Projo Football Food and Spirits

The folks at The Popcorn Board, a trade organization with a site for the public at www.popcorn.org have sent along some fun snack ideas for this month as they've designated it National Popcorn Poppin' Month. The crispy apple popcorn and cranberry popcorn balls sound great but maple pumpkin sounds even more sinful, yet fun.

Crispy Crunchy Apple Popcorn
6 cups popped popcorn
1 tablespoon butter, melted
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups dried apple chips (see following recipe)
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a 9- by 13-inch baking pan with foil; butter foil. Spread popcorn in pan and drizzle with melted butter; toss popcorn.
Sprinkle popcorn with sugar and cinnamon and toss again. Heat in oven 7 minutes. Sprinkle apple chips over popcorn and heat an additional 3 minutes. Serve warm or cool to room temperature. Store in an airtight container.
Yields 7 cups.

Oven Dried Apple Chips
Heat oven to 200 degrees. Cut off the bottoms of the apples and core. Thinly slice the apples (no more than an eighth of an inch thick) or use a mandoline for greater uniformity.
Line baking sheet with a foil and place apple slices in a single layer. Do not overlap. Sprinkle with cinnamon, nutmeg, or confectioners sugar if desired.
Bake for 1 to 2 hours. Cool completely on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container.

Cranberry Popcorn Balls
2 cups sugar
1 10-ounce package (1 cup) frozen cranberry-orange relish (see recipe)
1/2 cup cranberry juice
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 quarts popped popcorn
Combine all ingredients, except popcorn, in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil; lower heat and cook to 250 degrees on a candy thermometer (hard-ball stage). Mixture will bubble up in pan, so watch to keep from boiling over. Pour slowly onto hot popcorn and mix until well-coated. Cool to allow handling (5 minutes). Butter hands well and form into 3-inch balls.
Yields 18 balls.

Cranberry Orange Relish
12 ounces fresh or frozen cranberries
1 orange quartered
3/4 to 1 cup sugar
Put cranberries and orange (quartered and seeds removed) through food processor. Stir in sugar to desired sweetness. Mix well. Refrigerate over night or several hours before serving. May be frozen.
Yields 2 1/2 cups.Rrcipe also found on most fresh Cranberry bags.

Maple Pumpkin Spice Popcorn
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin spice mix
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1/2 cup chopped pecans, optional
5 cups popped popcorn
In a large saucepan or pot, heat brown sugar, maple syrup, and pumpkin pie spice mix over medium heat. Cook, stirring, 3 minutes or until sugar is dissolved and mixture is bubbling. Stir in butter until melted and well blended. Add pecans, if desired, and popcorn and stir until well coated.
Allow mixture to cool before serving. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container.
Yields 5 cups.

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