best popcorn ever

Today is a pretty exciting day because tonight I am hosting The Beehive's viewing party, where we will be reviewing all the of the lovely applications that were submitted for our summer show. I was so excited last night that I stayed up late loading the images of my computer and making caramel corn. It was my first time making it and it turned out to be one of those things that you think 'I can't believe I actually made this myself'.

We got our stove top popper quite a few years ago as a gift and love it so much that we have bought them for other people as gifts too.

I had to buy corn syrup for the recipe. The brand choice was obvious.

When I realized that 5 quarts of popcorn was 20 cups I decided to cut the recipe in half. This probably wasn't the best idea since we could have easily eaten the whole bowl ourselves last night.
I followed this recipe, but took the advice in the comments to make a few alterations (including cutting the suggested butter in half!) and it turned out so good. I love online recipes that have feedback. Here is the recipe re-written with the modifications that worked perfectly for me. Yum.

1/2 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 quarts popped popcorn (about 5/6 cup kernels)
1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Place popped popcorn in a large oven safe dish.
2. In a medium sauce pan over medium heat melt the butter. Stir in brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil without stirring for 4 minutes. Place the popped popcorn in oven for the 4 minutes to warm it.
3. Remove from heat and stir in soda and vanilla. Transfer warmed popcorn to a very large mixing bowl. Pour caramel in a thin stream over popcorn, stirring to coat.
4. Place in two large shallow baking dished and bake in a preheated oven, stirring every 15 minutes for 45 minutes. Remove, let cool, break into pieces. Enjoy.