Pumpkin Spice Trail Mix

Hi friends —

I made some Pumpkin Spice Trail Mix this weekend, and since the recipe has been requested a few times I thought I'd share here too, thus saving myself the trauma of trying to remember where I saved the recipe on my computer and then having to remember to send it to multiple people. I feel sorry for all of us collectively when I think back to the olden days (aka 10 years ago) when we had to hand-write recipes on world-worn and dripped upon index cards. Savage.

Before we get started, this is my official reminder that I'm very much a from-the-hip cook, as stated here and here, which means I'll do my very best to give you measurements and such but you are entering into this endeavor at your own risk. I encourage you to adjust the recipe according to your personal preferences. So, if you like things to be a little less sweet, by all means use less sugar, or less butter, or whatever it takes to make you happy!

Ingredients
For the spice mixture:
1 stick butter
1/2 C. brown sugar
1 TBS. pumpkin pie spice
Pinch of nutmeg

For the trail part of this mix:
3 cups plain Chex cereal
2 cups cinnamon Chex cereal
1 - 2 C. pretzels
1/2 C. granola
1/2 C. dried cranberries
1/4 C. walnuts

Melt the butter in the microwave, then stir in the brown sugar and other spices. Put all the cereal, pretzels and granola in a large mixing bowl, dump the butter mixture on top and stir until evenly distributed. Spread evenly onto a non-stick baking sheet. Bake in an oven pre-heated to 325 degrees for 15 minutes, stir, then bake for 15 more minutes or until crunchy. Let cool completely, then stir in cranberries, nuts, and candy corns and pumpkin marshmallow candies (if you're feeling particularly festive.)

Switch the ingredients for the trail part with whatever you like ... if you prefer a different dried fruit or like almonds better than walnuts or whatever. If you don't use the cinnamon cereal, I recommend adding 1/2 tsp. to the spice mixture.

Enjoy!

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The Last of the Winter Weekends

Say what you will about winter (and I snarl many a contemptuous remark about the chilly days spanning from January to March-ish), but it does perform sunsets with flourish, tantalizing us to see so much more of its glorious colors with its trees standing strong but bare, a game of peek-a-boo with nature. Winter ... you naughty minx.

This weekend I'm:

~reading this book.
~planning for spring.
~cooking this, though I think I'll grill chicken breasts in lieu of what they've got going on here.
~procrastinating this.
~watching this on this (which we love, by the way. Love, love, and fight over it enough we may get another.)
~contemplating this. Join me, Southerners and non-Southerners alike ...

How about you? Anything fantastic for one of these last (please) winter weekends?

XO-



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The Velveeta Shortage is Real, Y'all

God bless my husband, a man willing not only to grocery shop, but also to stop by the store in 15 degree weather, after a long day at work, to purchase processed cheese for a dish I am making right that very minute. As in, "we're starving, but I seem to have misplaced the Velveeta. So ... we will have dinner as soon as you get home and the cheese melts."

In a pinch, he has been known to find substitutes if he can't find precisely what is on the list. For example, in the past we have learned that Sunny D does not equal orange juice, that Yoo-hoo does not equal chocolate milk, and there is a pretty significant difference between self-rising and regular flour. Now he will call me to determine valid replacements for various ingredients, which is what prompted the following call last evening:

Jake: "They are out of regular Velveeta, but have this Mexican kind. Will that do?"

Me: (Skeptically) "They're out of Velveeta? Seriously?"

Jake: "Out. Of Velveeta. It's Mexican Velveeta or nothing."

Me: "You've checked with the store clerk to see where they are hiding the plain? After looking really, really well for the regular kind?"

Jake: "There is no regular Velveeta. I repeat: There. Is. No. Plain. Velveeta."

Well, my Chicken Tetrazzini is not complete without the Velveeta, so we made do with the Mexican kind. I just assumed there had been a run for Velveeta so we Southerners could sit contentedly by the fire with our Rotel and Velveeta and a bag of Fritos while it was a frosty 5 degrees outside.

