Kitchen Musings : How ideas can sometimes 'pop' into our heads

Roberto Caruso

When developing recipes in The Chatelaine Kitchen, we draw inspiration from many phases of our lives - past and present. 

In the case of our Edible Gifts feature in the November issue (on stands now), one of the recipes I worked on was Salted Caramel Popcorn, which was inspired from my childhood in Hong Kong. I had never forgotten a store that had a popcorn cart from which they sold the tastiest toffee popcorn that had a perfect touch of crunchy sweetness. As a bonus, they served them in large paper cones, which I loved as a kid.

After I moved to North America, all I could find was standard caramel popcorn. You know the kind: drenched in amber-coloured coating, where all you can taste is sugar, and often the caramel gets stuck in your teeth.  

So, when we were brainstorming ideas for edible gifts this past summer in the The Chatelaine Kitchen, caramel popcorn came up and I decided to base the recipe on what I remembered from way-back-when. Though it may seem like an easy recipe, we tested it ten times!!!  With each test, we played with different amounts of sugar, different types of nuts, and different baking times/temperatures - just to make sure we came up with the best recipe for our readers.  The final result was a smashing success - we couldn't keep our hands off it!!! Not only did we come up with a delicious recipe, but it was also nice to be able to take a little trip down memory lane!   

-Irene