Friday Night Munchies

I’ve been spending the better part of this week packing up my cookbooks and putting a bunch of them up for sale on Amazon. It’s been a tough decision to figure out which ones I can do without for a few months and which ones to sell, because as I grab each one, I quickly flip through it and get inspired all over again. I’ve put aside about 30 to use that I won’t pack until the house is sold … with the holidays coming up, I need to make sure I have enough recipes to choose from.

One of the cookbooks I stumbled on this afternoon is Midnight Munchies. I love, love, love finger food, munchies that you can snack on all night. The kind of food that says, “Kick off your shoes, find some addicting TV, settle in on the couch, and let’s have some fun.” That’s one reason I like a lot of Rachael Ray’s episodes, because she does a lot of shows themed around all-night snacking types of foods.

The end of a long week is finally here, and the dreary rain has finally, finally lifted. Sounds like a perfect night for Mexicali Rose Popcorn, a perfect Friday-night-after-dinner-let’s-pop-in-a-movie snack, right? This is the first recipe I’ve tried from this book, and there will definitely be many to follow. The cookbook is filled with quick snacks and more fulfilling bites to eat, and hey, the sparkly silver disco-ish cover doesn’t hurt either.

Until tomorrow… here’s to YOUR Friday Night Munchies.

A year ago today … double rainbows, girlfriends and hoedowns.

Mexicali Rose Popcorn
Recipe courtesy of Midnight Munchies

4 tablespoons butter
1/2 package Lawry’s tacos spices and seasoning
1 teaspoon hot-pepper sauce
1 bag, butter-flavored microwave popcorn

Place the butter, taco spices and hot pepper sauce in a small, microwaveable bowl. Microwave on high until bubbly hot, about 1-1/2 minutes. Set aside.

Pop the popcorn according to the package directions. Immediately open the bag and pour the popcorn into a large bowl. Toss with the melted butter mixture. Serve at once.

Makes about 12 cups.