Mid-CenturyModernMoms: Tastes just like home

Last year was the first year my eldest didn't spend the entire holiday season at home. Well, here with me. Given that she's lived on her own for four years now, she has her own home, and last year, for the first time, she was sharing Christmas with another family, her boyfriend's. Her genuine excitement was not untinged with a tiny bit of ambivalence.

It's tough, this growing up thing. So often the gains are shadowed by a loss of some sort. Over all, gains outweigh losses, but the losses are real.

How to give the girl a taste of family Christmas when she'd be missing part of it? Maybe by giving her a piece of it at her home.

For some years, I've been making chocolate brandy balls at Christmas. Dozens upon dozens of them. And every year we give them out, by the dozen or the half-dozen, to friends, neighbours, clients. Sarah wasn't going to be here to take part -- but there was no reason she couldn't share the tradition, was there?

She's competent in the kitchen, after all. They're not difficult to mix up, though moderately fiddly to form, and she's fully capable of following a recipe. The hold-up would be the ingredients. It's a recipe chock-full of ingredients that your standard student kitchen -- even a student who actually cooks and routinely eats from all the food groups, including vegetables -- probably doesn't stock. Nor does the average student budget extend to a $30 luxury food expenditure.

But what are moms for, if not to bring the small, loving luxuries to their offspring, at least once in a while?

This is totally my kind of fun! I copied out the recipe. I gathered the ingredients. I bought a goodish-sized mixing bowl. Then I hunted out enough reusable containers, of the right sizes and leak-proof capabilities to hold all the ingredients -- including half a cup of brandy. And I wrapped it up nicely and sent it all to her.

Not only would she get the warmth of the family tradition in her own home, but she got a mixing bowl and a nice little collection of reusable containers that will be hers for years.

That was last year. Wonder what I'll do this year?

For those of you who are interested:

Double chocolate brandy balls

1 c chocolate chips, melted
3 tbsp corn syrup
1/2 cup brandy (or ginger ale, for the non-drinkers)
2 1/4 cups crushed chocolate wafers (or oreo cookie crumbs)
1 cup finely chopped nuts
1/2 cup icing sugar
1/2 cup finely chopped candied fruit
granulated (i.e. regular old white) sugar

1. In small bowl, combine melted chips, corn syrup, brandy.
2. In large bowl combine crumbs, nuts, icing sugar, and fruit.
3. Add chocolate mixture to crumb mixture. Stir till blended. Cover with wax paper and chill in fridge for 30 minutes.
4. Shape into 1-inch balls, and roll in sugar. (It will be a bit crumbly. You'll have to push them into balls with your fingertips, then roll gently between your palms to smooth. Then roll in a shallow dish to coat in white sugar.)

Best left for a day or two for the flavours to blend and mellow. These only get better with time!