Homemade Kettle Corn

Making my own popcorn is my new favorite thing! It's so easy and delicious. You don't need any fancy equipment. I first made a batch with 1 tablespoon oil and 1/2 cup of popcorn kernels. After it popped, I topped it with melted butter and sprinkled it with salt and grated Parmesan cheese. Tasty, savory snack--goes well with good beer.

But, my heart really belongs to kettle corn. I found an easy recipe on allrecipes.com and tweaked it a little. I literally ate my first batch by myself, so watch out! It's that good. The website said that white sugar makes it taste like popcorn balls and brown sugar made it taste more like caramel corn. I use a little of both--packed into the same 1/4 measuring cup.

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil (allrecipes called for 1/4 cup; the second time I made this, I used less and it was ok. I may try using an 1/8 cup or less next time.)
• 1/2 cup popcorn kernels
• 1/8 cup white sugar
• 1/8 cup brown sugar
  
• Salt to taste

1. Heat oil over medium heat in a large pot with a lid.
2. Add popcorn kernels, then add sugars and quickly stir--keeping the lid covering the pot as well as possible.
   
3. As the popcorn pops, shake your pot. A LOT. Every once in a while, I lift up the pot and flip it over to try to get the sugar as evenly coated as possible. Any sugar left on the bottom of the pot the whole time will burn.
4. Once popping slows to once every couple of seconds, remove from heat. Keep shaking until the popping stops. I'd recommend removing it a little earlier rather than later, as the sugar will burn quickly if left on too long.
5. Pour into a huge bowl and sprinkle with salt.