As suggested by my Sister Kelly

One of my loyal readers and sister, Kelly suggested that I goggle the snack on the next level up from Puppy Chow. It references what might be on the floor of the movie theater that you attend. Not to be confused with ABC gum or recycling in anyway from the floor of the movie theater.... this stuff has to be first class. Its what people pay big bucks to eat at such theater. So.. try this at home and not at the theater..HA HA!

The Movie Theater Floor Snack

• 4 cups popped popcorn
• 1/2 (10.5 ounce) bag corn chips (such as Fritos®)
• 1/2 (14 ounce) package candy corn
• 1 (10 ounce) can mixed nuts
• 1 cup jelly beans or other small candies, or as desired
• 1 (12 ounce) package white chocolate chips

Directions

1. Mix popcorn, corn chips, candy corn, mixed nuts, and jelly beans together in a large bowl.
2. In a microwave-safe glass bowl, melt the white chocolate chips on Low setting until barely melted, 1 or 2 minutes. Stir until smooth. Pour the white chocolate over the popcorn mixture, and stir to coat. Allow to cool, and break apart into small pieces. 

 Enjoy that game!  or Movie.. or whatever!  : ) Pat
 

Where Have I been? Puppy Chow mix?

Recently I have enjoyed the pre made party mix blends as I watch a little football. There are fewer calories than chips in these mixes. The original mix is pretty good I also enjoy the bold variety and lately I have found the cheese ones.

In the last batch I bought at the store the chex mix was in a smaller bag and was a little heavier than the normal big batch.

Tonight I opened them. OMG.. its peanut butter cups flavor combination all over in a chex mix. The label called them Muddy Buddies.

Reading the label, the Chex folks, whom are no longer Ralston Purina, are now part of General Mills  could not use the old fashion name for these sweet snack wonders. They admit that many people were making them at home and calling them "Puppy Chow".

With the chocolate in them they are not appropriate for dogs to eat. So if the world is making this snack where could you find the recipe for this wonder? 

 The ignominious web provides a recipe for Puppy Chow that only people should eat. Here is the one version that I found:

CHEX MIX PUPPY CHOW

Printed from COOKS.COM

---

9 cup Chex
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup butter
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Put cereal in large bowl. Melt chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.Pour over Chex cereal, put into a large plastic bag with powdered sugar and shake well to coat.
Spread mixture evenly on wax paper and allow to cool.

This might be kind of fun to try.. The homemade version looks pretty wonderful. It can bring some protein (from the peanut butter) into the world of sweet snacks!  You can make them yourself... or just go find them on the grocery shelves as Muddy Budies..

: ) Pat

Live your Life

My next door neighbor passed away this week.
Its really a shock since he was only 6 years older than we are.

He had been working on some changes in his house with a contractor.
In recent months we had taken on a project to restore some dresser drawers.
He had even planted an apricot tree in front hoping that I would get some benefit out of a pollinator close by. He was one of those guys that did all of his traveling with the Army. His wife found a traveling friend and had been on several cruises and trips.


I always wondered why older people avidly follow the obits.
They always laugh and say they are checking to make sure that their names are not there.
Really they are checking to see if their lives are not there.
When you outlive the life of your kids its pretty sad.

He was a junior high vice principal and an elementary school principal. I think that management in schools takes its toll. You have to be everything to everyone at all times.

There was no mention of an illness in our sporadic conversations.
The family is a pretty private one. I only know of his passing through my daughter who is connected in facebook with his son.

The neighbor across the street noticed that an ambulance had arrived at his house early last week and left with him in it.

When he was younger he was given the nickname of pescau. This means fish in Spanish. He always had a fishing boat in his front yard. Its been a long time since he went fishing.

I am hoping that he has found it again in heaven.

: ) Pat

Within One Generation.. Social Mobility

Born 86 years ago. Today! Happy Birthday Ken Brown!

Life was certainly different from ours in a number of ways.

