A Recipe for Disaster

Cooking with kids is an adventure not for the faint of heart. If you value your clean, tidy kitchen and are squeamish about utensils being licked and then re-used, I wouldn’t recommend it.

I, however, enjoy it immensely.

My daughter and I have already spent many hours in the kitchen together, while my son curiously looks on from his high chair. I am looking forward to when he is old enough to join us and increase the mess twofold. We measure, pour, roll, pat, cut, and stir...making a variety of “treats for Daddy;” many of which are entirely devoured before Daddy even gets home to see, let alone taste them.

You can imagine my excitement then, when a friend of mine shared a recipe with me that was sure to expand my Christmas culinary repertoire...and my waistline. It appeared to be quick and easy enough for my daughter to have a real hand in, not to mention heavy on the "Yum Factor." And so, in the spirit of Christmas, I thought I’d pass it along to you. (Feel free to adapt the recipe to your own set of disasters.)

“White Chocolate Candy Cane Popcorn”

Pop 24 cups of popcorn.

In the meantime, set your kids to work unwrapping candy canes. A few will end up in their mouths, but hey...it’s Christmas, right? Try to discourage them from putting the licked ones into the bowl.

Put candy canes into a food processor and crush finely. Dump them back into a bowl until you need them (about 2/3 cup of crushed candy canes in all.) When your toddler knocks over the said bowl and the candy cane pieces go flying across your kitchen floor, don’t panic. Hum a little, “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” to keep up your Christmas cheer and get to work resolving the situation. If you washed your floor earlier in the day, you can likely salvage much of the candy. If not, and you are indeed one of the squeamish ones...start over with the candy canes.

Next, melt 3 cups of white chocolate wafers. While the chocolate is hanging out in the double boiler on your stove top, rush to the aid of your baby, who is now choking on the piece of candy cane his big sister generously shared with him. Use your up to date First Aid skills to remove the offending chunk of peppermint and share a piece of your mind with your daughter.

You will now notice that the white chocolate has been overcooked and when you try to revive it you realize that it is indeed, ruined for this recipe. On the off chance that you do not have a spare 3 cups of white chocolate wafers in your pantry, suit up your kids, load everyone into the truck and venture off to the grocery store (Note – this will increase the total recipe time by a good 45 minutes...depending on the cooperative nature of your kids and your grocery store line-ups).

Once safely back in your kitchen, remove candy canes from the reach of your toddler and make a second attempt at melting your chocolate. This time, just use the microwave and watch it closely, stirring frequently.

When chocolate is melted, give it a good stir and prepare to mix it into your popcorn. You will need a VERY large bowl – or 2 good sized ones. As you reach across to grab the bowl of popcorn off the counter, trip on your toddler’s stool and send the popcorn flying all over the kitchen. Try not to cry. Instead, focus on the pure looks of delight on your children’s faces. Make an effort to save 24 cups of the popcorn, but if you end up with 22...you’ll be fine. Get your daughter to promise to NEVER tell daddy (or anyone else who eats it) that the popcorn was ever on the floor...you may need to bribe her with an extra candy cane.

Mix the chocolate with the popcorn, and then add in the crushed candy cane. Little hands seem to work better for this than a spoon. Spread out on cookie sheets and cool for 30 minutes in the fridge...or 15 minutes in the freezer. Later, you can break the cooled popcorn into chunks and store in airtight containers for up to one week, or in the freezer for up to one month.

Put your kids down for their afternoon nap, and go back to the kitchen to survey the damage (while realizing that in all the chaos, you forgot to feed your kids lunch...outside of 13 candy canes and a few cups of popcorn). While you clean up the mess, remind yourself that this experience you hope to forget will be one your kids will likely remember forever!

Happy Cooking...and The Merriest of Christmases!