Recipe: Mom's Cracker Snack

 
 Although it's been five years since we lost my mom, I have not been able to bring myself to make very many of her recipes. Mom had several "signature" recipes which she made quite frequently and the thought of making them has just been too painful. If you've lost someone important to you, you'll know what I mean -- it's amazing how scents and tastes can take you back to a certain place and time, accentuating the fact that your loved one is gone.

I recently organized a lot of Mom's recipes, incorporating them into my binder system. Now I frequently run across her favorites while trying to figure out what to make for dinner. I hoped that mixing her recipes into my system would eventually give me the courage to try some of them.

Finally, it worked. This weekend when I needed to take an appetizer to a party, I thought of Mom's "Cracker Snack" recipe which she used to make each year at Christmas. So I decided to be brave and give it a try. And to my surprise, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Instead of the searing pain I had feared, making this recipe brought back good memories of Christmas at my parents' house, with a big fire in the fireplace and silver bowls of this addictive snack all around the family room. Mom always put a ladle in the bowls for scooping, which never slowed us down much. Especially not my dad, who loved this snack and always had a handful of it wrapped up in a Christmas napkin. If you make it, I think you'll see why.

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Cracker Snack

1 pkg pretzels -- I used holiday-shaped pretzels

1 pkg Ritz Bitz -- our store was out, so I substituted mini Club crackers

1 pkg Wheat Thins -- I used reduced fat

Mix together:

1 cup oil

1 pkg (dry) Hidden Valley Ranch Salad Dressing

2 t dill weed

2 t lemon pepper

Pour over crackers. Cook 3 minutes in microwave. Stir, then cook 2 more minutes.

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You will need a big bowl for mixing. My mom used this big yellow Tupperware bowl and she made sure I had one, too. I don't use it very often but it comes in very handy for recipes like this.

This is the liquid, ready to pour over the crackers. If you love dill, you'll love this recipe.

 Pour it over the crackers and stir. Since this bowl is way too big for the microwave, I transferred the crackers to a smaller glass bowl for microwaving, then put them back into the yellow bowl for mixing.

 

When the cracker mix comes out of the microwave, it will be warm and the crackers will be slightly damp with oil. I spread it out on cookie sheets to cool and dry before putting it into plastic bags.

 

And just like in years past, this cracker snack didn't last long at our house. It was just as good as I remembered. Thanks, Mom. :)