Chex Party Mix is a Family Affair

Disclosure: I received promotional items to facilitate this post; all opinions expressed are my own. 

Mr. Lovebird and I are college sweethearts and there are certain things that despite knowing each other all our adult lives thus far that I'm still surprised to discover about him. One of those things is that prior to meeting me he had never had Chex Party Mix. 

Shocking, I know. 

Growing up in Columbus, Ohio I do not recall a time that I didn't have Chex Party Mix in my life. It's inextricably linked to my childhood, and I have early memories of enjoying it - picking out the Wheat Chex and peanuts to snack on, especially. There is so much nostalgia wrapped up in eating it and while you can definitely pick up the bagged version, which didn't exist when I was a kid, something about mixing everything together and waiting the full hour for it to cook (don't forget to stir every 15 minutes!) lends itself to socializing and anticipation with your family. 

My own Harlem Lovebirds wooden spoon?! I may have got tears in my eyes when I received this.

With my family's recent move to New Hampshire, while I missed a special Chex event back in NYC, the team was kind enough to send a care package up to New  England for me and my family. It was perfect timing as I had about 20 guests arriving for Thanksgiving and since we're not a big "snacky" family, but our guests were, when they started inquiring about which snacks we'd have on hand, making Chex Party Mix was a no brainer. 

My sister Lauren helped me out while the rest of the family hung out and salivated waited patiently for the Chex Party Mix to finish. Lauren took her measuring job VERY seriously and was so focused - a woman after my own heart!

I have to interject that I'm a kitchen tech nerd and loved the fact that our oven has two timers so I could set one for the full 60 minutes required then the other for 15 minute intervals as a reminder to stir. Next step into blissdom? DOUBLE OVENS. A girl can dream!

When the Chex Party Mix was done it had to cool. THE. HARDEST. PART. It came out perfectly (to me) although my mom and sisters agreed that I should've picked even smaller pretzels. They were literally called "tiny twists" so I'm not sure how much smaller they were supposed to be O_o Anywho... I didn't include the bagel chips or mixed nuts as the recipe calls for. Plain peanuts were what we used growing up so I stuck with those.

The Chex Party Mix didn't last long. I call that success! I really should've doubled the recipe cause people kept coming by the pantry asking where it was. This cook had other things to make and with one oven, another batch of just wasn't going to happen. I had intentions of making Muddy Buddies too (anyone else remember that?), but you know how that goes . . .

To find all the Chex recipes visit their website and be sure to follow on Facebook and Twitter. 

Is Chex Party Mix part of your family's holiday staples? What do you like to mix in yours?