Butter Pecan Cake Kettle Corn {Sundays with Joy}

Last week I spent an entire day at a local water park, complete with water slides, wave pool, and general chaos.

If you remember how I feel about such things, you'll understand  why I had hesitation in going.

Jordan had been dying to go all summer and this was a girl scout event; a reward for all those cookies I she sold last spring.

As a reward for all my her hard work, we got to spend a day at the least most fun place in the area.

I don't like heights, putting my head under water, crowds, claustrophobic round tubes, and swimming pools in general, so you can understand my hesitation in going.

The last time I went to a water park I was 12. It was for the birthday party of a friend, and I had tubes in my ears (for the second time). I had to wear ear plugs and, because of the force of the water coming off the slides and the eventuality that I would lose an ear plug thus rendering my head an aching mess, I had to also wear a bathing cap.

Did I mention I was 12 years old? Gawky, just a smidgen overweight next to my waif girlfriends in bikinis and I had to wear a bathing cap the entire day.

Now the gawkiness is gone, the smidgen is more a ton, and the tubes are gone but the problems that caused them remain. But, really, I can deal with all the water, the heights, the incredible chaos that is an amusement park filled with water. ("Okay, Jordan is over there. [Blink] Where the f*&# did she go?")

What I cannot deal with in a place like that?

Walking barefoot.

Seriously people. A few times in line for the one slide I was nice enough to brave I had to keep my gag reflex in check just thinking about my bare tootsies on the wet ground.

I am the girl in the gym bathroom that showers with flip flops. When washing my feet in the shower, I do yoga to wash one, then the other. (I'm reeealllly good at tree pose.) I will not let my feet (nor any other part of my bare body) touch any part of the floor.

How, dare I ask, is the water park any different than a gym bathroom floor?

{Hint: it's only different because it's worse.}

Turns out I am very skilled at walking up stairs on the tiniest portion of foot that gravity allows.

My calves reminded me of this the next morning.

And people seem to have no problem walking around barefoot all day. I wore flip flops and/or water shoes (yes, I brought both) as much as possible. But you're not allowed to wear them on the slides.

*Shiver*

Needless to say, there was a lot of foot scrubbing at my house that night.

And comfort eating.

This popcorn is perfect comfort food.

In her book, the Joy the Baker Cookbook, Joy wrote about how her kettle corn had gotten her through many a hard day.

Of course, I couldn't just make kettle corn. Although it was good by itself, that's not quite how I roll.

So I added Butter Pecan Cake Batter (the ultimate comfort food in my book) and toasted pecans. And white chocolate.

Total comfort food. Perfect for when you survive a day of barefoot trauma at the water park.

{Oh, and do you need a last minute teacher gift idea? Then this is it! Popcorn is great for giving...especially when you're "popping by" to say hello. See? I even made cute tags.}

Enjoy!

Butter Pecan Cake Kettle Corn

by Crazy for Crust (Adapted from Sundays with Joy by Joy Wilson)

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/4 cup popcorn kernels
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 sections (8 ounces) white candy melts
• 1/2 cup butter pecan cake mix
• 1 cup toasted pecans (toast in a frying pan over low heat, stirring often, just until you smell them)

Instructions

1. Melt oil and butter together over medium heat in a large pot with a tight fitting lid. Add popcorn and sprinkle sugar evenly over kernels. Place the lid on the pot and turn heat to medium-high. When popcorn begins to pop, using potholders, shake pot every 20 seconds to reduce risk of burning the sugar. Once popping slows, remove from heat and remove lid carefully. Sprinkle with salt and add to a large bowl.
2. Melt candy melts. Stir in cake mix. Pour over popcorn. Add toasted pecans and stir until all the candy is incorporated. Turn out onto a baking sheet covered with wax paper and chill until candy hardens. Store in a sealed container.

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Read more about the Joy the Baker Cookbook here. I'm not affiliated with Joy, but I love her recipes. Do you have her book and want to cook your way through? Join us here.

Kir Royale Granita {Sundays with Joy}

Today is my 11th anniversary. Or, the day my husband decided to put up with me forever.

Kidding.

I really do believe that I married my best friend. I know it's cheesy, who doesn't say that? But it's so totally true.

