Popcorn popping on the apricot tree

Why: My family likes to play boardgames. Lame, I know. Every now and then we get together to play games and I use it as an opportunity to try new treats. My husband declared "NO CAKE!" when I was planning for our next game night so I turned to the internet and was captivated by the idea of caramel corn. I've never ever had a successful run with caramel at home but I was willing to give it another go. I don't know what I did wrong previously but making this caramel for the popcorn was super easy. I even forgot a few of the ingredients from the original recipe without any major issues. Not only did I escape without major issues but I ended up with the most addicting treat! It's buttery, salty and sweet. Ugh. I'm drooling already.

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• 3 bags of unbuttered microwave popcorn (the best I could find was lightly salted which worked just fine)
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

Pop the 3 bags of popcorn and empty the popcorn onto a cookie sheet or anything with a lip. IMPORTANT: Be sure to remove all the kernels that didn't pop. Biting into an unpoped kernel is the quickest way to ruin your caramel corn experience. Heat the butter, brown sugar, light corn syrup and salt in a large pot on the stove. Stir continually to keep the ingredients combine and continue to stir until it starts to boil. Remove spoon and insert the candy thermometer. Do not stir or touch the caramel until it reaches 280 degrees. Remove the thermometer and add the vanilla (it will fizzle a little). Gently pour the caramel over the popcorn and stir the popcorn to evenly coat. It doesn't have to be perfect - you will stir it while it's in the oven so everything eventually gets coated. Pop the pan into the oven for 1 hour, taking out and stirring every 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. You may have to break apart some of the larger clusters, I find that putting all of it in a Ziploc bag and then crushing it is most effective. Store in an airtight container overnight if you happen to have enough restraint to not eat it all in one sitting.

I tossed in a handful of peanuts when doing the initial caramel pour. They became my favorite part of the treat. I read somewhere that this can be done via microwave (making the caramel and having the caramel set/coat by putting it in a paper bag and nuking/shaking a few times) but I haven't given it a go yet.

Birthday weekend = parade of treats

Excuse the crappy phone pics - I was too lazy to get out the real camera.

Why: My sisters birthday was a few weekends ago and of course I was put on treat duty. As requirement, if she's eating it, it better be lemon. To meet the lemon requirement I made mini lemon bundt cakes with lemon curd and vanilla buttercream. I've mastered this recipe by now because I've made it so often for her. This time to mix it up I used meyer lemons which I have never used before. They're smaller than regular lemons and so much sweeter. It's like a weird hybrid between a lemon and orange. I don't think anyone noticed but I enjoyed the slight variation. Because I couldn't handle having an entire dessert selection of lemon I decided to make some chocolate meringues.

What: Meringues are weird little creatures. They're crispy and hollow but have a little bit of a chew to them once you start eating them. They are typically made with nuts but I love love love the chocolate meringues. They're almost like eating a brownie but with none of the guilt because it's literally sugar, egg whites, cocoa powder and some potato starch. In one of the Martha Stewart magazines I saw that they baked the merginues in muffin cups. Adorable! I used little cups that you put chocolates in and they turned out to be a great grab and go treat. A little bit more annoying to eat but they make for a cute display.

I made a small cake for my sisters birthday, same lemon cake and curd as the mini bundt cakes. I wanted purple frosting but when I mixed in the color by hand it just turned into a muddy blue. Frustrated, I tossed it in the mixed and instantly I had a very very purple frosting. Not that attractive but I don't think she minded.