My mother invented this recipe sometime back in the late 70's; she used to bake the mixture in the oven and it took forever. The smell would have us kids all drooling and waiting around for when we could finally dive into it. It has been adapted for the microwave, and now only takes minutes to make. If you are a serious garlic lover, this one's for you! Warning: This stuff is seriously addicting!!!

Step 1: Tools & Ingredients Needed

1. The biggest mixing bowl you can get your hands on. Here I am using a 4 qt. Make sure your bowl is microwaveable!

2. A big mixing spoon, slotted if you have one.

3. Microwave oven.

4. 9 paper towels, torn into 3 strips of 3 towels each.

5. A stick and a half of butter or margarine. I like to use a whole stick of butter, and half of margarine, but this is really your choice. My mother always used all margarine, but I am a die-hard butter lover.

6. A heaping teaspoon of salt.

7. 3 heaping teaspoons of garlic powder.

8. About 3 cups of thin pretzel sticks

9. About 2 1/2 cups of Corn Chex cereal. I always use the generic brand, much cheaper! You could also substitute with rice or wheat chex.

10. About 3 cups of your favorite cheese cracker. I prefer the reduced fat Cheezit brand, but again, use what you like!

11. About 2 1/2 cups of plain Cheerios cereal. Generic is fine here, too.

NOTE: The measurements for the dry ingredients are approximate. Everyone seems to have their one favorite ingredient, for me it is the pretzel sticks and cheese crackers, so I use a little more of them than the other 2 cereals. Just make sure that each ingredient takes up no more than about 1/4 to 1/3 of your bowl space!

Step 2: Prepare Butter, Salt, and Garlic Powder Mixture

1. Place the butter into bowl, heat in microwave until completely melted.

2. Add salt to melted butter, stir well.

3. Add garlic powder to butter/salt mix, stir well.

Step 3: Add Ingredients to Butter Mixture

1. Dump pretzel sticks into bowl of melted butter/salt/garlic powder. Stir really well, lifting the pretzels from the bottom and turning them over so that each one gets coated in the melted butter mix. You will need to use the hand not holding the mixing spoon to help in mixing ingredients, so make sure they are clean. You will feel the need to wipe your hands off multiple times during this exercise, as they will get quite coated with butter, salt, and garlic.

2. Now add the chex cereal, again stirring really well, lifting from the bottom of the bowl with your mixing spoon so that everything gets evenly coated.

3. Add cheese crackers, continuing with your thorough stirring/lifting stuff from bottom of bowl.

4. Repeat above steps with the Cheerios.

Step 4: Microwave for 6 Minutes, Stir Twice!!

Now the snack mix is ready for cooking!

1. Place bowl uncovered in microwave. Set the cook time for 6 minutes on full power, and don't go anywhere yet...

2. This is important! You MUST stop the microwave, remove the bowl, and stir the mixture TWICE during the 6 minute cook time. If you fail to do this, the contents on the bottom of the bowl will be a nice burnt mess!

3. Pause the microwave at the 4 minute countdown. Remove bowl, take your big mixing spoon, and stir well, making sure the stuff on the bowl bottom is turned over and given the opportunity to be cooked at the top of the bowl..

4. Replace bowl in microwave and resume cooking.

5. Repeat step 3 at the 2 minute countdown, then place back in microwave and resume cooking for the last 2 minutes.

6. This is a good time to prepare your paper towel strips. See next step.

Step 5: Paper Towel Cool-down!

After your 6 minute cook time is up, you need to immediately spread your snack mixture onto paper towels in order to cool down. Don't let it sit around in the hot bowl, there is still a risk of burning the bottom contents!

1. Tear 3 strips of 3 paper towels each.

2. Lay 2 of the paper towel strips flat on a table top about 4" apart.

3. Lay the third strip so that it overlaps the inner edge of each of the first two strips.

4. Pour your cooked snack mixture onto the paper towels, using your mixing spoon to spread it out. The more you spread the mixture out on the towels, the faster it will cool.

5. Allow 20 to 30 minutes cool-down time. Avoid the temptation to sample your creation..the flavor does not fully bloom until it's completely cooled!

6. Use the paper towels to pour your delicious Garlic & Butter Snack Mix into the air-tight container of your choice.

7. Dig in and enjoy