kenny bloggins

so buying a house means that everyone gets homemade presents for christmas. also, its pretty obvious, if its winter and it doesn't involve a bonfire or food, i'm not doin it. sad, but true. when its cold outside i cook.
lets talk about chex mix. it is delicious.
gather some ingredients. its a really weird simple thing to make.

check the dates on the spices you don't use very often. like this worcestershire sauce, it expired in '06. ew throw that junk away. onion powder that expired in '07? why did you even move it when you moved into this apartment? hoarder.

prepare your assistant.

measure out about nine cups of chex. rice, corn, and wheat chex. put it in a huge bowl that you can safely microwave for a long time.

get some bagel chips, probably about a cups worth. break em up into smallish pieces. be sure to have your assistant sample a small piece for quality control.

gather a cup of peanuts.

prepare a cup of mini pretzels.

dump em all in the bowl!

measure out 6 tablespoons of butter. put it in a dish to melt.

gather some spices and put them in a dish to blend. seasoning salt!

garlic powder!

onion powder!

go ahead and microwave that butter, melt it real good.

dump in the blended spices

whisk em together!

now add some worcestershire sauce. 2 tablespoons i think, you can add a little more but not too much.

add the blend to the dry cereal mix. stir or shake it up so that everything is evenly coated.

see, a little bit of sauce on everything.

microwave it for six minutes. i don't think i've ever microwaved anything that long, ever.

every two minutes, take it out and stir it up. otherwise everything on the bottom of the bowl will burn. or melt into the plastic of the bowl, oh the horror.

give it a good toss over!

lay out some wax paper for cooling/drying of the mix. you can use paper towel too, if you're making regular mix, but since we're making white chocolate covered chex mix we're gonna need wax paper.

two minute mark! stir it again!

reassure your assistant, it is important to let them know that they are really helpful.

okay. so the mix is done micorwaving. spread it out on the paper to cool and dry. i guess ten minutes or so?

now lets get the chocolate all melted. i'm really bad at chocolate stuff, i learned this a year ago when i ruined chocolate over and over. i like to think i've gotten better at it, now that i've had some practice.

start small. its hard to guess the melted volume of a solid, i think. put it in a glass bowl and start to microwave it. every 15 seconds or so take it out and stir it. even though it is still a solid shape, it will continue melting as you stir it. it holds its shape even as it melts, oh chocolate you deciever! that is why it is so easy to burn it...you may think that because it is still a square, it is not melting. next thing you know its chunky and ruined. bummer.

also i learned that you can add a tiny bit of oil if it is not the consistency you want. not too much or it will not set properly, but a tiny drizzle of almond oil can save you if your chocolate has tricked you and it is getting thick.

drizzle that chocolate everywhere. let it cool. bag it to give it away or eat as much as you possibly can. its real good and very addictive.

it is likely that your assistant now needs a nap.