Those three little words probably don’t need much more convincing or explanation. Why would you not?

This is a fun project when you have an hour to spare in the oven. We made it on a weekend afternoon, but you could also make it on a week night when you can get other stuff done during the inactive time.

Tonight would have been the perfect kind of night (except the caramel corn was already made). We’ve still got a little bit of a laundry hangover from vacation. That, working late, and oh, did I mention that we don’t have a dishwasher? Oh yeah. There’s always a little bit of love to give the house.

But you know what? I like taking care of my house. And it’s not just because we are lucky enough to own our own home. I love having our own place together, and I felt the same way about our previous home, a cute little apartment near the Rose Quarter. Doing a few small tasks around the house like folding a load of laundry, washing just a couple of dishes or putting away some stray socks gives me a peace of mind that not much else does. I love our home.

So with that, here’s how you make some caramel corn. Pop it in the oven, break out the clean laundry and turn on your favorite show.

You will need:

About 3 quarts of popped popcorn – you can use pre-bagged if it is just plain
1 cup peanuts
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Grease two cookie sheets very well or cover them with silpat mats. Spread the cooled popcorn and peanuts onto the mats.

In a saucepan, combine the sugar, syrup, salt and butter and bring to a boil over medium heat. Once at a boil, stir constantly while you allow it to boil for five minutes.

Remove the syrup mixture from the heat and (while stirring) add the baking soda and vanilla. The mixture will foam up a bit. Pour immediately over the popcorn and toss using a spatula. It is not necessary to get everything totally coated right this moment, but try to mix evenly.

Bake for one hour, but pull the popcorn out every 15 minutes to stir. As you continue stirring, the popcorn will become more thoroughly coated – but only if you remember to stir on time! The syrup will become more solid as the popcorn bakes.

Allow to cool completely before eating. Haha. Hahaha. I definitely did not. Don’t burn yourself.

This recipe was slightly adapted from allrecipes.com.