Bethlehem snack mix

There is nothing like a kitchen gift, in my opinion, and I give out lots of them each year.  As you see above, I have an entire Pinterest board dedicated to Kitchen Gifts.  You can find it here: my Kitchen Gifts board.

Here is an idea that I found some time ago and have never tried.  It has been tucked in my Christmas notebook for probably 15 years.   Since we  had a poem titled "Bethlehem" for yesterday's post, I thought Bethlehem Snack Mix the perfect kitchen gift to share today.

Here's what you need:

Animal crackers
Red and green M&Ms*
Star-shaped pretzels*
Potato sticks**

I am sorry that the recipe I have does not include quantities.  Probably if you started with a cup of each ingredient, you could not go wrong.

* Red and green M&Ms and star-shaped pretzels can usually be found in stores as soon as the holiday items begin to appear.
** Potato sticks are the (fried, I assume) shoestring-shaped snack item -- like potato chips, only in sticks.  They come in a can.  It looks a bit like hay or straw if you use your imagination.

Edited to add: Several people mentioned not having seen the star-shaped pretzels.  I'm pretty sure I have seen bags of only star shapes, but can't remember for sure.  Snyder's of Hanover makes seasonally shaped pretzels which you can see here: pretzels in seasonal shapes.  You may have to scroll all the way down to see them.  They show the holiday shapes (which include stars) and football shapes.  They have also recently come out with a patriotic shapes variety, which includes stars, flags, and liberty bells.  You can see that in a snack mix recipe here: patriotic pretzel mix.   Old Dutch is another brand that makes holiday pretzels, and you can see them here: Old Dutch Holiday Pretzels.  Theirs come in the shape of stars, bells, and Christmas trees.  I think that Utz also manufactures a holiday pretzel assortment.)

The recipe had a poem with it, which I have tweaked in a major way, but it was originally written by someone named Bonniek and posted to Craftsayings.  So, with apologies to Bonnie, I tweaked this to better suit my theology and my grammatical perfectionism.  The poem could be printed on a gift tag which you would attach with a ribbon to the top of a clear plastic treat bag.  Or, fold the top of a plastic or paper treat bag over and staple a rectangular tag to the top of it.  The mix could also be placed in a jar, which would make for a festive-looking gift as well.

Bethlehem Snack Mix

This yummy snack is an easy way
To remember that very first Christmas Day!
Potato sticks remind us of hay
Like that in the manger where Jesus lay.
These crackers remind us of the animals that night --
Sheep and donkey surprised at the sight.
Pretzels in the shape of stars
Remind us of all that the shepherds saw.
Red and green, the colors of the season,
Remind us that Jesus is the only reason!

Or you could certainly write your own poem, or simply list what the ingredients are intended to represent.  Have fun with this idea!  I can see individual bags of this mix being a wonderful gift for Sunday School students.