Christmas is Coming by Jana Richards

This year Christmas is bittersweet. My family has suffered some losses that have made getting into the spirit difficult. But this Christmas we also have our first grandchild, sweet little Aubrey Catherine, to celebrate with, though her arrival has presented some challenges of its own.

I’m behind the eight-ball when it comes to Christmas preparations. My Christmas presents are not all purchased and none are wrapped. No Christmas baking has been done. I haven’t bought any food (ie: the turkey) for Christmas dinner. I’ve spent quite a lot of time at my daughter’s house across the city helping with Aubrey. She’s not a good sleeper and keeps her mother up most nights, so I go over there as often as I can to watch the baby while my daughter sleeps. Grandmas help out any way they can.

One of the rare times that Aubrey actually slept.

So, for this post, I’m giving a couple of recipes for things I hope to make this Christmas. We’ll see how successful I am!

Rum Balls

I love these rum balls. I especially loved them the time I misread the recipe and added much more rum than was called for!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (250 mL) icing sugar
• 1 cup (250 mL) ground almonds
• 3 oz. (85 g) bittersweet chocolate, grated
• 1/3 cup (75 mL) dark rum
• 1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla
• ½ cup (125 mL) chocolate sprinkles

Directions:

Line trays with waxed paper; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk icing sugar, almonds and bittersweet chocolate. Stir in ¼ cup (50 mL) of the rum and vanilla until a solid, moist mass. Press together. Chill until firm enough to roll, about 15 minutes.

Roll by rounded teaspoonfuls (5 mL) into balls, moistening and wiping hands as needed. Place on prepared trays.

Pour remaining rum into a shallow bowl. Pour chocolate sprinkles into a separate shallow bowl. Roll balls in rum, then chocolate, pressing lightly to adhere. Let dry on tray, 1 hour. Refrigerate until firm. Can be frozen up to 1 month, but in my family they usually don’t last that long!

Chocolate Crack

A friend recently brought us a small bag of this and I was reminded how good, and addictive, it is!

Ingredients:

• Approximately 200-250 grams whole graham wafers (about ½ of a small box)
• 1 cup (250 mL) salted butter
• 1 cup (250 mL) brown sugar
• 2 cups (500 mL) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C). Line a 10 x 15 inch (25 x 38 cm) jelly roll pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray or grease with butter or margarine. Line the pan completely with a single layer of graham wafers, breaking wafers up, if necessary, to make them fit. Set aside.

Combine the butter and brown sugar in a heavy medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Boil for exactly 5 minutes, stirring constantly. You might need to adjust the heat; if the mixture sputters too much, reduce the heat. If it stops boiling, increase the heat. A full boil will have breaking bubbles all over the surface.

Pour the mixture over the graham wafers as evenly as you can. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over the top. Let the chips melt for a minute or two and then spread them evenly with a heat-resistant spatula or wooden spoon. Let cool to room temperature and then place the pan in the fridge to chill. When the pan is chilled, peel the foil from the wafers and break the slab into random pieces.

Do you have all your Christmas preparations completed, or are you as distracted as I am?