Birthday Cake Popcorn

The wreath I made for Charleigh Marie's nursery

My friends, Natalie and Thomas, who I have mentioned many times in previous blog entries, were expecting a baby girl, Charleigh Marie, on May 4, 2012.  I offered to help Natalie's sister, Lauren, throw a baby shower.  Lauren and Natalie's friend, Kara, had most of the shower covered, so she assigned me to party favors.  After seeing numerous cute baby shower posts on Pinterest for "_____ is about to pop!" pop-themed parties, we decided to go with that.  I had my friend, Michelle, make up some cute labels for both the party favors and the champagne bottles.  Michelle's labels for the champagne said, "Natalie is about to pop!" and the labels for the party favors said, "Thanks for popping by!"

"Thanks for POPPING by!"

I looked up recipes for creative popcorn, but I wasn't really pleased with any one in particular.  Again, in true Katherine in the Kitchen style, I took a recipe, and I made it my own.  "Birthday Cake Popcorn" was basically candied popcorn with an assortment of sprinkles mixed into it, but for Natalie's shower, I chose pink sprinkles for a baby girl.  The popcorn was sweet from the candy coating and salty and crunchy from the popcorn- one of those "M&M's and popcorn" or "fries dipped in milkshake" kind of tastes- you don't know why the contrasting flavors taste so good- they just do.

Itty bitty Charleigh!

Natalie and Thomas' Benbrook home was beautifully decorated for the shower, complete with modern decor and delicious food.  Natalie chose to have her guests bring their gifts unopened, so we could all see each of the presents- from the itty bitty teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini to the wreath I made with a large "C" for Charleigh.

Welcome, Charleigh Marie! Harper's Bluebonnet Bakery Cake

I made this popcorn again for a staff meeting at work, but the meeting was cancelled due to inclement weather.  Good thing, too, because there was a grand total of seven tornadoes that touched down in the metroplex that night.  I am the Birthday Coordinator for the unit, so I was bringing the March birthday cards and birthday treats to the meeting.  I took my ginormous bag of Birthday Cake Popcorn to my Intake and Inpatient co-workers, despite the weather, because God knows that I didn't want to be hunkered down in "the room in the most central area of my house with no windows" with a hugmongous bag of sugary goodness. Everyone absolutely loved it! I was asked for the recipe by six people, and my co-worker, Meredith, even claimed to have dreamt about it the next night.  That may be the best compliment that I've ever gotten about my food!

Andy and Charleigh

Making this stuff is MESSY.  You get it all over your hands, but it's not like I was complaining to have to lick the candy coating off of my fingers (when I was done of course!)  Because the coating gets so thick, you can't really drizzle it on the popcorn, so you have to just stick your hands in it, pick up some of the popcorn, and toss the popcorn with the coating.  Despite being super easy, like I said it is super messy, but would definitely be fun to make with kiddos.

Natalie is about to Pop party favors

So instead of just zapping a bag of popcorn in the microwave next time and dumping in a bag of M&Ms, try Birthday Cake Popcorn.  Just making it is deliciously fun, and it's a yummy snack to take to any celebration!

Birthday Cake Popcorn

Pinterest.com/Kate Strickland

Servings: 30

Birthday Cake Popcorn

 

• 3 bags un-buttered/un-salted popcorn
• 1 c vanilla candy wafers (available at Michael’s/Hobby Lobby in the cake decorating section)
• 1 c vanilla cake mix (just the powder- don’t mix up the mix)
• Small sugar sprinkles

1.       Pop popcorn in the microwave & allow to cool
2.       Melt wafers (about 1 min in microwave)
3.       Add cake mix to melted wafers & stir
4.       Melt wafers/cake mix another 10 secs
5.       Toss wafers/cake mix mixture with popcorn so popcorn has the sticky mixture all over it
6.       Sprinkle on sprinkles (the smaller sugar sprinkles work/stick best)
7.       Allow to dry

Keep on cookin’!

-Katherine

Tequila Shrimp Skewers

Although I have posted numerous posts about how I did not eat much seafood as a child, shrimp is one of the few creatures of the sea that I did like.  I started snow skiing when I was two and a half years old, and we went almost every year when I was younger.  On one trip to Beaver Creek, Colorado, they would have a "kids dinner" so the adults could get rid of their rugrats for a bit and have a nice meal.  One spring break in elementary school (or "Lower School" at our school), my friend, Kate Thompson, and her family happened to be staying at the same resort as mine.  The one night I remember best, Kate and I got a little mischievous.  We played hide-and-go-seek in the hotel, and we snuck into the parents' dining room where our families were eating.  I couldn't tell you anything else about the whole trip, except that my parents were eating shrimp.  I don't know why or how I remember that, but it is the one detail of the whole vacation that stands out to me.  My parents made a deal with me that they would give me a saucer full of shrimp if we would return to the kids' room where we belonged.  Done and done.


Tequila Lime Shrimp Skewers

My other "young shrimp memory" was at my dad's friend, Darrell Keith,'s daughter, Courtney,'s wedding.  Courtney's wedding was one of the nicest weddings I had ever been to.  It was black tie, and my dad wore his tuxedo- as a nine year old, I was completely taken aback  At the center of the dancing, champagne, and elegantly dressed crowd, was a giant ice sculpture filled with shrimp.  I had seen ice sculptures before, but never to display food!  What a beautiful way to keep something like shrimp chilled!  I was mesmerized (and should have known right then that my fascination with food & food displays was not normal for a nine year old!)


An ice sculpture is a great way to keep cold foods chilled and beautifully displayed

 Shrimp is a very healthy and very easy to cook seafood.  It is easiest to cook them on a grilling plate, soaked wood plank, or skewers, as depicted below.  A little goes a long way with these fellas, and they go great with grilled fruits and veggies.  These Tequila Shrimp Skewers have pineapple and red pepper, but you could easily add green pepper, tomatoes, or squash to the skewers, also.  They are spicy, so we chose to pair it with a Gewurztraminer wine which brought out a lot of the flavor.  I made some Zatarains New Orleans Style Jambalaya Mix rice, too, to go with our spicy/Cajun them.

Tequila Shrimp Skewers
Kate Strickland
Servings: 4; Weight Watchers PointsPlus Value: 8

Tequila Lime Shrimp and Cajun Rice

• Juice of 6 limes
• 1/3 c tequila
• 1/3 c olive oil
• 1 tbsp salt (to taste)
• 2 tbsp sea food seasoning (to taste)
• 1 tsp ground pepper
• 2 lbs shrimp
• 1 pkg skewers
• 1 c pineapple
• 1 red pepper, sliced into chunks

1. In a bowl, mix together lime, tequila, olive oil, salt, sea food seasoning, and pepper
2. Mix in shrimp and marinate for 30-45 mins *don't leave the shrimp in marinate too long, otherwise it will start to cook in the lime juice!
3. Skewer shrimp and pineapple and pepper, leaving a little space between each one
4. Heat grill
5. Place the skewers on grill (on medium/hot)
6. Grill one side of the shrimp for about 2 min, then flip and grill another 1-2 min *shrimp should be pink on both sides

Tequila Lime Shrimp pairs well with 

Gewürztraminer wine