My Grandmother is awesome. Among other things, she taught me The Look -- the one that will make anyone from annoying salesgirl to creepy dude on the subway go away. Every time. Quickly. It is possible that it was dangerous for someone who had mastered this look at 5 feet to teach it to someone who ended up a lot closer to 6 feet, but the damage is done and for some reason people just don't bother me.
Now that I've described her that way, you might not have the right idea. She is definitely a Grandmother with a capital G. Every year for Christmas we'd arrive at her house and she'd have an entire table covered with treats she'd been making. The world's best fudge, peppermint bark, cookies, forgotten cookies, and the all-important Chex Mix. She'd make two batches: one without peanuts for my cousin who didn't like peanuts and one with peanuts for the rest of us. I scooped it up in a white teacup, curled up in an armchair, and settled in for another fantastic Christmas.
Shortly after we got married, we made Chex Mix, foolishly using the recipe on the box. We took one bite and realized that my Grandmother had spoiled us with something completely different. The stuff on the back of the box tastes like Chex. Which is fine if you want to munch on Chex.
I called her and asked her how to make Chex Mix the way she made it. "I just use the recipe on the box." Yep, she's one of those women. She also claimed the fudge recipe is on the back of the powdered sugar box. So not true. My sister is hard at work trying to reverse engineer the fudge, but I'm happy to tell you that after many batches, my husband and I got the Chex Mix right, and I'll even tell you the recipe.
By the way, this recipe has a lot of Worstershire sauce. If your eyes never water a little from it all, you haven't put enough in. When I opened the oven while I was making it, I teared up. I'll bet you anything my Grandmother never teared up making this. She just isn't the type.
Chex Mix
INGREDIENTS:
- 3 c. each corn, rice & wheat chex
- 1 c. pretzels
- 1 c. peanuts
- 6 T. butter, melted
- 4-5 T. Worstershire
- 1 t. garlic salt
- 1/4 t. cayenne
- 1/4 t. salt
METHOD:
Preheat the oven to 250 with the pan in the oven. Use a half sheet. No need to grease it or use a silpat or anything -- didn't you notice the 6 T. of butter?
Combine butter, Worstershire, garlic salt, cayenne, and salt. Pour over dry ingredients and mix well. Spread on the half sheet and bake 30 minutes. Take out, put in bowl, add more Worstershire. Return it to the half sheet. Bake an additional 30 minutes, cool on paper towels.
As a side note, if you buy one box each of Rice Chex and Corn Chex and two of wheat chex, you'll have just the right amount to make 4 batches. (Actually, you'll have some wheat chex left over, but not much.) With two half sheets and an absolutely gigantic mixing bowl, I can make two batches of chex mix at a time.
The same setup allows me to make two batches of granola at once, which is a huge time saver. I actually did not get my mixing bowl from Amazon. I got it from a restaurant supply store, and it isn't stainless steel. When it wears out I'll upgrade to stainless steel. I think mine cost $7, and makes a great salad bowl if you're having a party for 20 people.
