Wednesday, December 29, 2010

A Bowl Game Snack Riddle

What's black and white and purple all over?

It's a snack that's perfect for K-State's appearance in the Pinstripe Bowl.

Eat 'em up! Eat 'em up! K-S-U!


We won't be making the trip to this bowl. We did drive down to Dallas for K-State's two different appearances in the Cotton Bowl. But this time, Jill and Eric, and my sister, Darci, will have to do the cheering for the rest of us. They'll be the only ones from our family making the trip to New York City and watching in person as the K-State Wildcats take on Syracuse in the Pinstripe Bowl game on Thursday.

They may wish they had a few of these snacks tucked in their pockets, since it still looks like negotiating New York City airports and streets may be a challenging as breaking through the K-State offensive line.

But that doesn't mean we won't cheer on our 'Cats from afar. If you're looking for a couple of snacks to offer your K-State football fans at a bowl watch party on Thursday, here are a couple of ideas.

I made them for Brent's graduation party earlier this month. But they would be perfect finger foods for bowl viewing, too. (I didn't realize how perfect until I looked at the photo and realized the Hugs stripes look like pinstripes!)

I realize a few misguided people in this world don't cheer for the K-State Wildcats. You could adapt these recipes for any school color scheme. For our Stafford Trojans, I could use red, black and white instead of purple and white. You can develop your own game plan when it comes to honoring your favorite team - whether that's high school, college or pro. Enjoy!

Pretzel Snacks
Square pretzels
Hugs candies, unwrapped
Colored candy discs
Colored M & Ms

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Line up square pretzels in rows on parchment-covered cookie sheets. Top each pretzel with either an unwrapped Hugs candy or a colored candy disc (in this case, purple!) I purchased the candy discs at a party store.

Put the cookie sheets in the oven for about 2 minutes. Test to see if the Hugs or the candy discs have started to melt. If they haven't, put them in for another minute or so. If they have started to melt sufficiently, remove from oven and top each with an M & M, pressing it in. (For Brent's graduation party, I topped each Hugs with a purple M & M and each purple disc with a white M & M. I bought the specialty colors at the party store.)

For Christmas, I used this same recipe. I topped each Hugs candy with a green M & M. I purchased green discs at the party store and topped each of those with a red M & M. I used these for our family Christmas gatherings, as well as giving them away with cookie and snack trays for the mailman, neighbors, etc.

You could adapt this recipe to any holiday, too. Use red and white M & Ms for Valentine's Day. Use pastel discs and M & Ms for Easter. And so on and so forth!

(The Powercat in the middle was made by melting purple candy coating and pouring into a mold.)

***

Toffee Snack Mix

12 cups cereal, pretzels, nuts
2/3 cup butter (no substitutes)
2 cups brown sugar
1/4 cup corn syrup

This time, I used Chocolate Chex and mini pretzels. I sometimes have trouble finding Chocolate Chex. You can use Rice Chex or Crispix. I have also used fancy mixed nuts - just any combination of 12 cups of dry ingredients. Combine in large bowl.

Combine remaining ingredients in saucepan. After mixture begins to boil, time boiling for 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Pour over cereal mixture, mixing well. Pour out onto waxed or parchment paper. Break snack mix apart periodically while it cools. Store in airtight container.

Optional: The original recipe didn't call for chocolate. When I do the mix using chocolate, I make the mix as directed above. Then, I melt about 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips (use the kind of chocolate you like: You can use milk chocolate or white chocolate). Pour it over the snack mix. I have tried to drizzle it, but I find it works just as well to spread over the snack mix and then lightly mix it or spread it.

Usually, if I add the chocolate, I put the snack mix on parchment-lined cookie sheets and then put it in the fridge to get it to set up faster.

For Brent's graduation party, I didn't melt the chocolate. Instead, after the snack mix was completely cool, I added purple and white M & Ms that I'd gotten at the party store. Use the colored M & Ms of your choice for holidays or cheering on your favorite team!

Bring on the 'Cats!


2 comments:

  1. Love these! A great take on an old family favorite at our house: pretzels, rolos, and pecan halves. (Fake turtles!) And anything toffee flavored is high on my list of favorites!

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  2. I'll have to try your variation. That sounds yummy, too!

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