For most of my childhood, my dad had a business partner who was famous for her holiday goodies. Mid-December, she's arrive at the door with a bag bursting with sugar cookies, homemade caramels and a huge zip-top bag bursting with her take on the classic Chex Party Mix. We looked forward to that Chex Mix for months before it arrived and my mom would ration it out, making sure it lasted at least a week.

Part of the appeal of Eleanor's Chex Mix was that she included Cheerios and let it toast until everything was a uniform nutty brown. It's been years since I've had it, but I can still conjure up the flavor and crunch. If you choose to give your friends and family some Chex Mix for the holidays, you can package it up in plastic bags like Eleanor always did, or you could add a festive accent with some holiday-themed tins. My favorite Chex Mix recipe, which is based on the one we used to receive, is after the jump.



3 cups square rice cereal
3 cups square corn cereal
3 cups square wheat cereal
2 cups Cheerios
1 cup pretzels (mini-twists, please)
2 cups peanuts
10 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 Tablespoons seasoning salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder

Preheat your oven to 250 degrees. In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter together with the Worcestershire sauce, seasoning salt and garlic powder. Once the butter is melted, pour slowly over the cereal mixture, tossing with a wooden spoon as you pour. Divide the cereal mixture between two rimmed cookie sheets, so that it's spread in a single layer.

Bake for 1 hour at 250 degrees, stirring the cereal mixture and rotating the pans from top rack to bottom so that they get equal toasting. When the hour has elapsed, drain on newspaper until cool.