christmas sweets

The annual 'get together and make the christmas sweets' event has been and gone for 2011. Four generations of women got together last friday and cooked/rolled our way through approx 8 batches of rumballs, 4 batches of gingernut balls, 2 trays of rocky road, and 2 trays of spiders (recipes are written out below - after the photo's in this blog post)..

My daughter, myself, my mother, my Nana and my mother in law spent the day together preparing for another festive season and enjoying one another's company. Lola is still a bit young to be of much help (even getting her to roll the rumballs in the coconut was a bit of a challenge), but maybe by next year she'll be a lot happier to join in.  However she did enjoy putting up Nana's christmas tree after the baking was done.  Andrew was there too of course, but he was happy crawling around and eating sultanas off the floor - so I didn't count him as one of the 'helpers'.

It really was a fun day, and I am so lucky to have such wonderful mothers in my life.

Nana Brown's rum balls

8 weetbix
1 cup mixed fruit
1 cup coconut
2 tablespoons of cocoa
1 tin of condensed milk
2 tablespoons of rum

Mix together, roll into small balls, roll in more coconut.

Gingernut balls

90g butter
2 tablespoons golden syrup
1/2 cup condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
250g packet of gingernut biscuits
1 cup sultanas
1 cup coconut

Melt butter in saucepan.
Add golden styrup and condensed milk.
Stir in vanilla, crushed up biscuits and sultanas over medium heat until well combined.
Cool to room temperature
Roll into small balls and toss in coconut.