National Popcorn Day celebrates crunchy goodness

Jan. 19 is National Popcorn Day.

The Popcorn Board has numerous recipes to help make your Super Bowl viewing, movie night, awards show snacking easy and flavorful.

And though traditional butter and salt is hardly passé, the popcornboard.org website has numerous other sweet and savory suggestions. Here’s one.

Caramel Pecan Corn

10 cups freshly popped popcorn

2 cups pecan pieces

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

½ cup butter or margarine

¼ cup light corn syrup

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

½ teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 225 degrees. Spray 15-inch-by-10 inch baking sheet with non-stick spray. Mix popcorn and pecan pieces in large bowl.

Combine brown sugar, butter and corn syrup in medium saucepan. Over low heat, stir mixture until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high and boil 5 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla extract and baking soda.

Pour over popcorn and pecans, immediately stirring gently to coat. Pour mixture onto prepared baking sheet, spreading evenly.

Bake for 1 hour in preheated oven. Cool completely. Break into pieces, store in airtight container.