Sweet & Salty Popcorn Bark Valentines

The highlight of your weekend may have been Buffalo Chicken Dip or Katy Perry & her dancing shark friends, but the best part of mine was working. No, I haven't lost {what's left of} my sleep-deprived mind these days. My "job" on Saturday was to attend an event where I was forced to watch an award-winning pastry chef prepare desserts while nibbling samples of various Valentine's Day themed treats. It's hard life, I know.

Speaking of Valentine's Day, I have a love related question for you: How do you show love to your spouse or significant other?

Is it by bringing home a bouquet of flowers? Taking out the trash without being asked {HINT, HINT!}? Showering him or her with hugs and kisses? Turning a blind eye to that second serving of ice cream at the end of a long day?

In our house a whole lot of stock is put in food... it's the way we celebrate, commiserate, and most importantly, show love. It's what gets us to sit around for more than 5 seconds without a phone or computer glued to our fingertips, and talk. It's what we both get excited about planning when we're inviting people into our home.

When Steve is being thoughtful, he'll pick up half & half if I'm running low to make sure I have some for my coffee in the morning. When he's being sweet, he'll bring home my favorite bottle of wine. When he's trying to get in my pants, he'll surprise me with a pint of my favorite ice cream. {Ha!}

Basically, our love language is food.

Steve gets to reap the benefits of my blogging pretty often when boxes of food arrive at our doorstep for me to work with or review. A few weeks ago I found him happily snacking on G.H. Cretors Popcorn that was sent to me...before I got to use it for a recipe. {Bad, Steve!} He is much more of a savory fan than a sweet tooth {think bread, pretzels, pasta... etc.}, so it made perfect sense that he was drawn to the popcorn like a moth to flame. Luckily, I stopped him before he could gobble it all up and had enough left for a homemade Valentine treat for both the salty and sweet lovers in your life!

Candy bark in general is a fun and easy way to make homemade gifts because you can add just about anything that you desire to make it tasty and festive. This bark gets it's a savory note from G.H. Cretors Organic Simply Salted Popcorn and some tart chewiness from dried cherries. Using heart shaped cookie cutters as molds, they turn out to be the perfect little goody to wrap up and give as a Valentine's treat.

Then again, if your sweetheart is anything like mine, the bag of popcorn alone would suffice! A big thanks to my friends at G.H. Cretors for sending over a yummy treat that we both enjoyed. :)

Disclosure: I was sent a box of G.H. Cretors Popcorn for review. All opinions here are my own. 

Sweet & Salty Popcorn Bark Valentines
Adapted from a G. H. Cretors recipe

Special tools: Heart shaped cookie cutters
1/2 lb. dark chocolate chips or bars, melted -- set some aside for drizzling
2 cups G.H. Cretors Organic Simply Salted Popcorn
1/4 cup dried cherries
{Optional} White chocolate or pink candy melts, Festive sprinkles

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.

2. Place heart cookie cutters on parchment or silicone mat. Pour a few tablespoons of melted chocolate into each one, spreading with a spoon or spatula to evenly distribute.*

3. While the chocolate is still wet, sprinkle with popcorn and dried cherries, pressing down lightly to ensure they stick. Place in the freezer for about 5 minutes to harden.

4. Remove from freezer and carefully pop the set chocolate hearts out of the cookie cutters. {You may need to wait a minute or two so they're easier to separate from the cookie cutters.} Repeat as needed with remaining chocolate and cookie cutters.

5. Once hearts are set, drizzle reserved melted chocolate on top. This would also be the time to apply any sprinkles or drizzle with melted colored candy melts, etc.

5. Return to the freezer until they're completely set. Once they're ready, you can wrap them up in cellophane bags and tie with ribbon or baker's twine to give as a sweet treat!

*I made mine about 1/8 inch thick, but you can make them as thick as you'd like -- simply add more chocolate to each cookie cutter mold. The yield will vary based on how big your heart cookie cutters are and how thick you make them.

Key Lime Pie Popcorn!

If you follow The Kitchen Prep on Facebook {Which you should! We have lots of fun over there!}, you probably saw my post about my husband & I spending last weekend in Key West celebrating our 3 year anniversary.

So, if rain on your wedding day is said to be good luck, can we just assume that cloudiness and storms on your anniversary getaway weekend are, too? Because if that's the case then chances are we are probably winning the lottery this week. The clouds never lifted for our entire 3 day stay.

The weather was not the prettiest, but that didn't stop us from enjoying island living to the fullest. And by "island living", I mean doing nothing particularly productive, wearing no watches to go by {when in doubt, it's happy hour}, and riding rented bicycles wherever the wind blew {in some cases, literally}.

Poor Steve was so looking forward to spending some time in the water, but with the way the skies were threatening, we {I} decided the last thing we needed was to end up washed out to sea. {All together now! "A three hour tooooooour..."}
 

Getting a bit wind blown at the Southernmost Point.
That gust of wind pushing my top forward is giving the illusion of a preggers belly...
I can assure you, it's just the wind!

So, instead, we spent a lot of time exploring the fine local establishments. Restaurants, bars {lots and lots of bars}, bakeries... you name it.

