This I Believe: Caramel Popcorn

I'm a little too emotionally connected to food. But, food can produce strong feelings and staunch opinions. I'm not that staunch, but I do have strong feelings about my caramel popcorn recipe. It came, as many of my recipes do, from my Grandma Pope (a firecracker!). But, I feel so strongly about this recipe, that I am willing to declare to you the three things that I believe strongly enough to put into words and publish for the world.

1. When making caramel popcorn, stove popped, air popped, even over a fire popped, but microwave popcorn is a no-no. My bro and sis-in-law gave us a Whirly-Pop one year for Christmas, and that's what we use. My kids love to turn the crank over the stove top. (Grandma is an air popper). And, p.s. I am not against microwave pop corn for other uses...come on. And p.p.s., by microwave popcorn, I mean the product--you know, the flat pack you buy at the store--not the technique.

2. You should be generous with the caramel. No more than 3/4 cup (unpopped measurement) of corn per batch of caramel. That'll fill a pretty big bowl.

3. You should use Grandma Pope's caramel recipe for your caramel corn.

These three truths have proved to be foolproof for me. But, don't take my word for it.

Grandma Pope's Caramel

1 1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. karo syrup
1/4 c. water
1/8 tsp. cream of tartar
1 square margerine (that's how Grandma wrote it, but I'd tell you 1/2 cup of butter)

Cook until just below *soft ball stage. Remove from heat. Add 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda.

* Definition: Soft-ball stage refers to a specific temperature range when cooking sugar syrups. Soft-Ball Stage occurs at 235-245 degrees. This stage can be determined by dropping a spoonful of hot syrup into a bowl of very cold water. In the water, use your fingers to gather the cooled syrup into a ball. If it has reached soft-ball stage, the syrup easily forms a ball while in the cold water, but flattens once removed from the water.