How to Make Caramel Popcorn–and General Update

The senior kidlet, who is a gourmet, has written a recipe post for the blog.  And lo and behold, he sounds exactly like the smart-aleck fourteen-year-old he is.  And he also sounds like he is talking to a bunch of other teenagers, rather than to ladies of his mother's generation.  But oh well.  I have some general update following the recipe.

And if you need a query consultation, I have one up for bit at the Brenda Novak Diabetes Research Auction.

Caramel Popcorn

Hi I'm John a.k.a the senior kidlet. First off, this blog is pretty cool. Do i sound immature? Never mind.  If you don't already know I've been on a cooking spree for a while now. Most of the time  I make slightly more complicated dishes than caramel popcorn but I just had to share this one because it's just so delicious, easy to make and not expensive either.  This is great food for any sports event on TV, a movie you rented and brought home, or just a quick snack. Do you really want to know this recipe? I bet you do, you wanna know how I know it's cause I'm a psychic. Not. All right, on to the recipe.

Acquire a bag of popcorn and about 1/3 cup of sugar. You can use more or less sugar and you can pop your own corn rather than a bag if you please.

Get a small pot

Put in the same amount of water as sugar in the pot.

Add the sugar.

Find yourself something to stir the mixture with. The chopsticks of Fire Flash are my choice but anything will do.

Stir! Stir you scurvy dogs!

Turn the heat up to High and stir until sugar is dissolved. You should probably put the popcorn bag in microwave now but if you're making it in a kettle you should start a little earlier.

Put the popcorn in a big bowl and keep it nearby.

This is what it looks like before turning into caramel. I usually pour it in now because it's much easier to pour and I think it tastes better as well.

Make sure that you stir it together and make sure nothing is sticking at the bottom

This is what it looks like in the end. Yeah not much but I assure you in the strictest confidence. It's good.

This is a piece that is (expletive deleted by Mom) loaded with caramel you can mix and match as you please.

Just how good it is.

(Thank you, Sr. Kidlet, now back to Mom.)

General Update

I have finished the first book in the trilogy!  Woot!  It is very exciting–especially more so as the book hasn't given me anywhere as much trouble as HIS AT NIGHT did.  I am full of cuddly feelings right now.

OK, so the truth is, the scaffolding is all done, but the plasterwork and the wiring and the interior decoration still leave much to be desired.  So as I go full steam at Book 2–2.5 weeks to deadline and 30k words to go–I'll have to revise Book 1 as I go.  But a good scaffolding has always been my greatest problem in the past, so I am happy to have that out of the way.

The Harlequin title for Book 2, btw, is EIGHT YEARS AS A VIRGIN BRIDE–AND HOW IT ALL ENDED.  :-)

(There are no official titles for any of them yet.  Will be hashed out during cover meetings, which are to take place soon at Berkley, from what I understand.)

And of course, what is a general update post without a couple of foreign covers?

Portuguese PRIVATE ARRANGEMENTS, the title of which translates into AN ALMOST PERFECT LOVE.

Japanese NOT QUITE A HUSBAND, which they call AWAKENING OF LOVE BURNING.  Me like.  :-)

And don't forget that Meredith's new book will be out in soon.  The excerpt is on her website.  I have the link to it in the sidebar.  Read and love.  In the meanwhile, I return to work and will–I devoutly hope–post the next update after both Books 1 & 2 have been turned in at the beginning of June.  Keep well and happy reading.