Publisher’s note: Reprinted with permission from the December 2008 Tahoe Mountain News.

By Kathryn Reed

I call them gizzies because my Mom does. I called her last month to ask where the name came from. “That’s what Gram Frances called them.” My grandma isn’t around anymore to be able to continue the name game.

I searched the Internet well past my bedtime trying to figure out the origin of gizzies because the dictionary I’ve had since high school graduation failed me. Dictionary.com failed me. I was led to a website about dogs. I was reading websites I really would rather never revisit.

Finally, one blog had a reference to the gizzies I was in search of. I’m letting this validate that my family is not alone in calling homemade Chex cereal party mix gizzies.

Mom’s original recipe was cut off from a box of Chex cereal before I was born. “I’ve had it forever. We can easily say 45 to 50 years,” Mom told me. The original calls for a carton of Chex-mates. I’ve never heard of that and Mom doesn’t know if they still exist.

That recipe doesn’t use pretzels, but Mom can’t remember a time not having pretzel sticks in her gizzies. Nuts were optional way back when. Mom has always opted to skip them.

Gizzies are a great snack. The problem I have is they tend to turn into a meal because I get a bit repetitive with my “just one more handful” mantra.

The store bought stuff is icky, according to me and Mom. A homemade batch is the way to go. It’s great to have around during the holidays as an alternative to all the sweets, works well at Super Bowl parties and was a crowd pleaser Election Night.

Yes, gizzies are salty. Using unsalted butter would be one way to cutback sodium. In the future mine should be less salty. I’m not going to admit what I had written on my recipe card. Suffice it to say, it’s been changed since last talking to Mom.

Gizzies keep for quite a while (in other people’s houses) in an airtight container. Mom just shared a secret — warm the cereal before pouring on the butter mixture. This helps the butter better stick to the cereal.

Oh, and this is not a vegetarian snack. Regular Worcestershire sauce has anchovies. Vegan and vegetarian sauces are available on the Internet. I haven’t looked locally,  but I’d start with Grass Roots.

I use a pan like the one people use to cook a turkey in.

If you can’t find each variety of cereal, just make sure you have 16 cups.

We’ve always used Lowry’s Seasoned Salt.

Below is the current recipe my family uses. Happy Holidays!

Gizzies

4 C each corn, bran, wheat, rice Chex cereal

2 sticks butter

3 T Worcestershire sauce

2½ tsp seasoning salt

1 package pretzel sticks

Melt butter, stir in Worcestershire sauce and seasoning salt. Mix well. Pour mixture over warmed cereal that is in a roasting pan. Bake at 250 degrees for 45 minutes. Stir every 15 minutes.