Tomorrow is November 5, also known as Guy Fawkes Day or Bonfire Night. Last year I wrote an essay all about the history of Bonfire night that included a recipe for Parkin, a treat that is a predecessor to our own tradition of Trick-or-Treating.

But this year, I want to introduce you to another tradition that takes place on November 5, a pagan celebration that predates Guy Fawkes Day by centuries and is believed to be one of the oldest traditions in Europe. It’s also a tradition that lends itself more to Halloween than any of the winter festivals. This event, Turning the Devil’s Boulder, takes place in Devon, England where the Devil is also known as the “Evil One”. Outside an inn and near a church in the tiny village of Shabbear, there is an enormous stone known as the Devil’s Boulder. This stone is believed to have been dropped by St. Michael, after a long tough battle with the Devil. St. Michael, tired of the fight, dropped the stone on top of the Devil, effectively trapping the fallen angel. Legends say that if the villagers don’t turn the stone every year, to make sure the “Evil One” is still trapped, the Devil will escape and bad things will happen to the village and maybe the world.

Now, every year a 8 p.m. on November 5, six residents meet at the church to ring the church bells in a horrible and discordant way as the rest of the villagers turn the stone over with crowbars. Since this time of year, so close to All Hallow’s Eve, the veil between the living and the dead is thinner, the discordant bell tones supposedly keep away errant demons who wish to help the “Evil One.” The stone weighs over a ton and it doesn’t match any of the local geology. No one knows where the stone came from, but some believe that the stone is actually a meteorite that landed millennia ago and traveled down through the moors by moving glaciers. The last time the stone was left unturned was in 1939, not long after WWII began. As the war news got more and more desperate, the village decided to turn the stone a week late in order to save their country.

But Shebbear isn’t the only place near the remote Devon moors where the “Evil One” prowls. On the Southern edge of Dartmoor, there’s a place called The Dewerstone where the Devil and his pack of wisht hounds (hell hounds–black dogs with red eyes) run wild. It’s a remote area where, if a person were caught out there unawares this time of the year, the whist hounds would chase the person through scraggly woods, howling until the person was driven insane. The whist hounds never touch their victim, but they drive them off the Dewerstone cliffs and the poor unfortunates die on the rocks below. Sometimes, on Bonfire Night, you can hear the cries of these victims as they relive their violent deaths.

Nearby, Whistman’s Wood is one of the last of the ancient woodland forests in England. From a distance, the hardwood trees look straggly. But once you’re in the woods, you’ll discover that the short trees (less than 12 feet tall) are stunted and twisted because their roots are intertwined with large boulders. The entire wood is covered with moss and lichen, and the forest is home to the Devil’s whist hounds. The whist hounds hunt their prey nearby, forcing their victims either toward the Dewerstone or deeper into Whistman’s Wood. The hounds follow their victims all night long, releasing inhuman howls and growls, until the victim is so tired they have to stop and rest–or they fall off a cliff or break an ankle from running through the difficult terrain. When the hounds finally attack, their victims have gone insane from the horror and don’t resist.

November 5 has so many terrible associations, and Guy Fawkes chose this night to try and blow up the English Parliament. But I also know that fire burns away the evil that haunts the nights from October 30-November 5. So maybe building a fire in your fireplace, or in your backyard firepit, isn’t such a bad idea. In fact, to help you celebrate the fact that the veil between the worlds is reweaving itself to protect the living from the dead, here’s a recipe for one of my favorite treats to eat around a fire: Toffee Popcorn. It’s sweet and fun and, if necessary, you can throw it at the shadows that still lurk in the woods. I have no doubt that if given a choice, the shadows would prefer the sugary popcorn treat to any thoughts of malicious mischief.



Toffee Popcorn

Course Dessert
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Servings 18 cups
Calories 365 kcal

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup unpopped popcorn kernels white or yellow
  • 1 cup salted butter
  • 2 ¼ cups light brown sugar
  • ¾ cup dark corn syrup
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2-3 cups roasted salted peanuts
  • 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 250℉. Line two large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and then greases them well. Set aside.

  2. Using an air popper, pop all the popcorn in shifts and dump it into a bowl large enough to hold all the popped corn with room to stir well. As you pop and dump, remove all the unpeopled kernels and any leftover shells and skins.

  3. In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Once it's melted, stir in the brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Slowly bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Once it reaches a low boil, reduce the heat to a medium-low simmer. Simmer for 3 minutes stirring frequently and until the sugar mixture begins to thicken.

  4. Remove the pot from the stove and stir in the vanilla extract and baking soda. then carefully pour the caramel sauce over the popcorn and toss until it's well coated and mixed. Add the peanuts and stir until the peanuts and chocolate are mixed evenly throughout the popcorn, but the popcorn is not broken apart.

  5. Spread the popcorn onto the baking sheets in even layers. Bake for 1 hour, stirring every ten minutes. Halfway through, switch the positions of the baking sheets, moving the top to the bottom and the bottom to the top. The popcorn will harden and turn a deeper caramel color as it bakes.

    Turn the popcorn out onto the baking sheets, spreading into an even layer. Bake the popcorn for one hour, stirring and tossing every 20 minutes. Move the bottom tray to the upper rack and vice versa each time you stir. The popcorn will deepen in color and harden a bit as the caramel bakes and sets. Cool the popcorn to room temperature. Store in an airtight container. I’ve found the popcorn will keep, stored tightly, for 1-2 weeks.

  6. Remove the trays and allow to cool on a baking sheet. If adding the chocolate aAbout five minutes after it comes out of the oven, toss the chocolate chips on the trays and mix. You want the chocolate to soften and melt a bit, but you also want to leave some chocolate chunks. Then cool for another hour. Store in an airtight container for 1 week.


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