated. Return popcorn to oven and bake 30 minutes; stir once while baking. If you like it nice and crispy, bake for an additional 15 minutes.

Money was tight during the Great Depression, but this 10-cent tin of Jolly Time made enough popcorn for an entire family. Now this 4 1/2" (empty) antique popcorn tin fetches a whopping $160!

For each of these mixtures, simply place all of the ingredients in a medium bowl; stir until they are combined, and transfer to an airtight container for storage. All of the variations can be doubled or tripled, depending on the size of the container you plan to use. The Italian mixture should be kept in the refrigerator, as it contains fresh cheese. Season popcorn to taste.

Researchers wanted to see if moviegoers would eat popcorn even if it was stale, even if it tasted terrible.

Sure enough, not only did everyone in this study eat whatever was given them, they ate plenty of it.

People who were given small and medium containers of popcorn ate it all, and felt it was sufficient. On the other had, people who were given giant size containers filled with stale popcorn ate it all, too. The larger the portion served, the more the people ate.