Cracker Jack

In trying to find a way to celebrate the University of South Carolina Gamecocks baseball team's winning the College World Series, the children and I thought about making some "cracker jack" (a la "Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack), and I found this recipe on cdkitchen.com.

2 sticks butter
1/2 cup white corn syrup
1 tablespoon vinegar
2 cups brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup peanuts
5 quarts popped corn

Boil butter, corn syrup, vinegar, and brown sugar for 5 minutes. (I stirred fairly constantly.)

Remove from heat and add the baking soda and vanilla and peanuts.

Pour over popcorn and stir.

Bake for 1 hour at 250 degrees, stirring every 15 minutes.

*I did not know how much 5 quarts of popcorn would be, so I just made 1 batch of popcorn in my popcorn maker (1/2 cup unpopped corn). This turned out to be too little, since all the "sauce" did not soak in, so I ended up just pouring the mix out onto parchment paper after the hour's baking time and letting it "dry." I also sprinkled it with salt and sugar after I poured it out onto the parchment. This is really buttery. It is not healthy, I'm sure, but it's fun to celebrate the baseball team's victory!