New Years was always the day my Babci, or grandma in Polish, would break out her stash of her favorite cookie, rum balls. It's almost funny to call it her stash, as it was always my mom, or me, who did the preparing.
It started innocently enough. I remember quite clearly where mom got the recipe. She first tasted this little treat at a PTA fundraiser/Christmas party in our church hall. Her friend, Mrs. Waniak, brought them and mom thought my dad would enjoy them. Making the call to Mrs. W. and getting the recipe fell to me the next morning. Mom needed new specs at the time so looking up a phone number, dialing it and having to write a recipe in the dark corner where our telephone lived was not her idea of fun. That's what teenagers were for anyhow, no?
Mrs. W. cheerfully dictated the recipe to me. One trip to the grocery store and we were off. About the time the first batch was completed, my dad came home and deemed them "Alfred worthy." And as my dad usually did, he once again found a way to improve something. He suggested that they should be stored in a sealed container so they could mellow a bit before eating and he found an empty coffee can to serve as our storage device.
Mom added some rum balls to her enormous Christmas cookie platters a few weeks later. Babci, who also made enormous trays of cookies and pastries every holiday too, took a liking to this tiny treat. She wanted us to make more. And who would even dream of saying no to their mother back then, let alone their grandmother.
As the years passed, the demand request for batches increased. My mom kept asking, "Who are you giving these too?" And Babci kept answering, "none of your business."
Then they came with more specific instructions: use dark rum (a bottle from one of her friends would get sent to the house), try brandy, how about this liquor?
On New Years Day she would always bring a can of cookies out, but not for long. It always made its way back to her secret hiding place when no one was looking. And we kept wondering what in the world she did with them all.
And then my godmother figured it out. She went to pick up grandma up from a church event one day in January and take her home. It was a Third Order of Saint Francis of Assisi annual holiday party. She walked in with her husband ready to help with the clean up and… well, the elderly matriarchs of the local parish "were not moving around so well."
She looked around and noticed that there were still plenty of Viennese pastries, kruschiki and handmade cookies, but off to one side were these familiar looking coffee cans - all empty. Yes, this group of about 25 ladies in their seventies had eaten six batches of rum balls in two hours on a Sunday afternoon.
Most of the ladies lived close enough to church to walk home, but my uncle thought it was a better idea to drive them all home as my aunt tidied-up the church hall. Most importantly however, the mystery of the disappearing rum balls was finally solved.
Rum Balls
5 cups vanilla wafer, crushed finely
2 cups confectionery sugar
2 cups walnuts, very finely chopped
4 tablespoons cocoa
6 tablespoons white karo
2/3 cup rum
Mix the dry ingredients. Add the karo and rum and mix well. Shape into balls and roll in extra confectionary sugar, or sanding sugar.
Place the cookies in a container that can be sealed. They can be eaten immediately, but letting them sit for a week will bring out the rum and cocoa flavors. They can be made one month in advance.
Makes 40
Don't start about the karo syrup. This is a recipe from the sixties for bums' sake. Substitute the same amount of simple syrup (to make a batch heat one cup water and 1/4 cup sugar until the sugar is dissolved, then cool) if you want.
My best wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year to everyone. May you and yours keep eating and sharing wonderful food with those around you for many years to come.
I'll close with an old Polish toast that Babci always used to sing at special events.
Sto lat, sto lat,
Niech żyje, żyje nam.
Sto lat, sto lat,
Niech żyje, żyje nam,
Jeszcze raz, jeszcze raz, niech żyje, żyje nam,
Niech żyje nam!
Approximate English translation:
A hundred years, a hundred years,
May he live, live with us.
A hundred years, a hundred years,
May he live, live with us.
Once again, once again, may he live, live with us,
May he live with us!