Then I came across an article in USA Today that, in fact, there is a nationwide Velveeta shortage. The Kraft Company has no valid explanation, and now the major news networks are accusing Kraft of basically making up this whole shortage business.

I resist this theory on the following grounds: Kraft is based in a suburb of Chicago. I'm assuming the good folks of Kraft have done a bit of research, and that Southerners are a pretty big demographic for their product. I feel that during this research, they very likely discovered that to get between a Southerner and a major component of every casserole and snack food we hold dear is to take one's life into their own hands. A precarious endeavor, that.

Midwesterners are sensible folks. I have lived amongst them. They do not willingly court danger. They want people to be happy, and well-fed. Thus, this shortage is to be blamed upon some sort of shelf-stocking mishap that will be corrected immediately. This could not be some sort of senseless marketing ploy that can only end with a pack of Southern women rioting at Kraft's corporate headquarters, wielding cast-iron skillets and bags of Fritos, backed by a cast of snack-shortage-crazed men and children. Each and every one of them hangry (hungry + angry = hangry), and willing to do whatever it takes to right a snacking wrong.

Let me be clear: this is not a threat. I am not planning a riot. I lived in Wisconsin for 2.5 cold, snowy years, and I would no more head toward Chicago in January than I would assemble some wings with hot-glue and dime-store feathers and attempt to fly to the moon.

Also, I will not negotiate with food marketing terrorists. I'm just saying to the entities responsible ... put the Velveeta back on the shelves and back away slowly, quietly ... and no one gets hurt.

XO ---

PS -- If you have a fantastic recipe with a key ingredient being Velveeta, please post that in the comments section. Then, once this boxed cheese crisis is resolved, we can all enjoy new and fancy dishes with every Southerners favorite cheesy weapon. 

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The Perfect Family Reunion Dish

Y'all, as far back as I can remember I've had a love-hate relationship with coleslaw. I love it because coleslaw, made well, reminds me of home. As in Tennessee home. Because made just right, coleslaw makes gnawing on a barbecue sandwich at a favorite Memphis barbecue joint even more delightful. If a picnic is happening in the South, it is happening with fried chicken and coleslaw. And if I ever show up for a family reunion and there is no coleslaw, I will know I have arrived at some other family's reunion. Because we always, always have coleslaw at reunions. In fact, coleslaw is practically the only thing semi-cold you can find to eat in the South in the summer that didn't start out frozen.

Here's the upsetting thing about coleslaw. First of all, it's cabbage. Shredded cabbage I am sad to say. I know. Hard to get past that little fact. Cabbage is one of those upsetting words that just sounds like it stinks (and for heaven's sakes, if you heat that stuff up it DOES stink. So, don't cook cabbage is the lesson of the day.)

Additionally, many coleslaw recipes involve slopping cups of mayonnaise atop shredded cabbage then pouring some buttermilk on top and calling it a day. (Did anyone hear me make a wretching sound? Because I just did.)

Thing is, I HATE mayonnaise. Always have. My sister once thought I was having a seizure at a restaurant, when in actuality I had taken a bite of a BLT that had mayo on the bread, resulting in my eyes rolling back in my head while stamping my feet and making screaming-with-my-mouth-shut noises and then spitting it all into my napkin with great fanfare (This wasn't recent ... I was 7 years old. Not that I wouldn't have the exact same reaction today. Probably would. To this day I disassemble BLTs to insure proper care has been taken to keep mayo off all bread.)

Then my aunt recommended a coleslaw recipe to me that sounded short on mayo, and thus quite doable. I have tweaked the recipe, and it's so yummy, conjuring up memories of dinner on the ground at the tiny Methodist church in Pinson, Tenn. or fueling up before digging in the clay at the creek in Nankipoo, Tenn. that I have decided to make this a regular summertime side dish.

