Cranberry Limeade Popcorn

I ran across this recipe on Pinterest the other day for Strawberry Popcorn. Now, me loving strawberry, I had to check it out. The pin led me to this woman's blog, where she says she didn't make up the recipe but got it off of the condensed milk people's website.

And I thought to myself I said 'self ('cause that's what I say when I talk to myself, I call myself self...)....I can do that.
And I thought to myself....Self, I can make flavor combos, too!

Lo and behold, a couple weeks ago I made Orange popcorn. The boys loved it, Grau took it to work and I didn't see a bit of it. That'll teach me, huh? I should eat more of what I cook. Or at least stash some of it away, in secret, in hiding, so I can bring it out and be all like, 'Ta-Da! Look what I have! and it's MINE! All MINE! I say!'



No, really, I wouldn't (yup) do that.
Knowing me, I would bring it out and the hordes would descend upon it like ravenous vultures that they are and I would once again get none.
And I'm okay with that. I like cooking and putting smiles on the faces of friends and family. It's what I do best.

Well, Grau gave me the idea to make a Cranberry Limeade popcorn...because well, we were at the store and it was near Thanksgiving and they had cranberry flavored jello....and one thing led to another and I give you......

It was so easy, too! It just takes a bit of time and burnt fingers and you're good to go!

You need:

• 10 cups popped popcorn, sifted so there are NO kernals (trust me, you don't want to bite into the popcorn and chip a tooth!)
• 1 can Condensed Milk
• 1 small box any flavor Jello
• Tin Foil
• Cookie Sheet
• Butter

I'm giving you the basic recipe because you can make so many flavor variations, the flavors you choose are up to you. The recipe itself is the same.

So- first things first. Heat your oven to 300°
Cover your cookie sheet (I used a pizza round) with tin foil and coat foil in butter.

Mix your can of condensed milk and jello in medium saucepan. No heat at this point, just mix it together.
Pop your popcorn however you wish. I usually make the 'homemade' version of  microwave popcorn which is 1/3 cup popcorn kernals inside a brown lunch baggie. This yields exactly 2 cups popped popcorn.

Place baggie in microwave for 1 minute 50 seconds (for small microwaves). Play with YOUR settings. All microwaves are different sizes and wattages, so yours may take a little longer or a little less time. Mine took exactly 1:50 after I tried two batches at 2:00 and 1:55 I settled on the 1:50 and it was perfect.

You'll have to do this five times to yield 10 cups popped popcorn. Which is why I suggested mixing the condensed milk and jello ahead of time.

When you have all 10 cups ready to go, put the popcorn (NO KERNALS!) on the buttered foil.

Put it in the oven. This is so it will keep warm while you are mixing away at the sugary goodness to go on top! Well, it helps to have warm popcorn too, because the coating covers better.

Now turn your milk/jello mixture on a low heat and cook for 3-4 minutes, until it just starts to thicken.

Once it is slightly thick, pour it over your popcorn (oh yeah, take it out of the oven to pour the mixture on it!)

Now, make sure you pour it all around....and then you need to stir it up, making sure you coat as many of the popcorn as you can. Oh, and this is where burnt fingers come in...don't ask, just use a wooden spoon! Trust me on this. Hey- use TWO spoons, it helps.

Once you get it all mixed up, bake it for 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes to coat the pieces you missed early when you were burning your fingers.
After 20 minutes, take it out of the oven and place on another piece of buttered foil and let it cool.

Once it has cooled, break up the clumps with your hands. Then make another flavor!

It's addicting, really it is.

This time I made Cranberry and Lime and mixed them together to get Cranberry Limeade Popcorn!


I'm sure a strawberry kiwi would be fabulous as would an orange popcorn with dark chocolate drizzled over it! YUM! Oh, orange with a teaspoon of vanilla extract added! That would be a dreamsicle popcorn!
Cherry flavored with chocolate extract?

Have fun with it. Enjoy!