NUTS and BOLTS

We all have that childhood classic which features once a year at important family events like a Christmas, Anzac weekend or Easter. It might be your Grandmother’s Christmas cake (but unlikely) your Aunty’s Anzac biscuits (equally as unlikely) or your older cousin’s way too alcoholic punch (most likely).

More often than not the classic is as much about the tradition and memories as it is about the flavour. The Christmas cake may be as dry as your Great Uncle’s sense of humour and the cake/icing ratio as off as the cream used by your Great Grandmother for the pavlova, but it is what makes you think of your Grandfather spinning long yarns after Christmas lunch while he tried to slurp his cup of tea and sprinkled the crumbly dry cake down his front which makes you feel like it needs to be part of your Christmas day each year.

The Anzac biscuits may not be anything to write home about (actually this is probably the most overrated biscuit/baked porridge on the planet) but you don’t have the heart to tell your Aunty. Anyway, eating them/breaking your teeth with your Uncle after every dawn service while he told you of his war stories makes you want them included in your Anzac Day year after year.

The punch may have had enough alcohol content to get you in a real state before you were of age and you may not have any memory of it but your behaviour was amusement enough to make a tradition out of it.

For me, my grandma’s Nuts and Bolts recipe is my childhood classic. Unlike the aforementioned, it isn’t just the memories that bring it back year after year, it is it’s undeniably moreish characteristics. With it’s crisp crunch and dangerously salty oily taste which automatically puts you at the top of the unstoppable slippery slope (#can’tstopwon’tstop), it has always been a real contender for the world’s best snack/starter/supplement and, in my view, knocks the potato chip off it’s number one perch (#controversial).

My grandmother brings this staple dish in ice cream containers full to the brim on Christmas morning and very rarely is any left by midday. You have to be in to win.

So without further adieu, here is the famous Nuts and Bolts recipe in all of it’s traditional glory.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Olive Oil

1Cream of Chicken Soup

1 Onion Soup

1 small packet Nutrigrain

1 packet Chinese Noodles

1 generous cup of any form of salted nuts.

She knows.

Method:

What every #mumchef wants to see - Mix all of the ingredients together. Easy peezy.

I doubled the recipe because #biggerisbetter right?

I use cooking/baking trays to make the magic happen, before storing in airtight containers. When serving, tip the N&B’s into a big bowl and pair with any form of alcohol. *I find they go down extra well with a white wine or G&T and are perfect to satisfy either those drunken or hungover cravings which seems to be an issue most of the time during the festive season.

I have the consent of my grandmother to release this by the way. You can thank me later.

Em x