The Uber Car Snack

Author Notes

I recently had to drive from Denver to southern Utah (so south, in fact, that Arizona was literally across the street) to pick up some crazy sliding table saw with my husband. He billed the trip as "quality time" and a "fun road trip." Two full days of our undivided companionship as we drove (and drove and drove) hauling a huge trailer across a couple states. It did turn out to be mostly fun despite the foreverness of driving and an amazingly destroyed trailer tire.

Having taken a similar, very brief road trip last summer to Prescott, AZ to see a band, I was remembering with misery the meals we had to endure. Our friend even went so far as to declare that Arizona was where food "goes to die." While I am sure there are plenty of good places to dine in that beautiful state, we had no luck finding them. So for this trip I packed mostly lunch meat, raw vegetables, dried fruit, nuts and water and vowed to try to stick to that diet. I think it worked. Other than feeling somewhat crooked upon return, we felt pretty good.

Knowing we will have a good share of camping trips this summer, I decided to try to make an all-inclusive sort of car snack. Something satisfying both sweet and salty with some protein. And thus, the Uber Car Snack was created. This recipe uses cashews, almonds and apricots but you could easily do any nuts and a sweeter fruit like dates, or any combination thereof. —savorthis