Homemade Slurpees and Movie Theater Popcorn

We decided to have a family movie night last night, something we haven't done in a long time! To start off our night, we went shopping for some supplies, then chose some movies at the local video store.

Our goal was to make homemade Slurpees. I chose a couple recipes online to try and got the ice cream maker out and the smoothie maker too.

For our first recipe I tried using the ice cream maker, club soda and cherry Kool-aid. I followed the Kool-aid directions using the club soda instead of water and I also added a little ice.

I used the ice cream maker for about 30 minutes and then put the liquid in cups and froze it.

This recipe didn't turn out right. As it turns out I should have had the barrel of the ice cream maker in the freezer for a few hours at least first, but this was a last minute plan. It was not very tasty either.

The next recipe I tried was 1c club soda, 2.5 cups ice, 1/2 c sugar and the amount of cherry Kool-aid that makes 2 qts. of Kool-aid. I put these things in the smoothie maker and blended until the ice was crushed. I poured the liquid into cups and put it in the freezer. This recipe looked more promising, it was already the consistency of Slush Puppies. 

About 45 minutes to an hour later, the consistency was still the same. We decided not to drink these but to try again the next day, although our daughter did try hers. 

We also tried a new recipe for popcorn. We wanted that "movie theater" taste but without the popcorn getting soggy from butter. My husband was in charge of the popcorn. We chose the white kernels we bought at an apple orchard back in my hometown last Halloween. We melted butter and scraped off the top of the fat the first thirty seconds of microwaving. To add that yummy flavor, we decided to try putting coconut oil in the pan instead of vegetable or canola oil. We topped off the popcorn with the butter we had made and some popcorn seasoning that we purchased since we couldn't find Flavocal (the seasoning that my husband researched that was supposed to make the popcorn taste like the movie theaters make). 

The popcorn was delicious! Our snacks were made complete with a few sweet treats as well! 

Overall, success with movie night, but not so much success in Slurpees. We will try another recipe again!