His father was a agriculture consultant for rich people's "hobby farms" he was always on the move and never really appreciated a family. The family became itinerant when times got tough. Surviving the depression was not easy for them. My father claims that that he he had attended more high schools than the four years of high school could accommodate. His mother was a magazine saleswoman for a garden magazine that was sold through local garden clubs. When the garden clubs had reached saturation for subscriptions his mother and family had to move on. They traveled from one end of the California gold country to the other. He remembers Sonora, and Mariposa. His last high school years were in Escondido where he worked for a dairy milking cows for his keep.

He signed up out of high school to go to war for our country in the Pacific theater on the USS Montpelier, a light cruiser. He was barely old enough.

In retrospect this decision to use the GI Bill, which was what was provided for his service and to help the infrastructure of the country after war and allowed him to go the college was the single most important economic decision that he took to move out of poverty to the middle class. Many of his ship mates did not do this. His service gave him tuition and a means of support to go to college and become a teacher. He graduated from Western State College, in Gunnison, Colorado. He also had attended Ft, Lewis college in Durango. The navy sent him to school at Iowa State to learn what he needed to know about becoming an electrician on the ship. Education was important to him and his kids.

He has always been fascinated by technology and science. He is an avid photographer. He loves taking photos of people and scenic shots with people in them. It would be pretty hard to do this without the means.

Ken Brown, member of the "greatest generation" helped organize teachers to become a viable profession rather then a "second job" for the family that it was in the 50's. In the 60's teachers were on the forefront of collective bargaining. It allowed teaching to move into the middle class. Ken Brown was a leader in that movement. Again social mobility.

Its a little ironic that we both Ken Brown and his kids have "hobby farms" on our suburban lots. We are now the owners rather than the "help."

: ) Pat

The Christmas Party 2011 Part 3

NO FOG

The Christmas Day was bight and sunny. That was a god send because sometimes our climate is burdened with Tulley fog. It blankets the ground and causes significant delays in getting students to school and travelers to and from the events they plan.  So no ground fog.

Lindsay and I arranged for rooms at the inn.. the Holiday Inn express for the party  house guests.  I did not want them to come and have to stay at some slease ball spot in Los Banos because the fog had become too dense. The Holiday Inn Express had changed locations since the last time I was in that part of the city. I thought I knew where it was but no.. it had moved further south and built a new hotel right next to the new Hampton. Using Hotwire, and choosing three stars instead of names we saved 30 dollars a room for stays in the new hotel. The family guests were pleased with the accommodations. A couple of them raved about the new pancake machine. They were happy with the service oriented people that were working there especially the breakfast manager with whom they chatted up.

Clean up Help and Post Party

The girls and their husband and friends dropped back home the next morning and we all went out to the Big Bear restaurant to have breakfast, since we didn't have connections with the hotel. They all came home and gave us an hour of clean up time. When multiplied by 5 workers it is amazing what can be accomplished.

Interest Groups An Evaluation

The interest groups beside the lovely lemon throw down were a success too. There were some great audio mixes that were shared by the participants. Dad and I brought photos to share and Cammie brought some photo cards to share for the photography trade out. The cosmetic share was a little more directed to people that they donors thought could sue the product rather than a pool for all of those into it to select what they want.

Kelly led a great stocking stuffer event. All those involved, which I think numbered 7 or eight brought small gift items that were wrapped. All those that wanted to be a part and brought could select at their turn an item from the stocking stuffer pile. The target was to make each item a low cost item. I characterized it as secret santa on steroids. There was a lot of merriment that occurred out of this event. The cookie interest group had a nice assortment of cookies to share. I think that next year the members (or at least I will) remember to bring some containers to take home the collection. I made some nutty jam prints. There were some people that combined the cookie group with their lovely lemon throw down entries. This made for some nice lemon cookies in the mix. The spritz were always a crowd pleaser too if for no other reason then the sentimental value of remembering them as a Christmas signature cookie within our family.

Some people remembered the pets in our families and added to the stockings the pet members. Some people brought take home gifts for the pet members.

There were a few interest groups that sort of died this year. While great in idea and could be revived for next year. People didn't make ity bitties in droves. An ity bitty was defined as a home made item that was less than 3 inches square. I think that there is great potential in this group but the home made portion fell apart as some members were burdened with other areas and focused on what they could do.

