April 16, 2023

Sunday Snacks

While Gemma is laid-up on the couch recovering from foot surgery, I thought it would be a good day to just crank out a bunch of snacks from season five.

Since we did the baked mac and cheese the previous day, it was only natural to start with some Next Day Mac and Cheese “Toast”. Deep frying is a bit of a production, so I started by getting my fry station going.

The recipe didn’t have much info as to how long to fry them, so I checked and poked them periodically until I felt they were done. The smaller pieces took about 2 minutes, and the larger pieces took 30-60 seconds more.

In the end they were absolutely amazing. We ate them with a little jarred marinara we had left over in the fridge. I’m glad I only made half a dozen or so because we could have eaten these all day non stop.

Later in the afternoon I set out to make Granola, which is something I’ve always wanted to try out. It couldn’t have been easier to just mix a bunch of stuff together and pop it in the oven.

The comments online suggested not to stir it as often as the recipe says, and that way you’ll end up with more chunks. So I only stirred it three or four times while it cooked.

This made a TON of granola. So much that I bagged up a bunch and gave it away to everyone I saw that day. It is really, really good. We ate it by itself and on yogurt. Will definitely be making this again some day.

The final snack of the day was Radonsky for the New Millenium, which I sort of think of as “easier clams casino” maybe? It’s weird because a Google search for “Radonsky” brings up basically nothing, and Alton didn’t even say this recipe’s name in the episode. Anyway, I started out by opening a dozen clams and sprinkling them with the “stuffing” mix. Then I got some bacon grease hot and popped them face-down into the pan to cook.

We served them up with a little parsley and some malt vinegar and they were delicious.

These were really easy and delicious – I can see doing this for company as a classy appetizer.

Next Day Mac and Cheese "Toast"

• Crowd: 5/5
• Ease: 2/5
• Fried the smaller pieces for about 2 minutes, and the larger pieces for about 2.5 minutes
• Served up with some heated up marinara sauce

Granola

• Crowd: 5/5
• Ease: 4/5
• Didn't stir as much as the recipe said to -- only stirred 3 times or so over the course of the hour and a half cooking time
• This makes a TON of granola

Radonsky for the New Millenium

• Crowd: 4/5
• Ease: 3/5
• Would salt them a little more next time