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The Best Holiday Chex Mix

  Makes about 12–14 cups Ingredients 3 cups Corn Chex 3 cups Rice Chex 3 cups Wheat Chex (or substitute with more Corn/Rice if you don’t like Wheat) 2 cups mini pretzels (twists or snaps) 1.5-2 cups mixed nuts (or just roasted peanuts or cashews) Seasoning Sauce 12 Tbsp (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter ⅓ cup Worcestershire sauce 2 Tbsp soy sauce (adds umami depth—trust me) 1.5–2 tsp seasoned salt (Lawry’s is classic; start with 1.5 and taste) OR 1 Tbsp of Tony! 1.5 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp onion powder ½–¾ tsp cayenne pepper (or a pinch of cayenne for a subtle kick) Optional holiday upgrade: ½ tsp smoked paprika or ¼ tsp ground mustard Instructions Preheat oven to 250°F (121°C). Line two large sheet pans with parchment or foil for easy cleanup. In a huge bowl (or two bowls), gently....very gently mix all the dry ingredients (cereals, pretzels, nuts, Cheerios, cheese crackers, bagel chips). In a small saucepan or microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter. Whisk in Wo...
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The hot toddy

  2 tbsp of lemon juice (fresh squeezed  if possible) 2 tbsp oz of honey 4 tbsp of whiskey stir well add slice of lime or lemon or orange with cloves sprinkle cinnamon let is sit while you boil water add boiling water to fill cup

Texas brisket is the best

Texas brisket is the best by far.   We used a Traeger to get the perfect melt in your mouth brisket.  Notes & directions below. Trim fat the night before  Make it aerodynamic for the best bark.  The day of grilling 30 minutes out in the morning - room temp Dry it Cover with mustard Rub with salt & pepper (coarse pepper) Grill set to 225° Put brisket directly on the grill fat side up Apple cider vinegar spritz every 30 minutes Take it off the grill when the probe shows 165 °  internal Wrap in paper or foil.  Note: Make sure the temp probe isn't wrapped or your signal may be blocked.  Stick wrapped brisket back in the grill Take it off the grill when the probe says 203 °  - pull it off BUT leave probe in Let us rest until it is below 150 °  internally. Slice and eat  Should be able to estimate about 1 hour/pound. This counts the resting/cooling time.  We started at 4 AM and finished the whole process by 3:45 PM on a brisk...

Guac recipe

2 variants of Guacamole be adding/removing 2 ingredients. Variant #1 Ingredients 5 avocados ripe ½ small yellow or red onion finely diced 2 Roma tomatoes diced 5 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro 1 jalapeno pepper seeds removed and finely diced 2 garlic cloves minced 1-2 lime juiced.  (you can use lemon juice too, but a little different taste) ½ teaspoon sea salt Instructions Slice the avocados in half, remove the pit, and scoop into a mixing bowl.  Mash the avocado with a potato masher or fork and make it as chunky or smooth as you'd like.    Mix all the ingredients that aren't lime or salt together thoroughly.  Then add the lime and salt to taste gradually. Variant #2 Remove the garlic and tomato from the recipe to have a different taste.  

Chimichurri recipe

Ingredients: 1 cup parsley leaves 3 to 4 garlic cloves 2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves (or 2 teaspoons dried oregano) 1/3 cup olive oil 2 tablespoons red or white wine vinegar 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes Directions: Don't over blend!  Use small food processor to chop the parsley, fresh oregano, and garlic.  Then place in a small bowl. Stir in the olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and red pepper. Serve or refrigerate. Can keep for a week.  

Salsa!

Here is THE salsa recipe 1 tomato (medium to large).  cut out stem area. 1 slice of red onion - 1/8" thick 3" circumference  1/2 green onion sliced long way with stem 1/2 lime juice squeezed fresh but not too hard 1/2 Serrano pepper - no seeds 1 Jalapeno - no seeds 1 small clump of cilantro - cut bottom of stems 2 garlic cloves Step 1. Put all in the ninja. Step 2. Add fresh cracked sea salt & pepper to taste Step 3. Yummmmm  :)

Fixing a Roku TV

  Short term renter reported hearing a popping noise followed by an unresponsive TV in their stay in August.   No other electronic had a problem and every outlet seemed to work. Upon troubleshooting the TV was in fact dead.  No response using any of the manufacturers troubleshooting directions.    I decided to see if I could replace any internal part that might be broken to salvage the TV instead of figuring out how to dispose of it and the expense of having to buy a new one.  I spent time trying to figure out what the problem was and guessed it might be related to the power supply (seeing as no power seemed to be getting to the TV at all).   Opened the TV and saw what might be a blown ceramic capacitor on what I'm guessing is the power supply board.  I tried to find the part online with no initial luck.  After a while I stumbled across the part from encompass.com for $30 new. Ordered it and received it a few days later....