Aunt Tillie's "Trash Mix"

(For two legged Humans, not pets!!)

 

Browsing through my old papers I found this recipe. I got it from my sister-in-law in Texas. It seems that back in her great-aunt Tillie's day (1930's), the chex mix was a regional thing.

 

In the 1950's the Chex cereal people put a simple variation of it on the back of their cereal boxes.
I was given the recipe back in the 1980's while we mixed it all together. It had been her family's long time favorite, and then it became ours, too.  Once you try this, you will never want the stuff sold in those bags again. 
The recipe makes enough for a huge party or a whole lot of generous gifts. Keep plenty for yourself, too. It keeps well, but we always finished it before any spoilage.

 

Aunt Tillie's "Trash Mix"
1 box Cheerios (med size)
1 box corn Chex
1 box rice Chex
1 bag Fritos (med-large size)
1 package thin stick pretzels
1 can shoestring potatoes(crunchy)
4 cups pecans (unsalted)
1 can mixed nuts
Toss all this in a HUGE bowl. or divide between the biggest bowls you have.
 
Melt together in a saucepan:
3/4 cup bacon drippings (= from 1lb of bacon)
1 stick margarine
2 teaspoons garlic salt
2 TBSP red pepper
2 TBSP  chili pepper
1 TBSP Accent
Pour melted mixture over, IN A fine DRIZZLE, over the dry ingredients, stirring very gently to blend & mix.
Bake at 225 F in shallow roasting pans for One and one half hours.
Stir every 15 minutes to blend the spices and avoid burning in the pan's corners.
Store in tightly covered tins or jars after drying/ cooling on paper towels.
 
PS: The last time I made this, I reduced the amount of bacon grease to about half of what the recipe said: to somewhere between a third to half a cup, because 3/4 cup just seemed like too much. But I leave that up to you.
One year pecans were very expensive, so I used 4 cups of unsalted cashews and 2 cups of shelled pecans, and omitted the canned nuts. Don't use the 'dry-roasted' nuts.
This can be a flexible recipe.   

 

 

 

 

Back To Main Page

Copyright © 2009 Yorkie Angel Patrol all rights reserved