Sweet Popcorn Squares or Balls

Preparation Time:  30-45 minutes      Serves: 36

1 cup of honey
1/2 cup of raw sugar*
1/4 cup of light molasses (or 1/8 cup of black strap)**
1/4 cup of water
2-3 tsp. of vanilla
1 tsp. of orange zest***
1 cup of popcorn kernels 
1 tsp of salt
1 cup of choice nuts (opt.)

-Add first four ingredients to a pot on medium heat (7/10) stirring constantly until mixture boils.  It will be frothy.  Let it boil for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
-Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally.  To test it's readiness, put one or two drops of the mixture into water.  If it forms a hard ball, it's done.  I would have the mixture on the stove top for around 15-20 minutes in total.
-Add vanilla and orange zest
-Pop popcorn in an air popper and add salt.  You should have about 10-12 quarts of popcorn.
-Add the nuts of your choice to the popcorn.
-Remove the mixture from heat and pour it over the popcorn, stirring gently with a long spoon.  
-Once the popcorn is coated in the mixture, quickly press it in an greased pan or form tight balls.  Do this within three minutes or the popcorn may dry together.****
-If in cake pan, you can cut it up into bars and decorate with nuts if you wish.

Tips and Tricks

*I used 3/8 cups of white sugar and 1/8 cup of brown sugar.  You can mix different kinds of sugars, if you wish.  If'it's sweet, it'll work.

**You can chose between black strap or light molasses.  I prefer light but really, it's just a personal preference thing.  Maybe try the recipe a few times to see how you like it.  But be sure that if you use black strap molasses, use less of it and the 1 cup of honey or else the mixture may be too strong.  If you use light molasses, you can use less honey.

***When you have the word "zest" in a recipe with a citrus fruit name before it, it usually means to grate a bit of the fruit rind off into the mixture.  For example, with orange zest, I took a fine cheese grater and grated some of the outside of the orange peel onto a plate then measured out my tsp.  It definitely adds a flare to the mixture.

****When packing the coated popcorn into a pan or into balls, coat your hands in margarine or oil to prevent the sweet stuff from sticking to you.  Also, if you don't get to packing it quick enough, the popcorn may dry and you won't be able to form it freely.

Enjoy!  Because we all need something sweet now and again!