Kentucky Bourbon Balls

Christmas parties everywhere, every night. That's what December is for. Of Course, one should never show up to a party empty-handed, so here's a fun treat you can take with you next time you go to a holiday shindig. The glossy finish on the balls makes them a real treat that you can be proud of. They are a little labor intensive, but drag a friend into the kitchen and put on some dancing music and you will never notice.

Also, please please please keep these pure and use real Kentucky bourbon. I personally used Four Roses, but there are quite a number of good distilleries from Kentucky to choose from. These are not terribly strong, so you won't get tipsy off of them, but you can definitely taste the bourbon. This recipe is classic and definitely not that rum ball recipe that you find everywhere else. I personally much prefer these with their sweet, white insides.

Kentucky Bourbon Balls
From Beyond the Fence (a Kentucky cookbook)

1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup bourbon
6 tablespoons butter, melted
5 cups powdered sugar, sifted
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 block paraffin wax, shaved
Whole pecans, 1 to top each bourbon ball with

Spread chopped nuts in a shallow bowl and pour bourbon over nuts. Let soak overnight. The following day, in a separate bowl, combine butter, 4 cups sugar, and soaked nuts Mix thoroughly until mixture is consistent. Add remaining 1 cup sugar and mix well by hand. Using 1 tablespoon scoop, evenly scoop balls, rolling each into a sphere in your hand. Lay rolled balls on wax paper. Chill balls for at least 10 minutes in the fridge. In the meantime, prepare chocolate by melting chocolate and wax in a double boiler. Stir until melted and consistent throughout. Dip each ball into chocolate with a toothpick and allow excess chocolate to drip off before returning to wax paper. Place a pecan half on top of each ball before the chocolate hardens.

Should make 48 balls (I suggest to make them smaller than a tablespoon to get 48)

Pecan Pie Bars

• Yay fall. I made these last week for a Statistics study session. Only 4 people came, so there were plenty of leftovers for me to take to Tuesday Night at my friends' house, where the boys quickly devoured them. As you can see, I barely managed to get a picture before these bars disappeared!
• Pecan Pie Bars
  Adapted from Southern Living's Utterly Deadly Pecan Pie
• 2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoons salt
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 4-6 tablespoons cold water
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 8 large eggs
• 3 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup milk milk
• 2 tablespoons bourbon
• 3 cups pecan halves
• Preheat oven to 350. Mix flour and salt into a bowl, add oil; mix with a fork. Sprinkle water 1 tablespoon at a time until moistened and dough forms a bowl. If it seems to wet (should be the consistency of a pie crust dough), add flour; too dry, add water. Press into the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan until the bottom is completely and evenly covered. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Bake for approximately 10 minutes.

• Remove crust/pan from oven and let cool. Turn oven to 325°.  Whisk eggs in a large bowl until foamy; whisk in brown sugar and next 6 ingredients. Pour mixture into pan (on top of the crust), and top with pecan halves. Bake at 325° for 30 minutes; reduce oven temperature to 300°, and bake 30 more minutes. Turn oven off, and let pie stand in oven, with door closed, 3 hours.