When the weather starts to get cool outside, the leaves begin to fall, and you wake up and your car winds are frosted, you know it is autumn turning into winter and you are already sick of it. I am not a big fan of fall and cold weather. If it were up to me I would have it 80 degrees year round and have it snow only on Christmas Eve and Christmas. But, these decisions are not up to me, so I must suck it up and enjoy it. There are a few things that I like about cold weather. For example, I like my birthday in November, Christmas in December, and wearing hoodies and sweatshirts. Though, I am leaving out one of the most important things about wintertime: food. My two favorite winter foods are pazelles and party mix.
Pazelles are a type of cookie my mom always makes during Christmas time. She usually makes them and gives them to the church for their annual cookie walk. Sometimes, my mom and I leave a few out and eat them ourselves. They are flat cookies that my mom makes in a something that looks like a waffle maker, but it is specifically for pazelles. I am not exactly sure what they are but my mom usually puts either powder sugar or cinnamon on top of the cookies. They are a wonderful treat that reminds me of the holiday season and I am always excited whenever I walk into the house and smell the powder sugar in the kitchen.
Ever since I can remember, in the fall and winter I eat party mix. Party mix is a lot like chex mix. You have the different chex crisps, cheerios, pretzels, and anything else you want to put in. The seasonings are a certain sauce, onion salt, garlic salt, and seasoning. After you put the right about of ingredients in, you then put it in the oven and bake it for about an hour. It is a delicious blend of goodness that I cannot even describe because you would just have to try it for yourself to understand. There is only one major downfall to the delicious mix, your breathe reeks after eating any of it. But, I have learned to overcome that and I just tend to brush my teeth more often to hide the awful after-taste it leaves in my mouth.
It is not just my mother and I that make party mix, my grandmother does too. I do not think that it is a recipe that has been handed down for generations, considering the recipe is on just about any chex crispy cereal box, but nevertheless we have all made it for as long as I can remember. My grandmother’s party mix tastes different than the one my mom and I make at our house, though it still tastes great. I am pretty sure the difference is just in some of the type of seasoning we use.
As far as I am concerned, I think party mix is one of the best food creations ever, though my father would highly disagree. My mom and I always make a batch when he is not home, though he can still smell it even after it is out of the oven and is not pleased with our snack. I am stumped as to why he does not like it, I think he does not like the smell of it and if that is the case I think he is crazy because to me it smells amazing. But, it is his loss, not mine. On the plus side, that leaves more for my mom and me to eat. If my mom and I were to make it on a Sunday, I can almost guarantee that the batch would be gone by the next Sunday. It is just that good that I can hardly stay away from it! I went home over the weekend and told my mom that in the next couple of weeks we are going to have to make a batch because it is getting cold outside and party mix is the perfect solution to the cool weather.
Pazelles and party mix are the smells that fill my house during the holiday season. Party mix is by far my favorite snack in the winter time and I am not sure why I only crave it during the cooler months, but I do and I do not plan on changing that now. I can hardly wait until we make the first batch of the season, it sounds so good right now I would like to go home and make some if I could! The holidays are a time for tradition everywhere and in my household that means pazelles and party mix baking in the kitchen.
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