Treats for the Seasons

Trick or Treat time was last week, but a couple of treats I made for the special neighborhood goblins would be good food gifts for the upcoming holidays. I often watch people buy the giant bags of purple popcorn at K-State football games and wish I could make that at home. After trying several recipes, one of which turned our lips bright purple, I think this Kool-Aid recipe is one that can be used with many colors and flavors. For Halloween, I used orange Kool-Aid and the color and flavor worked well. I'm anxious to try it with grape/purple.

Kool-Aid Popcorn                                   

3 qt (12 cups) popped corn
1 cup sugar
½ cup light corn syrup
⅓ cup butter
1 envelope (0.13 oz to 0.23 oz) Kool-Aid unsweetened drink mix, any flavor
½ tsp. baking soda

Heat oven to 225 degres. Spread popcorn evenly into the bottom of a large pan (I used the bottom of the broiler pan).
Bring sugar, corn syrup and butter to a boil in medium saucepan on medium-high heat; cook 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Add drink mix an baking soda; mix well. Pour over popcorn; stir gently to evenly coat popcorn.

Bake 10 minutes. Remove from oven; stir. Repeat 3 times for a total baking time of 40 minutes. Spread onto a large sheet of waxed paper sprayed with cooking spray; cool completely and break into pieces.

Spooky S'mores

Who doesn't love S'mores? They are tasty treats for any season. I made s'more kits for the Halloween visitors, but this idea could be used with any holiday. The new bags of special shaped marshmallows that many stores offer will make this treat special for any holiday.
In a clear gift bag or sandwich bag, place the ingredients of a couple of s'mores. I used:
4 graham cracker sheets
4 mini Hersey bar (or you could use a full sized bar)
a handful of specially shaped marshmallows (I found ghost shaped ones in various colors)
You can print a special gift tag to attach. The reference I found had a link to one that printed "What do ghosts and chocolate have in common? S'more than you know".
When the little goblins visiting saw the marshmallows and started to dive into the bags for them, I send the rest of the original bag home with them to enjoy!