Happy Trails Mix

I recently had the pleasure of planning and preparing food for post-wedding gift opening brunches for a friend who had three daughters get married within a four-month period.  Each brunch had its own identity, with colors and invitations that complemented the wedding and food preferences from the bride.  Each brunch also had a few common elements; with input from the bride and mother-of-the bride, I created an assortment of sweet and savory, hot and cold, bite-sized foods to serve to roughly forty guests.  All three brunches ended with something that I consider essential to any party...party favors.

Today's post features the favor from the third brunch, held in October.  The wedding featured earthy "fall" colors; the brunch followed suit with rustic accents in kraft brown and burnt orange.  Guests left the gathering carrying their own bag of "Happy Trails Mix."

This favor was popular for a few reasons:

• Food is a hit!  The age range at family events typically spans multiple generations; food can be enjoyed across the board.
• Pre-preparation:  One person preparing and serving eight-plus varieties of food for forty people is quite an undertaking.  Choosing a favor that can be prepared well in advance is a smart way to reduce stress and time pressures in the period just before the event.

I have prepared many variations of trail mix for a number of people.  It can be easily tweaked based on preferences, the season (candy corn here, for fall), recipient preferences (allergies?  leave out the peanuts), and what is on sale when you shop!  So be creative with your selections!

Happy Trails Mix featured the following:

• Pretzel M&M's
• Milk Chocolate Chips
• Candy Corn
• Honey Roasted Peanuts
• Variety of Goldfish Crackers (chocolate chip, chocolate, honey, pretzel)
• Roasted Almonds
• Pretzel Nuggets