Before I share the recipe, please know I am very much a "dash of this" cook. So, you should adjust this recipe according to your personal tastes. If you like it sweeter, kick up the sugar. If you like it tart, increase the dijon mustard and vinegar. If you want it a little creamier, add more mayo (just don't have me over for dinner.)

Amy Mac's Apple Walnut Coleslaw
Ingredients:
1 bag pre-washed coleslaw
1 large apple, cored and chopped
1/2 purple onion, chopped
1/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
1/4-1/2 cup olive or vegetable oil
1 cup vinegar
1 cup sugar
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 T. mayonnaise
1 T. dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. celery salt
1 T. poppy seeds
1/4 tsp. pepper

Whisk together the oil and next 9 ingredients. Taste the dressing for consistency and taste, adding more ingredients incrementally as desired. Once you've perfected the dressing, toss with coleslaw, apple and onion and chill for at least an hour. Toss with walnuts immediately prior to serving. 

The acidity of the lemon juice & vinegar keeps the apple from browning, which means your dish is yummy and cute upon arrival at your summer fete.

Enjoy!
xo-

When It Comes to Genius Wedding Shower Gifts, This One Takes the Cupcake

This past weekend, my first cousin once removed (so, she's my dad's first cousin and I'm one generation removed, so first cousin once removed. Got that?) feted my niece (her first cousin twice removed) with a wedding shower. Tennessee-style. Hydrangeas, cupcakes and a scrumptious black-eye-pea dip prevailed. Also humidity, but it could have been worse (and it will be, about the time I head back that direction for our family reunion in mid-July.)

But about that gift. My sister, aka Mother of the Bride (which sounds like dyed-satin-shoes and frumpy oldness, which she is definitely not) requested each guest provide my niece with recipes -- preferably the "been in the family forever" types of recipes.

My first-cousin-once-removed not only shared her mother's Caramel Pie recipe ... she gave my niece one of Aunt Billie Dean's (best name ever, right?) very own pie plates.

Folks, if magic comes in the form of pie plates, this one will have it.

Isn't that the best gift ever?

I knew you'd agree.

I'm going to work on getting that recipe for all of us, since we've come to this consensus.

XOXO--


PS - For more pics from that fun shower, zip over here.

A Salad Dressing That Saves Lives

Okay, saves lives may be a stretch, but it sure has saved me an hour today. And kept me off the streets during lunchtime. Which can be hazardous in Atlanta. So, see? Really, we're all safer thanks to this salad dressing.

I've spoken with y'all before about the importance of having routines. For me, at least. Without a routine, things go to pieces around here quickly. And I don't mean with the girls or my husband. This is pretty specific to me.

As in, I can easily lose a precious hour (or more) from my day trying to hunt up a decent bite to eat. I swear I am worse than my kids about "nothing sounding good."And just as easily, I'll end up eating fast food because it will take too much time to go to the store and/or wait in line at one of the many delightfully crowded delis by my house.

One trick I use to beat the lunch crowd and cater to my particular cravings is to keep fresh salad ingredients on hand. My other trick is to make yummy homemade dressings and keep them in the fridge. Here's one of my favorites:

Lime, Cilantro & Honey Dressing

1/4 medium purple onion
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
2 T. honey
1 1/2 - 2 T. Balsamic vinegar
Juice of 2 limes
1/4 c. olive oil
Salt & Pepper to taste

Fling this into a food processor and pulse until it's a consistency you enjoy. Add more olive oil if you'd like. Frankly, you can add a touch more of any of the ingredients if you like, and take away anything you don't particularly enjoy. This is how I like to cook. Mainly because I'm just working with whatever I can hunt up in my kitchen. Most of the time it works out pretty well.

Toss with salad greens, avocado, tomato and whatever you like for a little protein. Today I added salami and a boiled egg. Don't judge. Again, it's a work-with-what-you-have situation.

This dressing will keep in the fridge up to a week. And will keep me from eating chicken nuggets 5 times in as many days.

Enjoy!

PS -- Please tell me: what's your favorite thing to eat for lunch?