Cajun Pretzels

I have to admit I was inspired to start blogging after seeing Julie and Julia, but I'm not a food blogger, and I'll never pretend to be one. This post is mostly a recipe for me to remember how to make this zesty snack food that my friend, Lori gave out as part of her Christmas gift this year.

We "javelled"(as the Little Ballerina says) the gift bag of Cajun Pretzels in a matter of minutes. They're that tasty, have a nice kick, and are thoroughly addictive. They make a great gift all packaged and pretty, but I plan to make them for our next Poker Night. I think our guests will appreciate munching on these rather than the worms I served them last time. And, the heat will go great with a frosty Corona with lime...or two or four.

Cajun Pretzels

1/2 teaspoon dill weed

1 cup vegetable oil

1 Tablespoon ground red pepper*

1 Tablespoon Heinz 57 sauce

1 package Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix

2 lbs pretzels**

*I used only about 1 1/2 teaspoons of cayenne pepper and they were plenty spicy for our wimpy tastes.

** Any kind will work, but we really like the thicker pretzel sticks. Not the logs, though. 

  * The Heinz 57 Sauce is not pictured. I borrowed the tablespoon from Lori.

1. Whisk all of the ingredients except the pretzels in a bowl.

2. Pour mixture into large Ziploc bag. Add 1 lb. of pretzels and shake to coat.

3. Spread pretzels out onto a baking sheet no more than 2-3 deep. Do not dump the bag onto the tray because you need the extra liquid to remain in the bag to coat the next batch.

4. Repeat steps 2-3 using the remaining liquid in the Ziploc bag.

5. Bake at 250 degrees for about 1 hour. Stir after 30 minutes.

6. Let cool. Dump into a bowl and enjoy. Or store in an airtight container.

The War on Worms

There are worms in my kitchen! Tiny cream-colored worms. BSD said they are maggots. OMG, how did this happen??!?!

I hesitated to even post about this because...

1.  It is, er, rather embarrassing, not to mention disgusting. 
2. Many of my new shiny, cyber friends barely know me and this confession may wind up scaring them off. 
3. Only just recently did LiLa blog about the lack of dignity on Facebook (who, by the way, just got their very first book deal, and are giving away a free Kindle in celebration). 

But, since this is not Facebook, and in the interest of saving you from the same ill fate, I decided it was OK to post about worms in my kitchen.

My first task was to figure out who to blame. I started with the dog.

"I think they're coming from Ruby's butt," I informed BSD. "You know how she scoots on her ass all the time. Yes, it's definitely Ruby's fault."

"They're not coming from Ruby's butt," said BSD protectively.

The next one to get thrown under the bus was the hermit crab we inherited from our babysitter who went off to college this fall.

"It must be Sammy then," I tried next. "You let him out of the cage yesterday for the first time since August, and he dropped the worms as he crawled around."

"Kim, he's a CRAB! Crabs don't have worms."

"No, but dogs do. See, they are from Ruby! I knew it!"

"They are not from Ruby. We already went through this," he said again, shaking his head at me. I'll never get rid of that bitch!

"Then, it's got to be the apples. I just bought a big tote of apples. The apples must have worms," I declared. "Oh no! I just bragged to Anne and Linda about the great deal I got on all these apples, and now they're going to go out and buy their own apples, and they'll wind up with worms in their kitchen too! They'll never forgive me!"

"That's it. The worms crawled out of the apples. That makes sense," BSD finally agreed, his precious pets off the hook.

"hmmm...let me check Google. I thought apple worms were green." I did a quick search and discovered they were not from the apples, and they were not maggots. Thank God!

No, they were moth worms that eat off grains and nuts.

NUTS?!? We just served peanuts on Saturday night for Poker Night. OMG! Our guests were munching on worms! But, the can was vacuum sealed with a tin pull top so that couldn't be. Where were they coming from?

I went into my pantry and pulled every last item out until I finally found my scapegoat...

Yep, an old expired box of Grape Nuts shoved way in the back of the cabinet. That gigundous picture of wheat must have had them pee'ing their pants in anticipation.

So, my friends, let this be a lesson to you all. Do NOT eat Grape Nuts. They will give you worms.

I spent the rest of my morning tossing any other box, jar or can of food that appeared suspect. When I was done, I had a splitting headache and this is all that survived the holocaust.

I'm still not sure what caused the headache. It was either the gallon of Clorox I inhaled or that gallon of Firefly that was full when I started. Either way, I'm up from my blackout nap now.

So...would anyone like to come over for dinner tonight? We're having chocolate covered Spam.

What? You don't like chocolate? You're in luck. We have vanilla too. See you at 10.