Critters in the hay

4 quarts

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
1½ cup Sugar
1 cup Light corn syrup
2 tablespoons Butter
1½ teaspoon Pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon Vanilla
½ teaspoon Salt
½ teaspoon Green food color(optional)
3½ quart Popped popcorn; remove any unpopped kernals
1 cup Candy corn Licorice ropes;black wooden picks small black gum drops or other small black candies red decorating icing tiny red jaw-breakers candy wormshape candies

Directions

FROM JONI'S KITCHEN

In Dutch oven, bring sugar,corn syrup and butter to a boil; boil 2½ minutes. Stir in pumpkin pie spice,vanilla,salt and food coloring(if desired) mix until evenly colored. Add popcorn and toss until evenly coated. Spread popcorn mixture in a single layer on greased sheets of foil and allow to cool and harden. Break into bite-size pieces and mix with candy corn in a wide shallow bowl; set aside. To make spiders, cut licorice into 2 inch lengths. To make legs, starting at one end, make three ½ inch to ¾ inch cuts to make four legs.

Repeat cuts at opposite end. Leave about ½ inch in center uncut.

Gently pull legs apart and curl down. Push wooden pick through center of body, leaving about ¼ inch exposed on top. Push one gumdrop onto exposed pick to make a body. Using writing tip of decorating icing, squeeze two small dots of icing into gumbrops. Press jaw-breakers into icing to make eyes. Place"spiders" and worm-shaped candies in popcorn. Remove wooden picks before eating. Makes 4 quarts.

Submitted By KAZ DUNKLEY On 03-18-95

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