WEEK #41 OCTOBER 10th, 2022

Dear Customers,

By now we’re all unfortunately familiar with the term “inflation” and how it affects our everyday lives.  Gasoline prices, food prices and pretty much everything we have a need for is more expensive than it was not that long ago.

We deal with several major vendors that are popular and well known, nation-wide.  Companies such as Coke, Pepsi, Frito-Lay and Nabisco to name just a few.  Then, there are the more local vendors that we deal with such as Utz, Herr’s, Schneider Dairies and Middleswarth Chips, among many others, which are more “regional”.  In a normal year, each of these companies addresses their fiscal bottom line, and, taking steps to maintain or regain profitability, announce a price increase across the board.  This usually happens shortly after the first of the year.

This year, however, good old 2022 has seen multiple price increases from all of these vendors! Nary a week goes by that I don’t open my e-mail in-box and find a cryptically worded announcement that usually begins, “Due to increased costs, transportation fuel increases and (my personal  favorite) supply chain issues, there will be a price adjustment scheduled for ___________” Which is where they fill in the blank with the effective date.

Since it’s still October, I’ve included another apple-based recipe for your enjoyment.  It’s called Apple Crumble Chex Mix

1 cup old fashioned oats ½ cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup packed brown sugar 1 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp fine sea salt ½ cup cold butter (cut into pieces)
2 tsp water 4 cups Chex Apple Cinnamon cereal
3 cups apple chips 1 cup lightly salted roasted almonds
  1. Heat oven to 350°F. Line 15x10x1-inch pan with cooking parchment paper. In medium bowl, add oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and sea salt; mix well. Use pastry blender to cut in butter, until mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Stir in water until mixture comes together. Spread out evenly in pan; press down slightly on mixture to hold together.
  2. Bake 10 minutes; stir gently. Continue baking 10 to 13 minutes or until mixture is light golden brown. Cool completely on parchment in pan, about 1 hour. Carefully break into small clusters.
  3. In large serving bowl, mix cereal, apple chips and almonds; stir in clusters. Store in covered container at room temperature.