Mixed fruit & toffee corn

Yield: 22 Servings

Ingredients:

8 c Popped popcorn (about 1/3 to -1/2 cup unpopped)
1 c Butter or margarine
1 c Sugar
3 tb Water
1 tb Light corn syrup
1/2 c Broken pecans
1/2 ts Vanilla
6 oz Pkg. mixed dried fruit bits

Instructions:

-(1 1/2 cups) Remove all unpopped kernels from popped corn. Place popcorn in a buttered 17x12x2-inch baking pan. Keep popcorn warm in a 300 degree oven while making syrup mixture. Butter the sides of a heavy 2-quart saucepan. In the saucepan combine the butter or margarine sugar water and corn syrup. Bring mixture to boiling over medium heat. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to dissolve the sugar. Avoid splashing mixture on sides of pan. Carefully clip candy thermometer to side of pan. Cook and stir mixture over medium heat till thermometer registers 255 degrees hard-ball stage (10 to 15 minutes). The mixture should boil at a moderate steady rate over the entire surface. Remove saucepan from heat; remove candy thermometer. Quickly add pecans and vanilla; stir till combined. Pour mixture over the popcorn toss gently to coat. Bake uncovered in a 300 degree oven for 15 minutes. Remove popcorn from oven; stir in fruit bits. Bake uncovered for 5 minutes more. Turn popcorn mixture onto a large piece of foil. Cool mixture completely. Serve immediately or store tightly covered in a cool dry place. Makes about 22 (1/2 cup) servings. Nutritional information per 1/2 cup serving: 171 cal. 10 g fat 24mg chol. 1 g pro. 20g carbo. 0g fiber 105 mg sodium. U.S. RDA: 12% vit. A.