Crunch

This is a homemade Toffee-Popcorn-Nut recipe that my parents made without fail for every Christmas.

Me?

Well ... Dallas is so much more humid and I run out of time and ... ok, look, I'm not going to lie, especially with Santa checking that list. It's just that I will always put the other recipes first and by the time that I am nerved to deal with molten hot sugar, Christmas is upon us and we have more cookies than we can ever eat. "Why make more sweets?" I tell myself.

Also, truth be told, the humid weather does have something to do with it as well. I want it crunchy and chewy ... not soft and sticky. That ain't easy to achieve unless the Crunch is made only a day or two before Christmas, just when the time crunch really takes hold on my schedule.

Now that I have all that avoidance out of the way, I have to say that this is the popcorn that ruined me for any other toffee popcorn experience. Seriously. Nothing else stands up to that chewy, buttery, crunchy combination.

You know, this year I actually may make it. I can't stand to think of the girls never having this delicious stuff. Yep. I'm doing it for the girls. That's my story and I'm sticking with it.

Crunch

Step 1:
2 quarts popped corn
1-1/3 cups pecans
2/3 cup almonds
Mix popped corn and nuts on a jelly roll sheet (cookie sheet with edges).

Step 2:
1-1/3 cups sugar
1 cup butter
1/2 cup light corn syrup
Combine in a 1½ quart pan; bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Continue boiling, stirring occasionally, 10-15 minutes or until mixture turns a light caramel color.

Step 3:
1 teaspoon vanilla
Remove caramel from heat, mix in vanilla and pour over corn and nut mix. Stir to coat well; spread out to dry. Break apart and store in tightly covered container. Makes about 2 pounds.