Crushin'

I have a new culinary crush. I think it's the accent. Or perhaps, I want to run my fingers through his hair. Or, I just really want him to serve me crepes in my jammies.

On a almost related note, I'm finished with my holiday gift baking. The tally this year was 18 liquor loaves, dozens and dozens of bourbon balls, and a huge pan of the espresso-I-will-stab-you-with-a-clicky-pen-if-you-claim-to-be-allergic-after scarfing-one brownies.

My gift to you this year is the recipe for bourbon balls. I don't know where it came from. The ingredient list and the barest of instructions is scribbled on a partial piece of paper. . . so I either jotted it down at someone's home or copied it on the fly. It's been in the recipe box for many years. It makes some darn tasty nibblies.

In a food processor, whir up 1 box vanilla wafers. Add: 1/2 cup each pecans and golden raisins, 2 TBLS cocoa powder, 1/4 cup bourbon, 6 TBLS corn syrup and whir until a uniform paste. Roll bits about the size of a candied cherry in powdered sugar and store in the frig. This is one of those things that tastes better after it has had time to "mellow" in the fridge a bit. Also, if you serve them room temp rather than straight from the fridge (don't judge me) . . . they are more bourbony.