A Snack Fancy Enough for a Movie Party, Casual Enough for Your Couch

For those nights when you get home hungry, stressed, and impatient, Hangry is here to help. Each Monday, Kendra Vaculin will share quick, exciting meals to rescue anyone who might be anxiously eyeing a box of minute rice.

Today: With a bowl of Nutella-coated, sugar-dusted popcorn to snack on, you won't be sad that you're watching the Oscars from your couch instead of wearing Versace and Céline on the red carpet.  

My sister and I are obsessed with the idea of going to a gala. It's probably because of the aging prom dresses in our closets and the gone-but-not-forgotten addiction to Gossip Girl, in which Serena and Blair get to wear gowns and go to swanky events every week. The desire spikes around awards show season every year, when we find ourselves rattling off celebrity outfits from red carpets past that we covet and dreaming about big envelopes. And we're not without a plan -- we have a running list of the most plausible methods to get ourselves on an exclusive guest list: Number 1 is Find a Celebrity Boyfriend; Number 2 is Write an Academy Award-Winning Screenplay. We feel pretty confident that one of these will work.

In the meantime, I have to admit that experiencing awards shows from the couch is not that hard of a sell for me. I get to wear way more comfortable shoes this way (namely no shoes at all) and I have such better snacks. Would I be the kind of gala attendee with a satin clutch full of popcorn? One thousand percent yes. But I can eat it much less sneakily when I'm certain Jared Leto cannot see me through the television.   

If popcorn were going to the Oscars -- or even just an Oscar party -- it would probably wear Nutella and powdered sugar. This snack is a winning combination, sweet and salty, like when Anne Hathaway covered her whole front with metal.  

Nutella Popcorn Puppy Chow

Serves 4

1/8 cup (2 tablespoons) butter
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup Nutella
1 bag microwavable popcorn, popped (use unbuttered but salted!)
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.

Photos by Mark Weinberg