With the research done for you, I'm putting together a little foodie {drinkie?} recap of our weekend in Key West for you to use as a guide if you're ever in the area!  But, I'm saving that post for tomorrow, because today I want to get you in the right frame of mind.

What is this, you ask?

Oh, well, it's Key Lime Pie-pcorn. A sweet treat inspired by Key West's most famous dessert!

Even if you're not driving to Key West like we did, this popcorn makes a perfectly portable option when you need a KLP {Key Lime Pie} fix and can't have a slice of the real thing.  The white chocolate coating speckled with lime zest imitates the tart, creamy custard part of the pie. And for you pie crust-lovers, the graham cracker crumbs give you a little hint of that fabulous graham-y flavor.

Wouldn't this be a fun snack to package and have at a tropical themed party or cookout this summer? I think yes!

Whip up a batch of this stuff, sit back {preferably in a hammock}, and start getting into an island state of mind for tomorrow's Tasty Travels recap of Key West!

Key Lime Pie Popcorn

2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil, plus 2 teaspoons for thinning candy coating
1/3 cup {heaping} popcorn kernels
8 oz. white chocolate candy coating {you could also use white chocolate chips I'm guessing}
1 lime, finely zested* {about 1 heaping tablespoon zest}
5 graham crackers, crushed
Green food coloring, optional

Prepare a large rimmed baking sheet or other large pan by lining with foil. Set aside.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a 3 quart {or larger} pot over high heat. Add popcorn kernels and cover immediately with lid. Carefully shake the pot over the burner until popcorn begins to pop {about 2 minutes}, and continue to shake until popping slows down significantly and pot is filled with popped corn.

Pour popcorn out onto lined baking sheet.

In a heat proof measuring cup, place about 6 oz. of white chocolate candy coating pieces. Microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stopping and stirring occassionally until completely melted and smooth. {Be careful not to scorch} Stir in lime zest and incorporate completely. If your coating is too thick, add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of canola oil and stir until a smooth consisency is reached.

Pour or spoon candy mixture onto popcorn. With a silicone spatula {and your hands, which is easier if you're willing to get messy}, carefully toss popcorn with candy mixture, coating as much of the popcorn as possible.

Sprinkle crushed graham cracker crumbs over popcorn and gently toss to adhere crumbs to wet coating. Set aside to cool down.

{Optional} Melt the remaining 2 oz. of white chocolate candy coating until smooth, and add 1 drop of green food coloring. Mix to incorporate. Drizzle onto popcorn and allow to set until hardened and no longer sticky. {You can also refrigerate for 30 minutes or so to speed up the process.}

Break up popcorn and enjoy!

*To ensure that zest pieces weren't too big, I zested a lime using my microplane, then ran through zest with a knife to finely chop.

Hop To It! {A Speedy Easter Treat}

I am up to my {bunny} ears in projects, orders, and baking today, but I wanted to leave you with a super quick "recipe" for something that you must make for the special little ones that will be gathering around your Easter table this weekend.

As I mentioned yesterday, my original plans for Easter treats kinda fell apart through, so I went on my very own Easter hunt of sorts for an alternative plan. Ever the treasure trove of creative ideas, Pinterest came through for me once again when I found this idea for "Bunny Bait" {I would credit the original, but I've seen so many versions I have no idea where it started!}.

It was the perfect solution for whipping up a speedy treat to take to the kiddies at work. {Thank goodness, because I literally had half an hour to make something!}

The combo of popcorn, pretzels, M&M's, mini marshmallows, Easter sprinkles, and white chocolate coating makes a sweet and salty snack that will please kids, adults, and cotton-tailed visitors alike.

Package the mix in a cute little bag, print out an adorable tag, tie on some pretty ribbon, and just like that you've got a fun little gift to add to any Easter basket!

You can add or omit any ingredient you want to this customizable mix {I was thinking next time I'd try out a healthier version}, and make it your own.

As a little bonus, I'm sharing the labels I made on Publisher for you to download & print onto some cardstock! {You're welcome, cheaters!} ;)
Bunny Bait Labels

{*Labels made using background downloaded from 4shared.com, Office clipart, and font from dafont.com}

Bunny Bait

1/2 cup unpopped popcorn kernels

1 cup Easter M&M's or pastel candies

1 cup broken mini pretzels or whole pretzel sticks

1/2 cup mini marshmallows

1/2 cup white chocolate candy coating, melted to pourable consistency {I used Ghiradelli. If your coating isn't liquid enough, you can add 1 tablespoon of vegetable or canola oil and stir until desired thickness is reached.}

Pastel sprinkles

Pop popcorn. {I make my own by adding unpopped kernels to a brown paper bag & microwaving, but you can use the regular stuff if you prefer.}

Place onto a large sheet tray or in a very large bowl.

Toss M&M's, pretzels, marshmallows, and sprinkles together on sheet tray or in bowl.

Drizzle melted candy coating over popcorn mixture. Toss together carefully, making sure to coat all pieces. {I have a Calphalon sheet tray with a lid that I closed & shook to coat evenly.}

Allow candy coating to set. {If you're in a rush, place in the rerigerator for 10-15 minutes.}

Break apart any large clumps and scoop into desired packaging.