Cracker Mix, Wishbone and Tree

I got the recipe for this Cracker Mix from a co-worker, Lynn. Mostly it gets made around Christmastime, but Greg suggested that it should be made much more often. It is super yummy and not at all hard to make. You'll be amazed at how quickly a HUGE bowl will disappear!

Cracker Mix:

Crackers - Any will work - oyster crackers, Cheez-its, triscuits, wheat thins, small pretzels, etc. I forgot pretzels in this batch, but usually they are included. My favorite are the oyster crackers, but I even like the Cheez-its, which I won't eat out of this mix. I buy mostly generic (Kroger brand) crackers. I break the triscuits in half.

Break out your calculator and add up the ounces for all your crackers. For every 16oz. of crackers/pretzels, mix the following:

3/4 cup oil (I use Canola)

1/3 pkg Ranch dressing mix (the powder stuff in an envelope)

1/2 tsp dill weed

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp lemon pepper

Mix the crackers in a large bowl. Pour the oil mixture over the crackers and toss to coat. Layer the crackers on cookie sheets. Bake at 200 for 1 hour, stirring (aka slightly moving around on the cookie sheet, trying not to knock any off onto the bottom of the oven) every 15 minutes. Cool and store in an airtight container or ziploc bags. Cook in batches if you can't get it all on the cookie sheets in one batch.

Can someone tell me who wins when this is what the wishbone looks like after the pull? Claire and Gavin where on one side. Garret and I were on the other. We all pulled and the top went flying!

This cool aluminum tree was my Grandma and Grandpa Armstrong's. The base too. Every year I put it up, usually with red lights on it, which make it glow reflectively. This year, with the new house, I had to come up with new homes for all of our Christmas decorations. Mr. Aluminum Tree fit just perfectly on top of the buffet that I scored at the Salvation Army for $50 (on half off furniture day! WOOOO HOOOO!!!!)

For the first 5 years of the kids' lives, I took their picture and turned it into our Christmas card. On the 6th year I got lazy (and cheap) and just did the "e-card on Facebook" thing. Every year I take the pictures, cut them down and put their faces into an ornament frame. Kohl's has very accommodatingly sold triple packs of ornament frames every year. Maybe not just for me, but none the less, I appreciate the gesture and respond by buying a set of frames. Until this year the frames have been put on our regular tree with all the other ornaments. I've always been bummed by the way the frames blend in with everything else when the tree is fully loaded (and my tree gets VERY loaded!). This year I set the frames aside, not having a specific plan for where they would go, but knowing that I wanted them in a more special place than on the tree with all the other ornaments. By now I'm sure you've put 2 & 2 together, as well as noticed the picture, and realized that I found a new perfect home for all my ornament frames! My awesome aluminum tree now proudly displays all 21 (and counting) of the kids pictures. Greg and I shared many smiles as we looked at all the old pictures while I hung them on the tree. That reminds me...better get to working on a picture for this year. And I better make sure Kohl's didn't sell my frame set to anyone else yet!

Here's the awesome buffet that I got at the Salvation Army for $50! I've done nothing to it other than clean it up with some Murphy's and wipe it down with Lemon Oil. It's a beauty and fits perfectly into my dining room! There was an older mirror left behind in this house when we bought it. It has flowers etched into the sides and is sorta cool in a vintagy kind of way. I knew I wanted to keep it in the house, but never found the perfect home for it until I got this buffet. It hangs above the buffet now and they look great together!