Twenty-five days of Christmas: Day #7

Movies

For some reason, the holiday season and watching movies goes hand-in-hand. Must be our urge to nest when the weather outside is frightful. 

Before I get to the movies, my snack of choice at movie time is popcorn, but sometimes a little extra is needed, especially when you’re not counting calories (nobody counts calories during the holidays, right?). Here’s my recipe for be-spoken—approved caramel popcorn:

1 cup unpopped Orville Redinbocker popcorn, popped in two batches

2 cups dark brown sugar

1 cup corn syrup (I have been known to use regular pancake syrup to splendid results)

1 cup unsalted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

pinch of salt

Pop the popcorn on the stove in two batches (you could air pop the corn, but doing it on the stove is wayyyyy better). Separate popped corn into two large heatproof mixing bowls and remove any unpopped kernels. In a medium saucepan, bring the brown sugar, corn syrup, butter and salt to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Boil mixture without stirring for exactly five minutes. Remove from heat and add vanilla and baking soda (make sure you remove the caramel from the heat before you add the baking soda — trust me). Mix well. When the mixture begins to froth up, pour over the popcorn, stirring well. 

And there you’ve got it. You could go onto baking the caramel popcorn to crisp it up, but I never do this step. It’s SO GOOD gooey and chewy. This stuff is crazily addictive, so please don’t get mad at me if you need to borrow Santa’s pants for lounging in Christmas morning. It’s worth it!

Now that you’ve made my amazing caramel corn, perhaps consider a few of my recommendations for essential Christmas movie viewing:

The Wizard of Oz

I guess this isn’t a Christmas-themed movie, even though there is a great snow scene in it, but it just seems like the perfect movie to watch around Christmas. Whenever I watch The Wizard of Oz I think, “how did they make this in the 1930s?” It seems so advanced. I swear I feel like it’s all real life. Like when Dorothy sees all those trippy people out the window when her house is being hurled to the land of Oz, or when the Wicked Witch of the West disappears in a cloud of smoke. How did they dream all that up? Well, I know the actress who played the Witch did suffer from burns after filming those scenes, so I guess the technology wasn’t too advanced, but still! This might go down in the books as being my most-watched film of all time. And Somewhere Over the Rainbow is one of my all-time favorite songs.

It’s a Wonderful Life

I watched this movie during every Christmas break for several years. It just filled my heart with holiday cheer. Ohhh Jimmy Stewart, oh Donna Reed, you two are movie magic. Here’s another example of picture-perfect story telling from the golden era of film. They really don’t make them like this anymore; could you imagine Elf being considered a film classic in 50 years? I guess you never know. Apparently It’s a Wonderful Life was released to mixed reviews and only came in 26th int he yearend box office totals for 1946 (Song of the South came in first). The tide has turned for this film, though, and it’s now considered one of the best films of all time. I don’t care about numbers and critical reception, though. I learned a very important thing from this movie. Did you know that every time a bell rings an angel gets its wings? It’s true.

Anne of Green Gables

I will gladly watch any one of the Anne of Green Gables movies during the holidays, but nothing beats the original. I really do think this is a nearly perfect movie. Definitely the best Canadian film ever made. Show me a person who doesn’t burst out in tears when Matthew buys Anne the blue dress with puffy sleeves for the Christmas dance and I’ll show you a monster who hates joy. Absolute perFECTion. Warning: stay away from the recent prequel. It had to be one of the weirdest movies I’ve ever seen. Very strange, and the girl who played Anne can’t compare to Meagen Follows.

There are so many more movies that I love to watch at Christmas — Little Women, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, How the Grinch Stole Christmas (not the live-action version... yikes!), National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, A Christmas Story, Meet Me in St. Louis, and the list goes on. What movies do you love to watch? What’s your snack of choice?