Am I at the fair?

Am I at the fair? Oh wait...no. It's just me cookin' up some deliciousness. (-:

Adlai (my [nearly] three year old son) and I were sitting on the couch watching "How To Train Your Dragon" and he said he wanted popcorn. We don't keep microwave popcorn in the house, so I went to get out the pot and make some stovetop popcorn and decided, instead, to make kettle corn. (-:

I LOVE the combination of sweet and salt in the same dish. And this has the perfect mixture. Here's my recipe:

1/3 cup Vegetable (or canola) Oil
1/2 cup popcorn seeds (I use Orville Redenbacher)
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
Popcorn salt to taste

Heat the oil in your pot (or really big pan) over medium high heat. Put in 4-6 "test" kernels. Put the lid on. When those test kernels have all popped, you know that your oil is hot enough. Take your lid off long enough to put in your sugar and popcorn kernels. Put the lid back on and shake your pot over the heat for 3 seconds, hold it still for 3 seconds. Alternate shaking and holding still for the three seconds until popping slows to a few seconds between pops. Remove from heat, carefully take the lid off, and VERY carefully transfer the popcorn to a large bowl. The popcorn will be very sticky at this point and touching it could lead to some BAD burns. Shake it around in the bowl for a minute until it's cool enough to touch. Start breaking the popcorn up by shaking and using your fingertips. Once it's not sticking too much anymore, add your salt (to taste) and shake it around a bit to distribute. Once it's completely cool, you'll be able to break it up into individual pieces easily. ENJOY!