Snowballs: Made 2 - Need 6

My sister Mary suggested I post the recipe for snowballs, one of our all time favorites.  These cookies are delicious. They get eaten up quickly, so make lots of them.

This is a foolproof recipe. As long as you have the time to roll out the balls, they will come out just fine.   The nuts give the snowballs a bit of added texture. I think Mimi used walnuts but I'm not sure. Pistachios might be an interesting alternative.

According to Mimi's notes, she and my brother (TD3) once made two batches of snowballs - about 138 snowballs, enough for her and Tom, but not enough to share. Six batches would have been much better than two. You can't make too many snowballs.

This recipe originally came from Rose, my favorite neighbor in our old neighborhood. I was a very friendly child who loved visiting anyone, anytime. Rose and John lived across the street from us in a little red house. 

John worked for the state highway department. In the winter, he drove one of those gigantic snowplows that come out during blizzards to clear snow off the turnpikes. 

Sometimes John would park his plow on our little street. I remember looking out the window at the big orange plow towering over his little red house, thinking to myself,  "John's home, I must go over and see what he's up to". Years later Mimi told me John brought the plow home when he was too drunk to turn it in at the end of his shift.

We moved away from that neighborhood when I was 8. Many years later, when my daughter Juliette was about 6, we drove down my old street, parked in front of the little red house, and knocked on the door. I had no idea if Rose still lived there.  When Rose opened the door I said, “Hi Rose, it’s Dottie.” She looked at me, and then at Julie, and said, “Where’ve you been?”

I came in and sat down in Rose’s little living room, which looked just like it always had…dark curtains drawn low, old overstuffed furniture, a coffee table with ashtrays, a cribbage board, little multi - colored pegs of incense (to mask the smell of cigarette smoke), a cigarette box, a lighter, a deck of cards and a candy dish. Rose and I happily retold old stories while Julie ran around the backyard. It was a wonderful day --  I was so happy to see my old friend.

I always thought Rose and I were friends because she lived across the street and let me do things I couldn't do at home, like eat candy before lunch. During our visit I realized, had I met Rose as an adult, she would have become my good friend. That was the day I discovered that little children don’t grow up and develop their own personalities....we have them all along.

I love that memory of Rose. It was the last time I saw her.

Here are Rose's wonderful snowballs.
To serve: Place each snowball in a mini cupcake liner. 
To store: Keep in an airtight container to prevent the snowballs from dying out.