Our trip was amazing. Beautiful weather, great food and great visiting time with our family. But to be perfectly honest, it was bittersweet. Mexico is a beautiful country, especially when you get out to enjoy the REAL countryside, not just the tourist towns. We split our time between Cabo San Lucas and Los Barilles, both cities were great but for tradition, great kite boarding, unreal fishing and amazing fish tacos, hit Los Barilles.
I say the trip was bittersweet because even though we were on a vacation to a warm and sunny spot ( I think I've covered that before, I like being warm ), it felt very strange not to be doing all those regular Christmas activities.
No Christmas baking, no visiting multiple parents, no braving the cold, rainy Vancouver weather, my dad's "special" lemonades. I missed it. Although the VERY strong margaritas reminded me of dad's "special" lemonades, it was different. Different in a good way.
Although I did get a care package of mincemeat tarts and broken glass cake from my MIL and we did have turkey dinner in Mexico, I needed to fill my Christmas tradition void.
So I made chex mix. Otherwise known as nuts & bolts. Yeah, yeah I know you think it's cheesy and we need something more gourmet, but you all know if a bowl of this stuff is put in front of you, you will willingly eat it. The salty, crunchy goodness is irresistible. The husband has eaten alot so far, I doubt the containers will make it through the night.
p.s. The husband caught a big fish. He's very proud of himself.
p.p.s. I missed my cats. I'm happy they're home.
Nuts & Bolts
[ loosely adapted from the chex box ]
4 1/2 cups rice Chex
4 1/2 cups corn Chex
1 1/2 cups pretzel sticks
1 1/2 cups mixed nuts, unsalted
6 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons seasoning salt
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
In a large bowl, mix together chex, pretzels and nuts. Add remaining ingredients and stir to coat thoroughly.
Place mix in large roasting pan and bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
Let mix cool completely on paper towels before placing in airtight containers. Keep away from husbands if you want any. Makes good pre-hockey, apres beer snack.
