Spread the cheer and get into the holiday spirit with Christmas parades, treats and fun. The Honolulu City Lights Electric Light Parade on Saturday kicks off a series of holiday parades across Oahu.

Hawaiian Electric’s float will be a merry tropical Christmas theme, lit up by LED lights and powered by the sun through solar electric panels.

To learn more about the festivities and this year’s City Lights collectible ornament, go to honolulucitylights.org.

This week, gather up the family and make some holiday treats to bring to the parade.

HOLLY JOLLY CARAMEL POPCORN

• 7 quarts plain popped popcorn
• 2 cups dry-roasted peanuts
• >> Caramel:
• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Red and green food coloring

Heat oven to 250 degrees. Coat 2 shallow baking pans with cooking spray.

Mix popcorn and peanuts in prepared pans, dividing evenly. Set aside.

To make caramel: In a medium pot, melt together butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon. Continue to boil and stir over low heat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda and vanilla.

Divide caramel between two medium bowls, add a few drops red food coloring to one, green food coloring to the other, until caramel turns to desired shades. Working very fast, pour one bowl of caramel over one pan of popcorn. Toss to coat. Repeat with other bowl of caramel and pan of popcorn.

Place pans in oven and bake 45 minutes, rotating pans and stirring popcorn every 15 minutes with a nonstick spatula.

Let cool completely, then store in airtight containers. Serves 30.

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Approximate nutritional information, per serving: 220 calories, 13 g total fat, 4.5 g saturated fat, 15 mg cholesterol, 250 mg sodium, 26 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 18 g sugar, 3 g protein.

HAWAIIAN SANTA’S FAVORITE CHEX MIX

• 2 cups Rice Chex cereal
• 2 cups Wheat Chex
• 2 cups Corn Chex
• 2 cups Honeycomb cereal
• 2 cups pretzel sticks
• 2 cups dry-roasted peanuts
• 1 cup butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup light corn syrup
• 3 tablespoons shoyu
• 1/2 cup oil
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons hot sauce
• 1 (2-ounce) bottle nori goma (seaweed and sesame seed) furikake

Heat oven to 250 degrees.

Mix together cereals, pretzels and peanuts in 2 large foil baking pans, dividing evenly.

In a medium-sized sauce pan over medium heat, melt butter. Add sugar and dissolve. Add corn syrup, shoyu, oil, Worcestershire and hot sauce. Stir until blended well. Pour over cereal mixture, one pan at a time; mix well.

Bake 15 minutes, then remove from oven and add half a bottle of furikake to each pan. Mix well to evenly distribute furikake and sauce. Bake 1-2 hours more, depending on how crisp you want it, stirring every 15 minutes.

Store in an airtight container. Serves 12.

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Approximate nutritional information, per serving: 580 calories, 38 g total fat, 12 g saturated fat, 40 mg cholesterol, 650 mg sodium, 57 g carbohydrate, 4 g fiber, 22 g sugar, 9 g protein.

RUDOLPH’S RANCH PRETZELS AND GOLDFISH

• 1 (16-ounce) bag miniature pretzels
• 1 (6.6-ounce) bag red and green Goldfish crackers (seasonal in local grocery stores)
• 1 (16-ounce) package dry ranch dressing mix
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 cup vegetable oil

Heat oven to 200 degrees.

In large bowl, mix pretzels and Goldfish.

In a small bowl, stir seasonings with oil. Pour over pretzel mix and mix well. Let sit 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

Spread pretzel mix on large cookie sheet and bake 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Serves 30.

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Approximate nutritional information, per serving: 180 calories, 9 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, no cholesterol, 500 mg sodium, 17 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 1 g sugar, 2 g protein.

More Hawaiian Electric Co. recipes are available at hawaiianelectric.com.