Pink popcorn for mud-loving princess is a real treat

When our daughter was born, my husband and I agreed that we were not in love with the color pink.

Just because she was a girl didn't mean she needed to be indoctrinated to love the shade. We wanted her to rock yellow clothes covered in puppies as well as tiaras and pink ruffled dresses. We knew that her interests might lead her down a road paved in pastels. While we were clothing her, though, pink was not going to be paramount.

My daughter turned 3 years old earlier this week. Guess what. She loves pink and princesses and tutus and twirling until she's dizzy.

She's a girlie girl who digs in the dirt with one hand while clinging onto a sparkly ribbon in the other. She lives a contradiction of sorts, which makes me smile and reminds me of my own childhood spent playing outside, coming home with a torn dress and skinned up knees. Yet, my bedroom was a sea of pink.

I suspect my daughter soon will request the same.

When I asked her what she wanted to do for her birthday, she asked for a 'Lemonade Tutu” party. This meant eating lemon cake with lemon frosting, drinking lemonade and wearing a pink tutu.

I couldn't help but up the pink factor with pink party popcorn. I don't know what is happening to me. Maybe she is bringing me back to my first color preference.

This treat is simple: popcorn drizzled with melted pink white chocolate (found at grocery and craft stores) topped with sprinkles, lots and lots of sprinkles.

This popcorn is similar to the frosted circus animal cookies I adored as a child and a treat my daughter discovered on a recent road trip.

Control the sweet factor with the popcorn to candy coating ratio.

For a pink, candy-like treat, use less popcorn. Add more popcorn for a more muted candy crunch.

Above all else this popcorn is pure, unadulterated fun, something we grown-ups could all use a bit more of that these days.

It's childhood in a bowl, whether you prefer sugar and spice and everything nice or snails and puppy dog tails.

Let There Be Pink Popcorn

Serves 10 to 14

2 (86.6 grams) bags of microwave popcorn, popped (use only 1 1/2 bags of popcorn for a pinker, more candy-like treat)

12-ounce bag of pink candy discs

1/2 cup of rainbow nonpareils

2 tablespoons pink sparkle sugar sprinkles

Place wax paper on a 9x13 baking sheet. Spread popcorn out on the wax paper. Melt candy discs in the microwave until just melted or melt on a double boiler. Pour melted candy over popcorn, and using a spatula, stir to coat popcorn. Immediately top with nonpareils and sugar sprinkles and stir once again to coat. Let popcorn sit for 20 to 30 minutes or until candy is firm. Store in an airtight container for up to five days.

Source: Adapted from thefrugalfoodiemama.com