December 9th – Megan Lowe – Author Dahlia Donovan

dahliasholidayparty2016banner

Let’s welcome Megan Lowe! Be sure to check out the giveaway at the end of the post.

I daresay Christmas in Australia is a little different to what you in the Northern Hemisphere are used to. Obviously for us, it’s Summer at Christmas which means not so many chestnuts roasting on a open fire and more mangoes, cold meats and seafood.

For my family and me we spend Christmas gathered at one of our houses, the doors wide open, kids in the pool. The men gather round the barbeque, beers in hand, the women, the kitchen, picking at the Caesar salad that won’t make it to the table.

I like to think Christmases in Australia are unique. Roasts are swapped for cold meats and seafood is always a plenty. Prawns, Moreton Bay bugs (yes they’re actually a thing), lobster if you want to get fancy. Stone fruit (mangoes, peaches, nectarines, cherries) also are prominent, featuring in trifles and pavolvas.

I love the fact a southern hemisphere Christmas is so different to what the majority of the world’s population experiences. Australia is a unique country, with unique people and a beautiful landscape. I’d love to one day have a white Christmas but I think what we get each year is pretty perfect too, even if we are trying not to melt in the heat!
Here’s a recipe that will warm your heart, or just make you tipsy enough to forget the heat!

Rum Ball Recipe Ingredients
• 1 packet plain sweet biscuits (Nice, Arrowroot, Marie or Wheatmeal Biscuits)
• 3 tblspns cocoa powder, sifted to remove lumps
• 1 cup desiccated coconut
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 4 tblspns rum (Bundaberg rum works well)
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup extra coconut (for rolling finished balls in)
Rum Ball Recipe Method
Finely crush biscuits in a food processor (or you could put them into a zip lock bag and crush with a rolling pin). Add cocoa power, coconut, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla and rum to crushed biscuits. Combine all ingredients well (you should end up with a stiff mixture). If it is a particularly hot day, or your mixture isn’t quite stiff enough for the balls to hold their shape, put the mixture in the fridge for 30 minutes or so before rolling.
Take large teaspoons of mixture and roll into balls using your hands, then roll balls in extra coconut to coat. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet or shallow plastic container and put in freezer. Once frozen, put into a container and keep in the freezer until ready to use.
Rum balls will last for weeks in the freezer, so you might want to make a couple of batches, well in advance of Christmas. For a great Christmas gift idea place 5-6 balls into the centre of a square of cellophane, bring ends of cellophane together in a parcel and tie with a ribbon.
If you have some extra time, and want to make the Rum Balls slightly more special, take whole roasted almond or macadamia nuts, encase in the Rum Ball mixture, roll into balls, then dip into melted chocolate and place in the freezer.

btc_teaser2