Nathan's Grandma's Xmas Goodies

My husbands Grandmother died just before Christmas. I am imagining that it wasn't the best timing for his family, as future Christmas's are going to be tinged by her absence. She was a huge Christmas baker, with special items that she made and distributed to all her family for the festive period. I decided that I would try my hand at cooking some of her specialities for our family lunch this year, and managed to get hold of some of her special recipes (that she would have shared gladly).

Nathan's favourite is the snowballs she made. Yes you can buy these from the shop in packets, but her recipe is much better and they are actually very easy to make. Every Christmas these would be sitting in the freezers of Nathan's parents and aunt, along with apricot balls. For those of you in the northern hemisphere Christmas is in early summer for us and this year it was scorching (someone told me it was the hottest Christmas in Wellington since 1923), so popping these freezing cold treats in your mouth is bliss, and they melt very quickly in the heat.

Chocolate Snowballs
6 T rolled oats
6 T coconut
150g butter
4 T brown sugar
4 T drinking chocolate
6 T milk powder
4 T milk
Marshmallows
Extra coconut

1. Melt the butter and sugar.
2. Add the milk and dry ingredients and mix.
3. Allow to harden in the fridge until it is hard enough to form balls from, this stage is important.
4. Take a marshmallow (you may need to cut them in half if they are really big). Mold the chocolate around the marshmallow to make a ball with a marshmallow centre. Roll them in extra coconut.
5. Store on greaseproof paper in containers in the freezer.

Apricot Balls
 3 c minced dry apricots (cut them up and put in the food processor)
1 c brown sugar
1 c coconut
3/4 tin condensed milk
50g butter
1 t citric acid
Extra coconut

1. Heat sugar, condensed milk and butter to melt.
2. Add coconut, citric acid and apricots and mix
3. Form balls and roll in extra coconut.

4. Store on greaseproof paper in containers in the freezer.