I started the first of my four batches of holiday Chex Mix on Saturday. Sometimes it takes five. I'll be exhausted. My knees are already complainy, although it's not like I squat down to peer into the oven. It's the up and down every 15 minutes for two hours to stir, and the initial 30 minutes standing to fill the pans.
Mmm... if only you could take a whiff of these heaping pans of my world-famous Chex Mix fresh out of the oven. Too bad smelleblogging isn't a thing.
I tried a new kind of pretzel this year. Not sure I will use them again. They don't seem to pick up the flavor like the twist pretzels. Also, the generic cheerios are not my preference. I usually get them at Save A Lot, but this time I used the kind from 10Box. How much difference could a plain little toasted oat make, you ask? It's not the taste. This kind wanted to stick to the bottom of the pan in the first two stirrings.
I thought it might be the pan that is oldest, not quite as non-stick as it used to be. But no. I happened in all three pans. Then I thought it might be my oven not working right. There's a 25-degree play in the knob that controls the temperature. I try to wiggle it and get it set right in the middle of the wiggle. Chex Mix requires 250 degrees. No more, no less. On the second batch, I was extra-careful in setting the temperature. That was not the solution. I assume it might be the powdery stuff on these cheerios. Anyhoo... only five or six per pan stuck, and didn't affect the flavor of the rest of the batch. They soaked off easily when I washed the pans between batches.
It's heaped in the middle here, but that's because I stirred when I took the pans out for the final time, to help with cooling. When putting them in the oven, the particles have to be lying flat, or some will get scraped off by the rack above them. That's no good! Not just wasteful, but they burn on the bottom of the oven.
That paper plate you can barely see is where I set my stirring spoon to rest, and also pile the particles that escape onto the cutting block during stirring. That's what Farmer H gets when he asks for some. Until I have enough for my gifts, he's out of luck aside from that pittance, or the crumbs from the bottom of the pans.
Two down, two (at least) to go. That has to wait until I buy more ingredients. It takes three boxes of cereal per batch. I'm also down to one giant bag of Bugles. And out of Worcestershire Sauce and mixed nuts and cashews. I have enough pecan halves to get by. They cost almost as much as a bargain flip house!
2 comments:
I was thinking of you and your Chex mix making and wondered when you would be getting started on that process. Looks like a lot of mix already. You have some lucky gift receivers for sure. Yum. I can almost smell it without smelleovision, just from memory. Ranee
Rae,
That is one batch. I've made two so far, and I'm headed to the store later for more cereal. There's only so much room in the Mansion to pile all that stuff before making. Now I've got containers, so I can fill and stack them for later distribution.
The smell is wonderful. I love how it reminds me of the holidays.
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