A longstanding tradition in my family is the making of Chex Mix. I'm the third generation of the family to carry on this hallowed duty. It began back in the days before you could get Chex Mix in little prefab baggies - and, I daresay, it's a lot better than the mass produced stuff.

The traditional family recipe is an altered version of one of the original recipes published on the back of boxes of Chex cereal. Today, I tried out some more radical modifications, based largely on my own whimsy.


Here's my version:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter


• 5 tsp Worcestershire sauce (choose your favorite brand; personally I'm a Lea & Perrins guy)


• 1 tsp Tony Chachere's cajun seasoning


• 2 tsp dry mesquite seasoning mix


• 2 2/3 cup each of corn, rice, and wheat Chex


• 1 cup salted mixed nuts


• 1 cup pretzel sticks
  


• Preheat oven to 250F. Melt butter in a large roasting pan while oven is heating.


• Mix sauce and seasonings into melted butter; blend thoroughly


• Slowly stir in cereal and other stuff; ensure mix is coated thoroughly


• Bake 1 hour at 250F, stirring thoroughly every 15 minutes

Came out quite nicely, if I do say so myself. (I actually used slightly different measures, but mine came out a little bit on the salty side - so I've adjusted the recipe a tiny bit to compensate.)


Unfortunately, I made the mistake of running the cleaning cycle on my oven right after this little experiment, so now the whole apartment stinks like charred grease, and it's hot as Satan's armpits in here. To top that off, I forgot to take out the oven racks, so they're probably going to be totally screwed up.

Oh well... it's worth it for the munchies.