Halloween reminds us all of our youth. When I used to trick or treat as a kid it was long before Costco mega bags of candy and when a "mini" Snickers bar was basically half the size of a normal candy bar.  It should be noted that I am from a generation that was told to go to the Emergency Room to get our candy X-Rayed before eating it for fear that it had been tampered with (nothing like scaring and scarring the kiddies).  We wore plastic costumes with paper masks bought at the drug store and coveted our candy collection like no one's business. 

Everyone has their favorite treat and back in the day we were still given homemade goodies.  As I reflect,  I realize that I would never let any of my kids eat a cookie from a stranger.  However, I am now also forced to question who would give an entire unwrapped oatmeal cookie to Wonder Woman and drop it into her plastic pumpkin brimming with perfectly good wrapped candy?  Yah sure that cookie is going to be great in a few days (blech!).  One of the homemade treats that WAS able to stand up to the test of time happens to also be my ultimate favorite of Halloween Trick or Treating goodness. . . . Popcorn Balls! 

Of all of the candy and other treats I would get, the one I loved the most was the popcorn ball.  It would linger in my pumpkin bucket infusing all of the sugar babies, tootsie rolls and bottle caps with a delightful popcorn smell and when the time was right. . . . Popcorn Ball Nirvana yummy goodness was achieved.  That was over 30 years ago . . I have never tried to recreate the popcorn ball of my youth because isn't making candy  hard, tricky and sticky?  And how could I justify making an entire batch of popcorn balls for myself?

Enter in my darling son's birthday party. . . The perfect excuse for popcorn ball making.  If you find yourself hankering for some deliciousness of yesteryear I really encourage you to try this recipe.  It is easy to do and you too can experience popcorn ball bliss.  You might not be able to hand these out on Halloween night but I bet whomever is lucky enough to get these will truly appreciate this labor of popcorn ball love.

The key things you need to have: 

1.  A hot air popcorn popper.  You don't want to make this corn with oil, save that for family movie night.  You also don't want to make prepackaged microwave popcorn because well its just gross.  There is also a lot that can be done with a hot air popcorn maker during caramel corn making season. . . .  another gift of deliciousness.

2.  A large container to dump all of your popped corn in,  I used a roasting pan.  This recipe calls for 8 quarts. One of the keys here is to really sort the popped corn and get out any burned, un-popped or halfway popped kernels.  No one wants to visit the dentist after eating the world's best popcorn ball. 

3.  A pair of dishwashing gloves.  You know the yellow gloves that save your hands while doing dishes by hand? If you have always had a dishwashing machine. . .lucky you.  If not you know that these are great for handling extra hot water.    These are awesome for this because when shaping your delicious balls you need to be able to handle the hot gooey goodness and these are just the trick.

4.  Plastic wrap to store the popcorn balls.

What you are about to behold is the best recipe ever for a popcorn ball.  I would like to thank my fearless 4-H leader Mrs. H. for sending this to me.  The best part is that it is in her own handwriting!   Yes, there is high fructose corn syrup involved if you can handle that and a little butter you'll be doing just fine.

May your popcorn ball making adventure remind you of your youth and bring you just a little closer to popcorn heaven.