The bring a book group did not fall into organized shape. Some people brought books and some people took books so I guess in the long run this one was a success. I thought that there might some moderation for this group allowing people to share what they liked about a certain book they brought. This might be done through social media next year if there is interest.  It might morph into a kindle group where people could line up after the review for books to be loaned through this device. There are lots of direction that this one could go.

Summary 

The original thought was that these interest groups would move the group from a focus of gift giving on Christmas to taping our collective strengths and common interests which provide a gift of share to all its members. I think that we were highly successful in fulfilling this mission this year.  This group is taking off in wild directions, We may even have a moleskine magic group next year. Bring and share your moleskine with others that have them too!  Just a thought.

: ) Pat

Christmas Day Party 2011 Part 2 Food at the Party!

 Food Arrives to the 12 foot Kitchen Island

As the guests arrived we had a magnificent array of food on the island. The Food Arrives to the 12 foot Island We had appetizers that included marinated asparagus, my personal specialty, French cheeses, including a baked brie, and a firm white cheeze, sweet pickled peppers (say that 5 times quickly), rolled pretzels dipped in white peppermint, a new recipe that I downloaded,refrigerated cauliflower pickles, black olives, several kinds of crackers and salmon dip, and samosas from Reza's mom. I know I have forgotten a few members on the appetizer spread so please forgive me. As always you could pretty much live off the first course. This is a family that loves to cook and bring so we celebrate that too on this day! The dinner menu included corned beef and cabbage, white sauce enchiladas, mac and cheese with tomatoes, and ham by the master ham maker, Robert. Kelly had a couple of requests for her red oriented jello, and mom brought the green salad. Mikie brought a delightful fruit salad and someone brought some beautiful roasted purple potatoes and broccoli. A wonderful chicken and rice casserole showed up on the counter as well as many special Iranian dishes. We had quite a spread. If you couldn't find some that you could eat on that spread, then you just were not into eating that day.

We all found spaces at the tables and we had great conversations. Suzy had a chance to get out her little Christmas dessert plates and people had a chance to visit the food table and the people next to them for a nice period of time.

The Lovely Lemon Throw Down Begins

The cry went out for the lemon throw down competition to begin. The table was cleared and Linzi summoned the four neighbor judges. Each entry was given a number and four portions each of the eight entries were lined up on the table. There was super lemon cake, and lemon ginger cookie sandwiches. There also was lemon bars, and lemon bunt cakes. We had lemon cupcakes with penuche frosting and lemon cornmeal cookies. Someone brought lemon rosemary cookies and lemon marsh mellow whipped cream wedges. The judges had some tough decisions. We watched them as they poured over the entries. They seemed to delight in their task... but it was difficult. One judge asked if the batters had to be homemade. Comments were made on the judging cards and the judges were able and happy to scoop up their portions and take them with them back to their Christmas celebrations next door.
 A bit of panic spread among the contestants. Some of them had forgotten the number that was assigned to their masterpieces. A quick run down with the judges provided content to the numbers that they were judging,

Wanda Brown Wins!

A The winner of the contest was my mom. She won with her lemon bar recipe that used Meyer's lemons and was both delicate and textural in its lemon interpretation. Some people were a little disappointed because they were sure that theirs would win. In the end we all won as there was plenty of lemon dessert for Christmas dinner. Some were made in a team effort. Some were a solo concept piece. All of the contestants which represented all of the major families,  had a new conversational piece. How was yours made? Compliments were handed out to people that do not usually do any baking in their family but rose to the occasion with an entry.
Kelly felt her entry was vindicated even though it didn't win, because Suzy spent 10 minutes attacking her cake with a spoon and loving every bite. Overall the contest was a great successs!

At the end of the contest there was rumblings about what the contest would be next year. Would it be chocolate or maybe coconut? Or will it change to a general category like side dishes? Some people in our family have nut allergies so that should be figured into planning next year. I really think that there is a next year with this idea.

