The Most Addictive Snack Mix - Party Mix Recipe: "Texas Trash"

My neighbor gave me a pound of this for Christmas and I couldn't stop eating it and begged for the recipe. It's from Cooks.com with a few tweaks (like using only one stick of butter, not two), and makes 3 one-pound bags of awesome.

Spicy Snack Mix Called "Texas Trash"

2 c. Rice Chex
2 c. Corn Chex
2 c. Wheat Chex
2 c. Cheerios
2 c. Snyders Lattice Pretzels
1 c. Cheezits
1 lb. Mixed Nuts
2 c. Fritos corn chips
2 c. pecan halves
1 stick butter or margarine
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1 Tbsp. seasoning salt (or to taste)
4 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce (or to taste)
cayenne pepper, to your desired heat level (1 level teaspoon gives it medium heat)

Mix all cereal, nuts and chips in a large foil pan. Melt butter in a small saucepan and add seasonings, except use only half the salt (you can put in more later, to taste).

Pour seasoning mixture over the dry mixture a little at a time and stir in between, until all of the dry mixture is coated fairly evenly. Taste and adjust salt.

Put pan in a 250°F oven stirring every 15 minutes for 2 hours. Spread entire pan over 6-9 paper towels and if desired sprinkle more cayenne pepper to your personal heat level (a little goes a long way) and let cool completely. Store in ziplock bags.

A Three-Pound Rump Roast: Recipe

Cook's Illustrated called its recipe The Best Recipe and I decided for my first rump roast -- organic beef -- to give it a chance to impress me. I impressed myself! Tasty! My meat thermometer came from an estate sale.

1. Heat oven to 250 degrees. No, that is not a typo. Sprinkle roast with salt and ground black pepper as you like. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large, heavy pot or pan. Add the roast and sear until it's brown on every side, about 4 minutes per side.

2. Place roast in pan and roast uncovered 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the meat's internal temperature is 110 degrees.

3. Increase the oven temperature to 500 degrees and roast 15 minutes longer, until internal temperature reaches 130 degrees. (Because I like beef rare, I roasted only 10 minutes at 500 degrees.)

4. Remove from the baking pan and let the roast stand 20 minutes before carving it.

Recipe: Black Bean/White Bean Stew with Shredded Pork

Open three cans, shred one fist-sized hunk of cooked pork shoulder or loin, and dinner is ready. Meat goes in at the end. Serves 4.

1 can white beans, such as navy beans
1 can black beans
1 can tomatoes
1 can water
1/2 pound cooked pork
1 teaspoon cayenne (red) pepper
1 teaspoon salt

Open the cans; pour tomatoes with their juice into a pot or into a 2-quart or 3-quart slow cooker. Open, drain and rinse the white beans and the black beans; place in the pot with tomatoes and water. Stir in salt and pepper. Cook gently and allow to simmer for 20 minutes or more on stovetop or all day on low in slow cooker. Add chopped pieces of cooked pork, heat through, and serve. Good with rice.

Pasta with Caper Sauce

No-cook, tangy sauce I made in a Pyrex cup. Good for when there's nothing but capers and mustard in the fridge. Serves 4 to 6.

Pasta with Caper Sauce

1/4 cup basil pesto or 1 cup packed fresh basil
1 to 2 garlic cloves
3 tablespoons capers
3 tablespoons prepared mustard
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup olive oil
1 pound pasta

Start the pasta.

Make all the ingredients except the olive oil into a paste however you can. Stir in the olive oil until it's all incorporated. Cook and drain the pasta. Pour the sauce over it and serve.