Kool-Aid Popcorn

Some days, life of a Young Women's president has a little extra joy.

Today is one of those days.

My friends, I present: Kool-Aid Popcorn.

(You know, I really am sorry about those nasty-eye photos I posted yesterday. What was I thinking? That's what I thought to myself when I looked at the blog again this morning. My apologies, and I'm sure you'll have more fun with this photo.)

We have our annual Young Women in Excellence program coming up this Thursday, and because it's almost the end of 2013, we're on a pretty tight budget. How to have a fun and tasty treat that incorporates a bunch of the different Young Women's colors?

Why, Kool-Aid Popcorn, of course!

O, but there is a problem. It's the 21st century, not the 1950s. Come to think of it, when was the last time you whipped up a pitcher full of Kool-Aid? Or tried to find Kool-Aid packets in the grocery store? For those of you, who can't remember, I'll let you in on a little problem with this recipe that features fancy popcorn colored with all different colors of Kool-Aid…there is only one Kool-Aid color left any more. It's red.

Technically, there are still two different Kool-Aid flavors: Tropical Punch and Wild Cherry. But they're both red. And while red is not a bad color, in and of itself, I wanted more than just red. Much more.

Pondering, I prowled the grocery store.

Inspiration came in the baking aisle. More specifically in the pudding/gelatin section. Also known as the Jello jamboree. There they were, arranged like little glinting jewels on the grocery store shelves: lots of colors! Hooray for Jello!!

I promptly bought 8 packets of sugar-free Jello and made a trial run. The verdict? You can replace the packet of Kool-Aid in the recipe with 1/2 packet of sugar-free Jello. Tasty, easy, cheap. And colorful. The perfect treat for our program later in the week.

Stay tuned. I'll try to remember to take my camera on Thursday night so that I can post a few photos of our festivities, including our Kool-Aid Jello popcorn. Nothing but the finest here on my blog.

PS - If you decide to try this recipe, I do not recommend mixing the whole sticky shebang in a shallow pan, as the instructions indicate. No sirree. Keep that gooey mess in a nice big bowl until it's all evenly stickie-fied. Then you can spread it in the shallow pan and slip it into the oven to be baked to its heart's content. Mmmmm…yummy!