Happy Halloween!

We've lived in our home for almost 34 years now.  Most of our neighbors have lived here as long, or longer.  Our children are grown and there aren't too many young families around us, so the trick or treaters who come to our door are mostly strangers. We get a lot of them, I have no idea where they come from!  I have a big bowl of candy for them but I always make a special treat for the neighborhood kids and our neighbors' grandkids.

 This year the kids are getting this Caramel Snack Mix.  It's like a combination of caramel corn and Chex mix. It's utterly irresistible! To make it Halloween-festive, I added candy corn, and two varieties of M & M's. I omitted the peanuts today, so many kids have peanut allergies these days.

Our granddaughter spent the night last night so our jack o' lanterns are ready to be lit. Halloween is such a fun holiday!

An upside-down bat!

Caramel Snack Mix

3 quarts popped popcorn
4 cups Cheerios
4 cups Corn or Rice Chex
2 cups salted peanuts
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup butter, cubed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Candy of your choosing (M & M's, candy pumpkins, candy corn)

Spray a large roasting pan with cooking spray. Combine the popcorn, cereal and peanuts. 

In a large saucepan, combine the brown sugar, corny syrup and butter; bring to a rolling boil.  Boil for 6 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from the heat; quickly stir in vanilla and baking soda until mixture is light and foamy.

Immediately pour over popcorn mixture; toss to coat.  Bake, uncovered, at 250 degrees for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Stir in candy.  Cool completely.