Thanksgiving Recap & Baked Caramel Corn Recipe

Despite being in the middle of pandemic, we made the best of Thanksgiving and our mom hosted a lovely al fresco Covid-friendly afternoon. So, even though Thanksgiving has come and gone and it’s officially Christmas season (wahoo) we thought the details from my mom’s Thanksgiving lunch were worth mentioning because they would work well for any gathering these days! And given that we will still be dealing with this in a month at Christmas, uuuuugh, this could be helpful as everyone starts to think about their Covid Christmas plans.

As Megan previously mentioned in this post about our alternative Thanksgiving plans, my mom made the YUMMIEST Turkey Potpie Soup and served each guest in a large monogrammed mug with their initial (and here). The mugs were so cute and it was such a fun way to serve her guests easily and covid-safe (because we weren’t sitting at a traditional table in order to keep our distance).

Before serving soup, she set out individual servings of nuts, cheese, crackers and charcuterie, veggies and hummus, and our favorite homemade chex mix.

She found mini plastic bowls, condiment cups and cordial glasses at the Dollar Store and they worked so well for all of the appetizers. Cute, functional and easy!

And last but not least, as our sweet mother always does, she made all the desserts and packaged them individually in cellophane bags to enjoy outdoors and extras to take home with us. Molasses cookies, gingerbread turkeys, chocolate pecan bars and baked caramel corn. The baked caramel corn is one of my weaknesses and makes a super cute little treat for friends this time of year so we included the recipe for you below!

Baked Caramel Corn

1 cup butter
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup dark corn syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 quarts popped corn
2 cups peanuts, optional

Directions

In a large, heavy saucepan, melt butter, stir in brown sugar, corn syrup and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly; boil without stirring for 5 minutes.
Remove from heat; stir in baking soda and vanilla. Gradually pour over popped corn and nuts (if desired) and mix well.
Pour into two large shallow baking pans. Bake in a preheated 250 degree oven for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from oven. Empty content onto counter and cool completely.