Sunday Rerun: I'm All Mixed Up

 

A friend and I got to e-talking (as she lives in California, it's hard to holler loudly enough to be heard) and the topic turned, as it so often does, to Chex Mix.


Salty snack of the holidays, sometimes known as Nuts and Bolts, Chex Mix is more than the sum of its parts. Breakfast cereal never had it so good as when you toss it around in some butter, with nuts and Worcestershire sauce and pretzel sticks. Here is the classic recipe:

1/2 c. butter
1 1/4 tsp. seasoned salt
4 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 c. Corn Chex cereal
2 c. Rice Chex cereal
2 c. Bran Chex cereal
2 c. Wheat Chex cereal
1 c. salted mixed nuts and/or pretzel sticks

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Heat butter in large shallow roasting pan (about 15 x 10 x 2 inches) in oven until melted. Remove. Stir in seasoned salt and Worcestershire sauce. Add Chex cereal and nuts. Mix until all pieces are coated. Heat in oven 1 hour. Stir every 15 minutes. Spread on absorbent paper to cool. Makes 9 cups.

"Don't bother looking for a Tupperware© tub to store it...there won't be any left over."

And here is the look of the classic Chex Mix. Note the use of the disposable foil pan: it's great because you can cook it in what you serve it in.



I found this picture on Google. If you Google "chex mix recipe" you get over 93,000 hits, and they're all bound to be good. As we closely examine the texture of this batch, we note that the cook has added Cheerios - always a nice touch, and when you serve Chex Mix at your holiday party and a Freudian is in the crowd and notices his pretzel stick and a Cheerio are hooking up, well, there's your entertainment for an hour. Also, looks like Mr or Ms Fancy Pants here added cashews along with peanuts...interesting. And to add a dash of cheddar-licious goodness, I always go with a good pile of Cheez Nips. I once wound up with a Cheez Nip that was stained by Worcestershire sauce so as to accidentally create a tiny cameo of Eve Arden, although none of the cracker museums I contacted wished to buy it for their permanent collection, so I went ahead and ate it.


New Year's Eve around our house always had the aroma of Chex Mix and Old Bay; the folks would serve the Mix along with steamed shrimp while their friends watched Jack Paar and listened to Guy Lombardo. But give me a little bowl of C'Mix and a beer and that's what I call good snackin'!

And if anyone knows anyone at Yankee Candle Headquarters, let them know that if they made a candle that smelled like freshly made Chex Mix, they would not be able to keep them in stock! Free, money-making idea, courtesy of Castles!