Making GORP aka Reindeer Food

Yup. GORP. For the uninitiated, that’s Good Ol’ Raisins and Peanuts—only around here it’s more of a trail mix gone rogue. Ours is the sweet version, like trail mix if it ditched its hiking boots and threw on a candy necklace.

We’ve always called it Reindeer Food in this house. Back when the kids were little, we’d leave cookies and milk out for Santa—but we didn’t forget the ones doing the heavy lifting. Santa got the glory, but the reindeer were the real MVPs. So they got their own special bag of GORP. Rumor has it Rudolph was especially fond of the mini marshmallows (the white ones, of course—his nose was flashy enough), Vixen had a thing for raisins, and Dasher went nuts for the cashews. Literally. Dasher was that guy.

Now, while I was making this nostalgic treat today, life did what life tends to do—it threw a wrench the size of a sleigh runner.

We ran out of propane gas this morning. Why? Because the old gas company went belly-up and left their tanks behind like forgotten toys at the back of the sleigh. The new gas folks won’t deliver until those old tanks are removed. But first, they had to be empty. So today, on a holiday no less (of course), we hit zero on the propane meter. Perfect timing, right?

No worries though—we pioneer on. I plopped the white chocolate (and let’s be honest, it’s not really chocolate) into a makeshift double boiler and stuck it on top of the wood stove. It melted like a dream. A slow, smoky dream, but hey—when you live in the boonies, you either learn to improvise or you go hungry. Around here, if plan A doesn’t work, there had better be a plan B, C, and “throw it on the wood stove and hope for the best.”So the GORP got made, the reindeer will feast, and we’ll survive another backwoods holiday without hot water or modern convenience—but with chocolate-covered raisins and a whole lot of grit.

Merry Christmas, folks. And if you see Dasher buzzing around your feeder, maybe toss him a cashew.

Recipe for Gorp
3 lbs. white chocolate, melted in double boiler

Mix the following together in large bowl:

4 cups rice checks
4 cups wheat checks
4 cups honey nut cheerios
2 cups cashews, or peanuts, or mixed nuts
4 cups salted pretzel sticks

Pour melted white chocolate over the top while mixing thoroughly. Place onto several lightly greased cookie sheets until cooled. Then break into chunks. Add the following:

1 package chocolate covered graham cookies, cut into pieces
1 large package mini M&Ms
1 large package chocolate chips
2 cups raisins
1 bag mini marshmallows

Spoon into ziplock sandwich bags.


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Of course, the dogs are always willing to lend a hand on cleanup, just in case anything falls on the floor.