{Recipe} Chesapeake Bay Snack Mix

I've received a few emails asking for the Chesapeake Bay snack mix recipe that was featured in the Crab Boil Party, so I want to share it with all of you. It was also served in a large galvanized bucket with a scoop for snacking at the party.  It might also be fun to place a smaller bucket on each table for snacking.

There are a variety of items that you could substitute or add within this recipe to adjust to your liking. I have made it with sesame sticks in place of pretzels and I've added goldfish crackers after the baking process.  My friend Ellen said that there's a cracker called crabbers that would be yummy in it.  We both looked for them but were unsuccessful in finding them so we left it as is.

Chesapeake Bay Snack Mix

Yield: 12 cups

Ingredients:
6 cups crisp corn, rice cereal, such as Crispix or Chex
3 cups thin pretzel sticks
3 cups oyster crackers
2 cups roasted unsalted peanuts
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons Old Bay Seasoning
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons hot-pepper sauce, such as Tabasco

Directions:
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. In a roasting pan, combine cereal, pretzels, crackers, and peanuts. In a small bowl, mix together melted butter, Worcestershire sauce, Old Bay, lemon juice, and hot-pepper sauce. Pour butter mixture over cereal mixture and stir until ingredients are completely coated. Bake 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Transfer mixture to two rimmed baking sheets to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Pool Party Cake

I love to share in celebrations and in making cakes, I feel I get to share in so many celebrations!

My friend and neighbor Kareena recently asked me to make a cake for her son Krish's pool party. She was kind enough to send me some pictures of her family and the cake that I made and I want to share them with you.

the party was at a local water park with a volcano theme so the cake was made to incorporate the pool and the volcano

Happy 4th Birthday Krish!

{Real Parties} Crab Boil

When I think of summer, one of the things that comes to mind is a crab boil.  Plus, I think it's a great no nonsense way to entertain. 

My friend and neighbor Ellen just celebrated her big 4-0 and asked me to help in planning her party and to make the cake.  When she said she wanted to have a crab boil I was thrilled and I knew exactly what I wanted to make and luckily Ellen was really open to the design so I opted to make the cake look like a bushel of crabs.

I ended up making the favors, favor tags, signage and the centerpieces.  Ellen came up with a great suggestion of putting out instructions on 'how to crack into a crab' for those who have never cracked into crabs before.  I think it was a brilliant idea and I love the way they turned out.

  'bushel of crabs' cake with crab sugar cookies

'how to crack into a crab' signs and sunflower centerpieces

Ellen found these wooden crab cutouts that we used to label the food with

Yummy!!

old bay snack mix favors for the adult guests

crab bean bags favors for the kids

everybody having a blast

a few of the Chase Ladies

Happy 40th Birthday Ellen!