We met in college. I was 20. He was a "returning student." We became friends over HTML and confusing java script codes.

Fast forward a couple years. He was freshly divorced and I pounced.

Kidding. Not really. I'll admit; I pursued him. I chased him until he caught me.

Our first two "dates" were as friends. By the end of the second outing (a long hike) I was in loooove. I mean, we had pretty much everything in common. From then on we were inseparable.

We were engaged 5 months later. (However, I knew we were going to get married within two weeks. We even talked about it after just a month.) A little over a year after that hike we were married.

Back in the days before we had a kid, when you know, we could actually go out and have fun and not care if we didn't want to get out of bed the next day, we'd have a drink at the bar before sitting down to dinner at a nice restaurant. At some point, I was introduced to a champagne drink called a Kir Royale.

A Kir Royale is made of champagne and Chambord (a raspberry liqueur). Now, some purists might say it needs to be made with Cream de Cassis...but I always remember it made with Chambord. The good bartenders rub the edge of the glass with lemon before popping some of the rind into the glass, creating a good fizz.

{Seriously, talking about this has made me want a cocktail. Badly. Guess what I'm ordering at dinner tonight?}

When I realized Sundays with Joy fell on our anniversary, and that her espresso granita was what was on the schedule, I was stumped. I wanted to make something for us to enjoy after dinner tonight...but my husband doesn't like coffee. Somehow, I thought of champagne...and that led me to a Kir Royale.

Making a granita is one of the easiest things ever, so don't be intimidated by its elegant name. You just place liquid in a dish, pop it in the freezer, and stir it once an hour for three or four hours. Easy peasy.

Believe you me, it's reeealllly difficult to make a champagne granita at 9am. Because as much as I wanted to eat it, I couldn't because I needed to be a responsible parent. (Darn kids.)

Plus, by not eating it, I can save it to share with my sweetie tonight.

Happy Anniversary to my dear, sweet husband. Thanks for being my rock for more than 11 years and for always just nodding and saying "mm hmmmm" when I get in one of my moods.

I'm looking forward to our next few chapters. And the rest of the next 50 years we'll be together. :)

~Read More~

Coconut Macaroon Cake Batter Shake {Sundays with Joy}

I am so excited about this post.

One, because it has the words cake batter and coconut all in the title. I mean, is there really anything better?

Two, because my child thinks I'm a magician, armed with a rolling pin and a wooden spoon that spits glitter and magical rainbows.

And three, because it means I finally got my Joy the Baker Cookbook: 100 Simple and Comforting Recipes and I can join in with Sundays with Joy, hosted by Carrie at Bakeaholic Mama and Ellen at Indigo Scones.

I have been gaping and drooling at Carrie's Sundays with Joy posts for a few weeks now. The premise is simple: once a week we make one of the recipes from Joy's book, and then we post it.

Have you read Joy's cookbook? It's beyond fab. If I could pick all of my favorite things to eat and bake and put it in one cookbook, this would be it. Seriously.

Now...the point of the group isn't to have all of Joy's recipes given away. That just wouldn't seem right. So...I'm not going to be posting her recipes. You'll have to get her book for that!

BUT...you all know how I am about recipes. I have a reeeaaallly hard time following them. I see something I want to make and the first place my mind goes is in ten different directions...figuring out how I can make it my own.

Once in awhile, I'll probably follow her directions. But, more often than not, I see myself changing or adding to her recipe, or making it my own.

Let's start with this shake.

It just so happened that the first week I could participate, the group was making Chocolate Covered Coconut Macaroon Ice Cream.

Could there be a more perfect recipe for me?

And, guys, she made her own chocolate shell. It's super easy. Jordan had never had magic shell before and, as she watched it harden on her ice cream, her face lit up and the smile was huge. To her, I created magic sauce, and was, thus, a magician.

My ice cream was a little icier than expected, no fault of Joy's. I think I need to learn not to buy the cheapest ingredients...like, hey, spring for the expensive coconut milk...flavors and texture don't always come cheap.

And then there's my forementioned recipe issue, a nagging little voice inside my head saying, "More! More! Do More!" So I made a shake.

With devils food cake batter.

And I added the chocolate shell too.

Bliss.

~Read More~