Chocolate covered coconut balls are a recipe from my childhood. My mom would make them every year for Christmas to take around to our friends and neighbors. I didn’t like them at all. Haha! Oh how things change!
Is there an age you reach that you start looking backward instead of forward or is this just a me thing? I’ve been very nostalgic lately and it seems to grow more and more so as the years move on.
Yes, I still hope and dream. I still am loving life and where it’s taking me, but I’ve found this fondness for time and our stories. As a little girl I had no idea that the past little moments would one day be big ones to me. Coconut chocolate balls were absolutely not on my radar as ever mattering. In fact, I hated them, but there’s a reason they are here.
Home was a Safe Haven
I grew up on a very small private road in Vancouver, Washington. Our street was shaped like the letter T. You entered at what would be the bottom of the T and drove down until you had to go left or right. I was off to the right and I can still see our big rhododendron bushes lining our yard and the way the fog hung in the air as we walked to school each morning.
Every Christmas, lights would appear on houses and Christmas trees in windows and as I wandered home from school careful to not walk too close on the right where the huge mean poodles lived, and quick to walk past a field on the left where occasionally the rottweilers got out of their fence and would chase us barking and nipping at our buns (it was horrifying to say the least) I would picture all of the goodies Mom would be standing at the kitchen island making.
As a kid you don’t really think about other kids and their homes. I just assumed all families were doing what we were. All kids were safe and happy. All moms were full time at home cleaning house and preparing wonderful meals and goodies. I know better now. I grew up in a safe haven. A place of love and peace. I find myself looking back as the mother of children now and understanding what I am to create and who I am to be because of these memories of my family.
Connecting in the Kitchen
Peanut butter balls were my favorite. All dipped in chocolate like a Reese’s peanut butter cup. But every year Mom made a batch of the dreaded coconut balls too. GAG!! Ugh, all those stringy strands of pungent coconut like you’re eating a hairball from our little Tabby cat.
But remember, I’m nostalgic, and looking back all while I’m circling my arms around my little ones so one day I found myself wanting to connect with our teenager and realized, she adores coconut and I have just the recipe to make with her. A grandmother’s love entered that kitchen as we rolled ball after ball of coconut. I was able to weave generations and hearts together and suddenly the hated coconut balls weren’t hated at all, but instead they became a treasure between a mother and a daughter.
What Ingredients Do I Need for Chocolate Covered Coconut Balls?
Sometimes all you need is a few simple ingredients