Love and Peace to your all! : ) Pat

Christmas Party December 25th 2011 Part One

Chair and Table Placement for the Event

My sister thinks that this tale should be told in about three entries. Optimistically I start with the first.
We remodeled our home a few years ago. We added a new kitchen and this allow for a breakout area with an island between the dinning room area and the kitchen. For most of the year this area is under used. The island itself has a drop down shelf that allows for two chairs to set and eat facing each other. A third chair may be added in the pass through area so that a third person could sit with us and have dinner. Originally it was thought that it would serve as a spot that Sue could sit and help prep veggies for dinner and not have to stand up through the process. It is covered as is all the kitchen counter surfaces with porcelain tile. Hot plates may be set anywhere on the counter with heat immunity.

Site Prep

The first order of business besides planning this event was to clear off the island and put the items that were piled on the island to there natural.
Suzy my wife started out by decorating the dining room table from one end to the other with red plaid table cloths and candles run by tiny batteries. Our new kitten, Oliver, thought that was great fun to rumple up the table cloth and skid from one end to the other, leaving in his wake a wave of place cards and silverware!.
We also started counting the number of spots that would be occupied by the family. The count turned to 15.

Lindsay, the youngest daughter, suggested that we should work to the idea that everyone should have a seat at the table. Last year, she and her husband ate their Christmas dinner on the kitchen couch because there were not enough spots at the table for them. So to remedy that, I bought in the long table that was being used for canning in the summer. It had spent the summer and the fall getting dirty in the backyard. I scrubbed and cleaned off all of the black mold that had accumulated and a dust and dirt that had blown on to the table.

Sue had anticipated using the table so a matching plaid tablecloth was available for its use. We resolved that issue as to whether the table would be positioned at the T formation of parallel. The T formation with complete sides was agreed upon and decorated accordingly. We needed to use the head spot on the table to accommodate our numbers but we did not need them parallel as it would lead to difficulty in accessing the island as a buffet surface.

Invitations were sent to each family. I had some watercolor based cards that I could quickly make a Christmas tree with my watercolors. We figured the time schedule, knowing that it would be adapted for the company that was to come. Our listed target time was 11:30 on Christmas day.  Breakfast materials and brunchy stuff would be out there for those arriving early. At noon we were to have enough of the starters so that people could nosh until the main courses could be heated and ready to hit the table at 1-1:30. Then we would start the special interest groups. As it worked out we were only a half an hour behind schedule. Good work family. Most of the participants had to travel 2 hours or more to get to our house.

Our family has a unique gathering activity post dinner. In the past we have tried a number of things. The family is pretty artistic and small craft projects have often been utilized. We have made Santa beards one Christmas. We have made tiny acrylic painting to set on tiny easels in another year. We have played games that were designed by some very creative game masters.

The Lovely Lemon Throw Down

This year we added a new wrinkle to the activities that interacted with the meal. After seeing some of the Bobby Flay throw downs on TV, I though that we should should see if we could put one together for all of the great cooks and bakers in our family.

In the TV throw downs, Bobby Flay goes out to a restaurant and challenges the cook to a contest to see if he could make an item as good or better than the one that the restaurant had built a reputation. Ours would have a different set of parameters. The group would be challenged if they decided to participate, in making one lemon dessert that would be judged against lemon desserts that other people would bring. The main idea was that it had to be a lemon dessert and it had to be made by the participant.

I put up a 50 dollar gift certificate to a fancy cooking store in the Bay Area as the winner's prize.
This year there was great participation. There were 8 diverse entries into this contest. A lot of buzz was generated in the family about "secret" entries. Some people were not keen about sharing their plans until the day of the contest, after the dinner was completed. I had asked one of the neighbors to come over and judge the contest. Lindsay thought that it would be great to have a few more than one judge. She knocked on the other neighbor's house and rounded up three more people to judge the contest. There were a total of 4 judges for this contest.

The judges were asked to put in order the top three entries. Three of the judges left copious notes as to what they were tasting and what they liked.

A winner was determined by the ranking of the top three. The winner did not win by unanimous decision but the winner was easily determined by the relative strength of the rankings. To find out who won..  check in with part two. 


   : ) Pat