Pop! Goes My Heart

Okay, so it isn't a real 80s song, but it is the best thing about the otherwise terrible movie "Music and Lyrics," in which it plays an 80s song.

Besides apples, apple cider, and cheddar cheese, one of my other favorite fall foods is Tastes Like Halloween, so named by my college friends. I probably make at least 8 pans of this during the fall for various people and events and people always love them, so I thought I would share the recipe and process with all of you gentle readers.

These are like fall Rice Krispy Treats. The ingredients include a bag (14 oz.) of vanilla caramels (I use Brach's) and three tablespoons of water:

Five cups of rice cereal:

And one cup each of semisweet chocolate chips and butterscotch chips:

The first step is to put the caramels into a pan:


And melt them with the three tablespoons of water:




As they get to this point, I get started on the topping.

I melt the two kinds of chips together in the microwave for 45-60 second intervals until they are almost completely melted:

By then, the caramels have melted and you can put the topping aside to finish melting. Pour the caramel over the rice cereal in a large mixing bowl (and, yes, it will "snap, crackle, and pop" when you do this):

Then mix the two together gently until all of the cereal is coated with caramel:

When you're done, it will look like this and you can pour it into a greased 13 x 9 pan. I did a lot of this while I was on the phone with Brother of Ken--it is hard to talk on the phone and deal with caramel!

Once the cereal and caramel mixture is in the pan, I dampen my fingertips with water and press it into an even layer. The water keeps the caramel from sticking to my fingers.

Then, stir the topping one more time before pouring it over the cereal mixture:

Spread the topping evenly:

Then let everything cool for at least an hour before serving. Here's what it looks like when it is finished:

See? Halloween colors and fall flavors = Tastes Like Halloween. This recipe came from my mom, who probably got it out of a magazine when Brother of Ken and I were much younger. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.