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Your humble author remembers when Gardetto's Snack'ens came on the market with a starburst on the label proclaiming something like "Preferred 2 to 1 over CHEX Party Mix!"
General Mills, who had already bought out the CHEX cereals franchise from Ralston Purina, pulled the ol' "If you can't beat 'em, buy 'em" and acquired Gardetto's as well, renaming "Snack'ens" as "Original Party Mix". Not content with owning a pair of former competitors, they contaminated the original CHEX Party Mix recipe gene pool by introducing ingredients that made it into a homemade version of, well, Gardetto's. Essentially, they're engaging in culinary revisionism, calling the adulterated recipe the "original."
Did they really think they could get away with it? In the 1950s and 1960s, there were no such things as "bite-size garlic-flavored bagel chips."
If your party theme is retro or nostalgic, or you've made "original" party mix only to be disappointed with a taste that failed to bring back memories of Christmases and New Year's Eves past, here's the REAL Original CHEX Party Mix recipe, circa 1960.
Keep the truth alive.
The REAL Original CHEX Party Mix
1 stick (1/2 C) butter or margarine
1 1/4 teaspoons seasoned salt
4 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 1/3 cups Corn Chex
2 1/3 cups Rice Chex
2 1/3 cups Wheat Chex
1 cup small pretzels
1 cup salted mixed nuts
Heat oven to 250. Melt butter in 15x10x2 pan; remove pan from oven.
Stir in seasoned salt and worchestire sauce.
Gradually add cereal, pretzels, and nuts, stirring to coat evenly.
Bake 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
Spread on paper towels to soak up excess oil.
General Mills, who had already bought out the CHEX cereals franchise from Ralston Purina, pulled the ol' "If you can't beat 'em, buy 'em" and acquired Gardetto's as well, renaming "Snack'ens" as "Original Party Mix". Not content with owning a pair of former competitors, they contaminated the original CHEX Party Mix recipe gene pool by introducing ingredients that made it into a homemade version of, well, Gardetto's. Essentially, they're engaging in culinary revisionism, calling the adulterated recipe the "original."
Did they really think they could get away with it? In the 1950s and 1960s, there were no such things as "bite-size garlic-flavored bagel chips."
If your party theme is retro or nostalgic, or you've made "original" party mix only to be disappointed with a taste that failed to bring back memories of Christmases and New Year's Eves past, here's the REAL Original CHEX Party Mix recipe, circa 1960.
Keep the truth alive.
The REAL Original CHEX Party Mix
1 stick (1/2 C) butter or margarine
1 1/4 teaspoons seasoned salt
4 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 1/3 cups Corn Chex
2 1/3 cups Rice Chex
2 1/3 cups Wheat Chex
1 cup small pretzels
1 cup salted mixed nuts
Heat oven to 250. Melt butter in 15x10x2 pan; remove pan from oven.
Stir in seasoned salt and worchestire sauce.
Gradually add cereal, pretzels, and nuts, stirring to coat evenly.
Bake 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
Spread on paper towels to soak up excess oil.
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