Chex and Balances

Over the years, my family developed a few holiday traditions. Some were inadvertent, such as the plumbing conking out on Christmas or Thanksgiving. Some we did for a few years (celebrating St. Nicholas day, putting up a tree, putting up an elaborate 8 foot high star ornament on the roof) before giving up on them. Two things that always endured: making cookies, and making Chex party mix.

Making cokies was always a big undertaking: we’d bake at least 100 cookies. The kinds varied from year to year until Gold Medal issued a list of cookie recipes, all made from the same dough. That list supplied the entire range of cookies we made. My favorite on the list was Mexican swizzle sticks, a cinnamon and chocolate flavored cookie. Others were Greek clove crescents, and a cookie dimly resembling pfeffernusse.

Chex party mix was always a big production. At first it was a simple, no frills batch of mix. Then ingredients started to be added. And then more and more and more—until it was impossible to mix the stuff in a bowl: they just don’t make bowls big enough for that amount of stuff. So then I hit on the idea of using a trash bag to mix the stuff in. I’d put the measured out amounts of cereal, crackers, nuts and so on, pour the butter and seasonings over that, close the bag, and flip it over and over until everything was mixed. Then I had a couple of roasting pans where I would put the mix in and bake it.

The Chex project got so huge that we were considering getting a small cement mixer to mix the stuff together.

As far as seasonings go, back then, before the internet, Chex issued a party mix cookbook, with recipes that they don’t offer today. I liked my food spicy, so I figured why not combine a few spices? My Chex mix would have the standard set of seasonings, but I would also add hot sauce, curry powder and chili powder. The wonderful aroma the stuff gave off was beyond description.

I remembered every holiday, shopping at various stores, trying to find as many little crackers and types of snacks I could for the mix. If it was small and salty, it went in. The goal was to get as many interesting shapes as possible. The actual Chex cereal in it was secondary.

Mt frger died, and the cookie tradition sputtered on, with a token amount being made each year. But the Chex mix project would continue to grow.

Honestly, I can’t remember giving away much of the cookies or Chex mix to anyone over the years. We ate most of them ourselves.

I can remember fond memories of watching TV with a bowl of Chex mix on my lap, a glass of elderberry wine in one hand, and a big wedge of cheddar cheese in the other. Ah, pure contentment.

Even after I had to temporarily move into a nursing home, I still made Chex mix—only I bought the standard commercial grade stuff and mixed nuts into it. Most of the residents couldn’t get out like I could, so I would share the mix I made with them. When you have nothing, it’s surprising how little it takes to make you happy.

When I finally got out on my own, I continued on as before. The amounts of Chex mix weren’t as large, but I always made it every year.

And then—after one of way too many trips to the hospital, I was told I had renal failure: my kidneys were barely functioning. No more salt, no more nuts, no more cheese—a laundry list of foods I couldn’t have. That killed the idea of Chex mix—or did it?

I worked on reformulating Chex mix to contain no additional salt. I substituted no salt butter for the margarine, Mrs. Dash for the salt, and home made no salt soy sauce for the Worcestershire sauce. Nuts were still a problem—I added them anyway, figuring that a few nuts in a handful wouldn’t hurt.

The stuff came out of the oven. Though the ingredient list wasn’t as large as before (just two kinds of Chex, Cheerios and some unsalted peanuts), the flavor was excellent—in fact, even better than the original recipe. The butter flavor was really evident.

Sure, I can’t have a wedge of cheese or a glass of elderberry wine with it (mainly because the elderberry wine I’m making isn’t done yet), but I can still have my Chex mix. And, glory of glories, people that have tried it like it too.

Oh, and the cookies? I still make a few, all of them for friends.

Holiday traditions can be a real comfort, and are definitely worth the effort in continuing.