Heating Up Christmas

This is a quick shot of the den tree.  We had a brief moment of daylight yesterday before the clouds and oppressive air rolled in. I managed to snap this before the day became dark, but by the time I moved to the living room to take a picture of that tree, conditions worsened substantially. This has been the weirdest weather I can remember. We are having record warmth and insane humidity this Christmas, so I might as well go with the hot theme for some snacks as well.








We love this slightly different take on the traditional Chex Mix, but then we like spicy things.  If you don't like a little heat in your food you might as well quit reading this right now.  There are several
recipes on the internet for this but I have tweaked it to our liking, so this recipe reflects my family's preferences.

Siricha Chex Mix

8 cups chex cereal
1 cup small cheese crackers
1 cup small pretzels
1 cup skinless cocktail peanuts
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup siracha
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

In a gigantic bowl put the chex, crackers, pretzels, and peanuts and stir gently to mix well but keep the crackers and chex intact.  In a small boiler melt the butter, add the siracha, Worcestershire sauce and garlic salt.  Stir to blend well then gently stir into the dry mixture coating each piece.   Spread onto baking pans in an even layer (This take 2 large jelly roll pans) and bake at 350 until it is crisp. Stir occasionally while baking to ensure even cooking.  In my oven this is about a 12 minute process. Remove from oven and allow to cool on the pans, then store in an airtight container.  This stuff gets devoured here so I am off to the store for more Chex!  Have a Merry Christmas, Y'all!

Thanks Harry Connick, Jr!