This Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Caramel Corn has oatmeal Cookie mix, raisins, and cinnamon sugar make this buttery homemade caramel corn.

I went to undergraduate school in what was then a small town (it’s grown quite a bit).

There were only two places to dance at: a hip hop kind of bar and a shit-kicker bar.

I was not a hip hop gal and so off to country-western world it was…line dancing was your friend.

When I went to college Garth Brooks was just starting to get popular.

I had a friend who wanted to see him in concert and asked me to go along.

So I did.

Wow. What an entertainer he was, all energy and played song after song after song.

After that I was a true fan.

Garth stood out like a sore thumb back then in my mostly punk and alternative music cd collection.

I was what one would call a closet fan since when you were young for some reason you cared what people think.

Nowadays my iTunes goes from Carpenters to Green Day to Garth Brooks to Taylor Swift.

And I don’t really care what people think of that. 😀

Garth came to the Seattle area this last weekend. Tacoma to be exact (which is south of Seattle). He had not been here in 19 years.

So needless to say his show sold out in minutes.

He released another, then another, then another, and another for a total of five shows in 3 days.

I don’t go to concerts often.

They are expensive and leaving our dogs tends to be a pain since for some reason they like to go out to the bathroom, eat, and get their pills.

But Garth would be the exception.

Both my husband and I really enjoy his music and since Garth’s concert prices are not outrageous we decided we needed to go.

Luckily, we had a friend come over and hang with the dogs for a bit so that they weren’t neglected.

It’s a three hour round trip drive to Tacoma from where we live.

Add that to the three hours of performance and we were gone for quite a while.

One thing I love about his concerts is that he plays the old songs.

I had thought about going and seeing Depeche Mode a few weeks ago (I’ve seen the 17 times).

The tickets for nose bleeders were $125 a piece (Garth’s were $65 for our lower level seats).

I was happy when I saw the playlist the day after the concert because while they played some of their old stuff, they played a ton of their new stuff…stuff I did not know.

While Brooks did play his new hit, 99% of the songs were his old hits.

The ones that everyone knows the words too.

We were the 5th concert in 3 days and he admitted right from the start that his voice was fried but that he would carry on…and that he did.

Concerts often remind me of food in a way.

If you are known for certain food dishes for let’s say Thanksgiving but you decide you want to be the creative foodie and not make what you normally make you will get disappointed people.

That’s why we always make the classics and then try something new.

Sometimes those new dishes become part of the classics over time. That’s how we ended up with Green Jello Salad at Easter time.

We are moving into the time of year of appetizers and snack food.

I love to have caramel corn out during the holiday times for people to munch on.

Had some leftover oatmeal cookie mix that I had used in another recipe similar to a cobbler and decided why not throw it in the caramel.

And make Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Caramel Corn.

So good.

I know some of you out there are anti-raisin, just leave them out, you will live. 🙂

Or use chocolate chips instead.

Be sure to order my cookbook.

Want More Oatmeal Recipes?

Oatmeal Cream Pie Cake

Iced Oatmeal Apple Crisp

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Babka

Mixed Berry Oatmeal Cookie Cobbler

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Bread Pudding