Mighty Fine Fare Found From Warren’s Festive Holiday Chefs
The post-Christmas dishes of candies, snacks and goodies have not yet gone away from my Pastime and memories of Warren.
One, individual snack concoction I truly loved and could eat by the handful at any time of the day or night was “Chex Mix” made by Wickie Morgan, Mrs. George C. “Sonny” Morgan, AKA, the loving mom of Cliff, Mike, and Charlie Morgan all part of Myrtle Street neighborhood fame.
By Maylon Rice
Saline River Chronicle Feature Contributor
Miss Wickie, as I always called her, was indeed a well-educated, well read, and vibrant woman of barely five feet, two inches. But she was a dynamo in the community and also in her well-appointed kitchen.
She made a scrumptious “Chex Mix.” My first sample came from some delivered by Cliff, who was home over the holidays from Hendrix College, where the Morgan’s met and my forever friend/mentor Robert L. “Bob” Newton, were all graduates.
The snack was delivered in some sort of holiday themed, round metal tin, lined in brown cooking parchment paper.
The delightful snack was delivered after the Christmas holiday but during that time before New Year bowl games commenced.
I remember the prized tin was placed upon his executive desk in the editor’s office, which was always piled high with newspapers from across Arkansas, books, almanacs, and other periodicals.
Asked if I wanted to “sample some of the world’s best Chex Mix?’ Why yes. I said.
I had seen some of this varied concoction before at parties and gatherings, but this was entirely different in texture, smells and was to be an ethereal experience for me.
Wow!
Wow!
Was it good?
You betcha!
I remember, Bob Newton made me a quick twist cone out of a page of the day’s previous issue of the Arkansas Gazette. He aptly folded the page in-half, then made a twist of the bottom of the page, flaring out the top edges to form a cone of newspaper.
He poured in a hand-full, and maybe just a tad more into the newspaper cone and then teased me.
“Go easy on this, it is fine, fine stuff,” Newton said.
And he was absolutely right.
Later, that winter, I was riding from Warren to Hamburg for a basketball game with the Morgans. It was on a school night as Dennis Helms’ squad in 1970-71 was much in the thick of the 8AA District title chase and hot after the League Leading Lions from Ashley County.
I mustered up enough courage to meekly compliment Miss Wickie on the delicious mixture of her Chex Mix.
“Would you like some?” she asked rather coyly.
“Yes Ma’am!” was my immediate and enthusiastic reply.
“It will be a while before I’ll make any more, but I’ll add you to the list,” she said.
In less than a month, I got a similar tin …. And it sure was good.
So here is the recipe.
It is more than ingredients, there is a little bit of extra work to make the most delicious, savory, tasty flavored Chex Mix ever.
Be sure and read the directions through several times before embarking on mixing up this crunchy delight.
Wickie Morgan’s
Chex Mix Delight
Instructions: Rather than stirring the mixture in a single roasting pan or pot, use 3 of those disposable roaster pans (usually made of study tin foil).
Instead of stirring the mixture every 30 minutes while it bakes in the oven, bake in 2 of the 3 roaster pans. Every 30 minutes use the 3rd roaster pan to pour back and forth to each baking roaster’s contents (this seems to not crumble the ingredients as much as stirring and stirring to keep the ingredients from burning or overcooking).
Ingredients:
4 Tablespoons of Worcestershire
3 sticks of Parkay
2 Tablespoons of season all
2 Tablespoons of garlic salt
1 Teaspoon of Cayenne (red) pepper
60 ounces of pecan halves*
(*optional you can substitute some of the pecans with raw peanuts)
15-ounce bag of Rold Gold thin pretzel sticks
12.8-ounce box of Rice Chex
(*optional 2 cups of Cheerios AFTER the 1st 30 minutes of baking)
Steps:
Melt 3 sticks of Parkay (1 and ½ sticks per roasting pan)
Add: 2 Tablespoons of Season all (1 Tablespoon per roaster)
2 Tablespoons of garlic salt (1 Tablespoon per roaster)
4 Tablespoons of Worcestershire (2 Tablespoons per roaster)
1 Teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper (1/2 teaspoon per roaster)
Add the pecans on the bottom of the roaster, because they will not soak up the parkay as will the other ingredients.
Add the 15-ounce bag of Pretzel sticks (half in each roasting pan)
Add the 12.8-ounce box of Rice Chex (half in each roasting pan )
*Some may add in Corn Chex or Wheat Chex or a third of a box of each to flavor up the mixture.
Set the oven at 250 degrees for 2 hours – pouring back and forth from one pan to another every 30 minutes. Cook both roasting pans side by side if the oven permits.
After the first 30 minutes of baking either stir or pour the ingredients back and forth to the empty pan and repeat this process until the 2 hours is up.
No doubt following these directions will make delicious, crunchy Chex Mix.
Thanks to Stephanie Woodard Morgan of Belton, Missouri, one of the daughters in law of Miss Wickie for this recipe. It is also her photograph that accompanies this Pastime article.
As with many of these Pastime recipes of my youth, my mouth waters for this delight.
However, my high blood pressure prohibits me from too much salt and salty snacks. So, I’ll sadly pass on partaking this winter. Hoping for better health outcomes to allow this pleasure again soon.
But it is Pastime to remember and savor – every holiday season.