Furikake Party Mix

It's almost Halloween.  Halloween marks the crossover to fall, at least in my mind.  After Halloween, the days seem a lot shorter and the weather seems a lot cooler.  I like fall because fall means fireplace weather.

When I was young, I would go trick-or-treating around my neighborhood.  I remember The Rents making arrangements with  KikukatDad's friend to purchase large boxes of full-size candy bars.  I couldn't understand why we had to give out full-size Good News and Snickers bars, when I wanted to give out Jolly Rancher and Dum Dums.  I kinda still don't get it, but I do understand why the purchased the candy wholesale.

I think D1 had similar trick-or-treat experiences when she was younger, but I'm not sure about D2.  Seems that in the past few years, trick-or-treating has undergone some kind of transformation.  For The Rents, they now go to Costco and buy huge quantities of individually packaged pretzels, fruit snacks, and Famous Amos cookies and dutifully pass them out to kids who go to their house for trick-or-treating.  But The Rents have remarked that the kids who stop by are neither from their neighborhood nor are they the grandchildren of neighbors.  No shit.  Kids who are in their neighborhood on October 31 arrive by the truckloads from other neighborhoods.  They get dropped off and picked up after they have huge bags of candy.  It's no surprise that many of The Rents neighbors keep their porch lights off.  The Rents aren't there yet.  They can't seem to turn their backs on Halloween.

Not like me.

Let me explain.  I live on a small street, and there are no children on my street (D2 is the only minor resident. . .by the time D1 returns home in December, she will be an adult).  In the eighteen years I have lived here, nobody has ever come to trick-or-treat.

Maybe that will change this year.  And I will be prepared.  I will have furikake party mix to share!

You can buy furikake party mix from Costco (not cheap), Big Island Delights (you'll never get enough, even in the large foil bag), and Wholesale Unlimited (the cereal becomes hopelessly smashed by the time you're ready to eat it).  But it's easy to make your own, and if you make your own, you can control what goes into it.

The Costco version has Honeycomb cereal in it.  I don't add it in mine because I don't think it matches.  If you'd like to add it, replace the kakimochi with Honeycomb.  One of the pre-made ones also contains Bugles.  Those are good, and I would add them in if I could remember to buy them when I go to the store.  I do make an extra effort to locate the waffle pretzels.  Unlike the sticks, the waffle pretzels don't invariably end up at the bottom of the batch.

Another tip:  try to find a non-fishy furikake.  Nori komi or nori goma is preferable.  Every mouthful should not taste like you're eating a piece of fish or shrimp.

Don't ask me why, but eating the furikake party mix out of a paper cone makes it taste extra special.  And best of all, the cone is refillable and does not require washing.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Furikake Party Mix

     1 box Crispix cereal

     3 cups kakimochi

     1 bag pretzels

     1/4 c sugar

     1/4 c vegetable oil

     1/4 c light corn syrup

     1/4 c butter

     1 tbsp shoyu

     5 1/2 tbsp furikake

In a large roasting pan, combine Crispix, kakimochi, and pretzels.  Preheat oven to 250 degrees.  In a small saucepan, heat sugar, vegetable oil, corn syrup, butter and shoyu until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved.  Pour over cereal mixture.  Sprinkle furikake.  Toss everything gently until cereal, pretzels and kakimochi are coated.  Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes.  Stir periodically while cooling to prevent mixture from clumping.  Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

It's almost Halloween.  Halloween marks the crossover to fall, at least in my mind.  After Halloween, the days seem a lot shorter and the weather seems a lot cooler.  I like fall because fall means fireplace weather.

When I was young, I would go trick-or-treating around my neighborhood.  I remember The Rents making arrangements with  KikukatDad's friend to purchase large boxes of full-size candy bars.  I couldn't understand why we had to give out full-size Good News and Snickers bars, when I wanted to give out Jolly Rancher and Dum Dums.  I kinda still don't get it, but I do understand why the purchased the candy wholesale.

I think D1 had similar trick-or-treat experiences when she was younger, but I'm not sure about D2.  Seems that in the past few years, trick-or-treating has undergone some kind of transformation.  For The Rents, they now go to Costco and buy huge quantities of individually packaged pretzels, fruit snacks, and Famous Amos cookies and dutifully pass them out to kids who go to their house for trick-or-treating.  But The Rents have remarked that the kids who stop by are neither from their neighborhood nor are they the grandchildren of neighbors.  No shit.  Kids who are in their neighborhood on October 31 arrive by the truckloads from other neighborhoods.  They get dropped off and picked up after they have huge bags of candy.  It's no surprise that many of The Rents neighbors keep their porch lights off.  The Rents aren't there yet.  They can't seem to turn their backs on Halloween.

Not like me.

Let me explain.  I live on a small street, and there are no children on my street (D2 is the only minor resident. . .by the time D1 returns home in December, she will be an adult).  In the eighteen years I have lived here, nobody has ever come to trick-or-treat.

Maybe that will change this year.  And I will be prepared.  I will have furikake party mix to share!

You can buy furikake party mix from Costco (not cheap), Big Island Delights (you'll never get enough, even in the large foil bag), and Wholesale Unlimited (the cereal becomes hopelessly smashed by the time you're ready to eat it).  But it's easy to make your own, and if you make your own, you can control what goes into it.

The Costco version has Honeycomb cereal in it.  I don't add it in mine because I don't think it matches.  If you'd like to add it, replace the kakimochi with Honeycomb.  One of the pre-made ones also contains Bugles.  Those are good, and I would add them in if I could remember to buy them when I go to the store.  I do make an extra effort to locate the waffle pretzels.  Unlike the sticks, the waffle pretzels don't invariably end up at the bottom of the batch.

Another tip:  try to find a non-fishy furikake.  Nori komi or nori goma is preferable.  Every mouthful should not taste like you're eating a piece of fish or shrimp.

Don't ask me why, but eating the furikake party mix out of a paper cone makes it taste extra special.  And best of all, the cone is refillable and does not require washing.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Furikake Party Mix

     1 box Crispix cereal

     3 cups kakimochi

     1 bag pretzels

     1/4 c sugar

     1/4 c vegetable oil

     1/4 c light corn syrup

     1/4 c butter

     1 tbsp shoyu

     5 1/2 tbsp furikake

In a large roasting pan, combine Crispix, kakimochi, and pretzels.  Preheat oven to 250 degrees.  In a small saucepan, heat sugar, vegetable oil, corn syrup, butter and shoyu until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved.  Pour over cereal mixture.  Sprinkle furikake.  Toss everything gently until cereal, pretzels and kakimochi are coated.  Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes.  Stir periodically while cooling to prevent mixture from clumping.  Cool completely and store in an airtight container.