Early To Rise

I arose at 5:30 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday to make a batch of my fabulous Chex Mix. It's best to get that out of the way early, because it takes 2.5 hours by the time you get everything ready to toss into the oven. Time has a way of escaping me if I put it off until later.

Chex Mix is a harsh mistress. She must be tended every 10 minutes for 120 minutes. By the time you scrape her bottom to keep her unsticky, you are down to only 6-7 minutes between stirrings. I separate my Chex Mix into three pans. Two are nonstick rectangular cake pans, and the other is a big black roasting pan. I pile as much mix as I can into each pan. That way, I can make all I need to give away in just two batches. Those 13 advisory kids are killin' me. Last year, I was down to 8. Now the ranks have swelled, and so has my give-away list for Chex Mix. The kids only get a baggie of it, but the powers that be over me get a regular plastic container from The Devil's Playground. Miss Mabel always brings her containers back for next year. Of course, she also angles for a refill, which I am happy to accommodate as long as the Chex Mix holds out.

You'd think that with The Pony out of Elementia now, I could cross off some teachers from my list. The #1 son started the tradition of giving the glorious Chex Mix to all of his past teachers every year, and they grew to expect it. Who should I run into at a different Devil's Playground on Saturday but The Pony's old 3rd Grade teacher. "Well, I guess I can't expect any Chex Mix this year, now that Pony is in another building." She was only joking, I think, and added that her mother just made a big batch of it. But nobody's Chex Mix is like mine. So I might see if The Pony will run some into Elementia after school one day, providing I have any left.

Here's some trivia for you. Did you know that all Chex is not created equal? Corn Chex comes in a box of 14.0 ounces. But Rice Chex, in the same size box, only contains 12.8 ounces. I wonder if that's because we grow more corn here than rice? I don't even bother with the Wheat Chex, because that just spoils a good Chex Mix. But in the interest of science, I googled it and found out that Wheat Chex also comes in the 14.0 ounce box. Why all the hatin' on the Rice Chex, people? I wondered why my Chex Mix batches always used up all the Rice Chex, but had some Corn Chex left over. Now we know why. I daresay you pay the same price for the 12.8 ounces as you do for the 14.0 ounces. They're tricky, those marketing people! They know you have to have both the Corn Chex AND the Rice Chex to make exemplary Chex Mix. So I continue to support the price-gouging conglomerate. Though I DO wait until The Devil has a big sale on Chex around holiday time.

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