Caramel Popcorn with Lots of Peanuts

You know what sucks about Cracker Jacks? Ha, see that was a trick question. Nothing sucks about Cracker Jacks. They are a nearly perfect food with their mix of sweet-salty-buttery crunch. If they weren't nearly perfect, we wouldn't sing about them while watching our national pastime. That said, what I have always wished for my Cracker Jacks was that they had more peanuts. I came upon a chance to make that wish a reality with the Fine Cooking Tailgating magazine I got over the weekend. Here's the recipe:

http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/caramel-popcorn.aspx
I used some of the popcorn that I get from Scott that I absolutely love. I think it's grown in Hillsboro.

Heat the oil with one kernel in there and once that pops, drop the rest.

After a couple minutes, I had a lovely bowl of popped corn.

Then I added a bunch of nuts. Actually more than were called for in the recipe.

Here's me pretending I am a pastry chef, brushing down the walls of the pan so that I don't get sugar crystals in my caramel.

This is what it looked like when I started.

And here's where I dropped in the baking soda.

Dump and mix.

Then spread on a foil lined baking sheet. When cool, break into bite sized pieces.

I was gonna say that the hardest part of making caramel corn is not eating the popcorn while waiting for the caramel to cook, but that was what I thought before I saw the hardened caramel on my pan and bowls. Yikes. But totally worth it.