Remember how I told you that Christmas snuck up on me this year and I had no time to prepare? Well, that doesn't mean that I have to miss out on all of the fun. One of my favorite memories of the holidays growing up was of the day after Thanksgiving. My mom would get together with her two sisters to make homemade chex mix and Christmas cookies. I would of course come along and play with all of my cousins while the house would fill with the wonderful smells of this time of year. Us kids would take breaks from our playtime to sneak out into the kitchen to steal bites of what was finished. We would get in big trouble for this. Well, maybe not big trouble. I think our moms were just annoyed with us messing with the treats before it was "time" to partake in them.

I have always wanted to try to make my family recipe for chex mix but I was always afraid to. Don't ask me what I was actually afraid of because I couldn't really tell you.

I have been craving this infamous chex mix all week. Finally, I made the big decision to go for it. While at the grocery store I called my mom and told her to tell me the ingredients that I would need to make it. Home I went with excitement, anticipation and lots of chex.

Here is the recipe:

6 tablespoons margarine or butter

2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce

a dash or 2 or 3 or 4 of tabasco sauce (if you can take the heat, I say the more the merrier)

1 1/2 teaspoons lawry's seasoning salt

1 1/2 teaspoons garlic salt

3 cups corn chex

3 cups rice chex

3 cups wheat chex or crispex

1 cup nuts

1 cup or more of skinny pretzel sticks

Heat oven to 250.

Melt butter in a large roasting pan on stove top.

Stir in all seasonings.

Look over at your adorable pizza covered son. (Not a required step but definitely recommended.)

Add cereal, nuts, pretzels and mix together.

Bake for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

While the chex mix is baking, pull your son around the house in a giant collapsible bag to burn all of the extra calories that you will later indulge in.

Remove from oven and place on paper towel to cool. (Pay special attention to toddlers that may be passing by that would like to grab hold of the paper towel to send your freshly baked chex mix to the ground.)

With the leftover cereal. Make puppy chow.

I should have asked for a kitchen apron for Christmas. Maybe I should make one while I have the time. I am apparently a very messy cook.