This week, the cover story in Time Magazine is about home cooking.

Mark Bittman, who frankly I had never heard of, praises cooking at home. He claims that most people, especially young people, just eat fast food – and they eat it fast.

So Bittman wants to show us how to get back to home cooking. He even has recipes – Time Magazine with recipes. Is that a first?

But Bittman didn’t discuss trail food, or more specifically, for now, trail mix.

Why but expensive trail mix when you can fix it yourself in advance? Get a large mouth jar where you’ll keep your supply.

Trail mix is sometimes called GORP – good old raisins and peanuts in equal amounts. That sufficed me for years. Then Lenny added M&M – they really don’t melt. About that time, packaged trail mix appeared in stores, so I got more creative. Here’s a basic recipe. In a large bowl, mix half dry fruit and half nuts. Here’s my basic recipe.
1/2 cup golden raisins, 1/2 Craisins
1/2 cup walnut pieces, 1/2 raw peanuts

To this basic mix, I add 1/2 cup of a treat that I discover at bulk bins. In the winter, it’s chocolate bits but chocolate melts in hot weather. Some people love banana chips. For me, it’s chopped mangos or dried cherries.

I keep the trail mix in a large screw top jar and measure out a portion in a ziplock bag for the day. A standard portion is 1/3 cup but I usually take at least 1/2 cup.

Now what’s so difficult about that? Bittman would be proud.

Share your favorite trail mix.