cranberry - orange caramel corn

Three reasons I love making caramel corn:

* It's an excuse to make popcorn the old school way: pot, oil, corn. You're drenching it in caramel; leave the air popper in the cupboard.
*The moment I add the vanilla and soda to the hot sugar syrup and it foams up kind of makes me feel like I'm performing magic.
*It is delicious.

This is a great fall caramel corn recipe that adds dried cranberries (so delicious), almonds and orange flavour to the caramel.  I can't take the credit.  The recipe is from this month's Better Homes & Gardens (for simple straightforward recipes, I can't recommend BHG highly enough) and more specifically from reader Ann Donnay.

12 cups popped popcorn (about 1/2 cup kernels)
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup whole almonds
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup light-colored corn syrup
2 Tbsp. orange juice
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. baking soda

Preheat oven to 275 degrees F. In a very large bowl combine the popped popcorn, cranberries, and almonds; set aside.

In a 2-quart saucepan cook and stir the butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup over medium heat until butter is melted. Stir in orange juice. Bring to boiling over medium heat. Boil at a moderate, steady rate for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and baking soda (mixture will foam up).

Pour the syrup mixture over the popcorn mixture in bowl; stir to coat well. Transfer to a 15x10x1-inch baking pan or a shallow roasting pan. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring twice. Transfer caramel corn to a large sheet of greased heavy foil; cool. Makes 20 (1/2 cup) servings.