Welcome to another edition of popcorn and primetime. Did you get a chance before tuning into our great monday programing to see the meteor shower? It was a gorgeous clear cold night here, so i was able to see 10 before the chill ran me back inside. Tonight we had a season premiere and episode four of one of the best new shows of the season. Beauty and the Beast, a failed super soldier experiment, is back for its second season at 9 pm est  on The CW, which is competing in the same time slot, with the highly raved about Sleepy hollow on Fox.  Sadly I did not get to watch Beauty and the Beast my dvr bonked again on me had the cable man replace it today so I will catch up and added it to Wednesday’s review.

Sleepy hollow: The Lesser Key of Solomon

Sleepy Hollow episode 01×04

In this episode we are looking for magic item 37, which is a spellbook that king Solomon wrote. It starts with Ichabod having the issues unlocking the door and calling onstar for help.  Abbie asks Irving to postpone the search for her sister, so she can have a chance to find her. Irving gives her 12 hours, since she is convinced there is some connection to the murders. A sleeper cell is called while he is giving piano lessons to find Jenny because she may know where item 37 is, she is followed to a bar where the sleeper crew kills the bartender and impales him to send a message.  We find jenny hiding out at an “old friend’s lake home” which happens to be  Sheriff Corbin. After a heated exchange at gunpoint Abby and Jenny.  Ichabod yells at them until they put the guns down. Abbie asks about Corbin. Jenny tells him that he believed her. She helped him find rare objects, obtain answers. She says he came to visit her before he died. He felt something was coming for him. He needed her to go to the cabin and keep something safe. Jenny pulls it out, a sextant. Ichabod notes a symbol on the leather. He explains that in his time, the British had acquired a device that would turn the war in their favor. They tracked the weapon to a shipping warehouse in Boston Harbor. Ichabod devised a diversion (the Boston Tea Party), to sneak in and steal the weapon,the Hessian soldier guarding it took his own life with a bomb, and only Ichabod survived. He takes the the sextant, and turns it into a projector that has a map to locate the item. The men that were following show up at Corbin’s house.  And began firing at it with heavy military weapons during the battle they manage to capture the piano man but the others escape with the sextant. After a brief interrogation the piano man says the sleepers could be anyone one that they had been living amongst  the town for years.   Ichabod notes a tattoo on him marking him as a Shadow Warrior, like the Hessian he beheaded. Ichabod asks him what’s in the box and he says it’s a doorway to the 7th circle of Hell, where 72 souls wait. Using Ichabods photographic memory they recreate the map that leads them to a church where they are doing a ritual to bring the 72 spirits into our world.  They are able to take down the men and throw the book into the swirling vortex of souls. Jenny was then taken into custody, and  Abbie uncuffs her. Abbie tells her about being witnesses, and  Jenny becomes angry that Abbie has been chosen after turning her back. Abbie thinks perhaps this is her punishment. Abbie can’t take back what she did, but she can try to make it right. She slides over paperwork for Jenny to sign: it would let Abbie have legal guardianship over her sister and would allow her to get Jenny out of the psychiatric home.

In my opinion the the onstar was a great product placement.  This episode had me cheering at points for Abbie and I hope she works things out with Jenny. I was not expecting the the Sheriff owning the cabin. That was a wonderful twist.

Pumpkin Pie Popcorn (adapted from Orangette)

Pumpkin Pie Popcorn (adapted from Orangette)

• 10 cups air popped popcorn, salted

• 1 cup packed brown sugar

• 1/4 cup light corn syrup

• 6 tablespoons butter

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

Preheat the oven to 250°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Popcorn Pumpkin pie

Coat a large mixing bowl with nonstick cooking spray, and dump the popcorn into the bowl, taking care to pick out and discard any unpopped kernels.

In a medium saucepan, whisk together the brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, salt, and 2 tablespoons of water.

Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Continue to simmer, whisking often, and bring to a boil.  Allow the mixture to boil for about 2 minutes, whisking occasionally. Immediately remove the pan from the heat, and whisk in the baking soda and pumpkin pie spice.

Quickly pour the hot caramel over the popcorn. Use a rubber spatula to gently fold the caramel into the popcorn, taking care to distribute it as evenly as you can. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 1 hour, stirring and turning the popcorn with a spatula every 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, and place on a cooling rack for 20 minutes. Gently break up the popcorn, and serve.