Fa La La La La!

After surviving an all boys, party-like-rock-stars sleepover, at which the boys took the "sleep" out of "sleepover", we are now well-rested and back for more. They boys opened a Christmas gift (K'nex Coaster), and have been busy at work putting it together. They became excited when they saw just how looong the track is, so they have aborted mission on the standard construction and are stretching the track from the balcony to the downstairs and all over the place. From this roller coaster mania, we so far have one broken lamp that the husband can repair, I'm sure, for the SECOND TIME due to the boys knocking it over (The first time was right after we became engaged, it had been broken in my apartment since the boys knocked it over there. He bought the parts and even installed a little  one, two, three, brighter, no dimmer switch, to prove his manly "I'm going to take care of everything from here on out-ness" :) I am not upset over the lamp, but I am upset over the Christmas plate that the lamp knocked over. Nana got it for me for Christmas last year, and I really liked it :( I'm not mad, the boys were not being rough, they were being creative and just didn't do their engineering calculations properly ;)

So I am making party mix, and I AM NOT using the free packets of Chex Mix party mix seasoning that were FREE - TAKE ONE...If you took one, you are feeding your family carcinogens. You can make your OWN seasoning at home with a few simple ingredients, and avoid poisoning yourself, your family, and your friends. They shouldn't be ALLOWED to give that crap away, much less charge $$$ for it! So anyway, back to my GOOD FOR YOU Party Mix...I opted out of the entirely Gluten-Free version, because we want Cheerios and Pretzels in our Party. If I take any to the Holiday Party tonight, many of my friends may not eat it, but that's just more for me to take home! My MIL makes an excellent home-made Party Mix, that my husband hides from us and will take a limb off if he catches any of US devouring it. She has yet to share her recipe with me. Nana is the one who pays attention to what everyone wants or loves, and makes sure they get it.

2 cups  Rice Chex
2 Cups Corn Chex
2 Cups Cheerios
1 Cup Peanuts
1 Cup Mini Pretzels broken into bits & pieces (I used Snyders)
^All of the Above: Put in a 9 x 13 casserole dish

Preheat oven to 250.

6 tablespoons of butter melted on the STOVE TOP(I use the microwave as little as possible because it messes with the molecules and who knows what that might do to a body!)
2 tablespoons of Worcestershire (I use Earth Fare Organic)
2 teaspoons of seasoning salt (I used Jane's Krazy Mixed-Up Salt Original)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
^All of the above stirred up really well together, then pour it over the crunchies in the baking dish, toss and turn it until all of your crunchies are coated. Bake for one hour, stir every 15 minutes. My first batch is halfway done, and I am already munching on it every time I open the oven to stir. If there is any left when the timer goes off, I will serve it to the family and report back.

Okay I came home to only scraps left in the one party mix pan I left, so I am assuming that either the husband or the cats loved it very much. Sam seeded FOUR pomegranates today for the Holiday Party (he took a shot at peeling potatoes for the potato soup, but we decided he wasn't quite ready for that yet when I caught him taking short-cuts and cutting off chunks of potato with the skin ;), and Jen took all of the seeds home with her, because it was the only thing I brought gluten free. She did give me her tangerines AND her hummus, so I suppose we are squared up. Besides, we held back on the pom seeds and left some at home....muahahahahaha! The kiddos had a lot of fun at the Holiday Party, we received some nice baked gifts from friends, and we made some cool ornament crafts. We had a book exchange there, and Josiah scored some Natural Disaster books that he is really excited about.

 

 My teen daughter and I find it difficult to bond over many things, but one thing we DO gel on is MUSIC. We had a blast singing along to the tunes on her Ipod for the drive to the Holiday Party and the drive back. DANGEROUS! SCANDALOUS! <Only she will get this one.....roflol!

The boys and I finally read our Winter Solstice books last night, and they seemed a little bored until the first mention of evil spirits, trolls, and witches. We had our huge laminated world map in the bed with us looking up the locations of the different Solstice stories. The boys want to stick the toothpicks in the orange and use the flashlight to simulate axial tilt......

I am reading The World According To Garp by John Irving right now, as I wait on my Book Club friends to catch up with me on Hotel New Hampshire. Since I out-read them on this one, I am also going to out-drink them at the next Book Club meeting. I know. I aspire to do grand things!