Chocolate Tradition

Every December when we were kids, my mom would take us down to ZCMI (our local department store) where she'd buy giant bricks of yummy white and milk chocolate for dipping her amazing peanut butter balls and pretzels. We'd come home and she'd make the pb concoction and roll it all into bite size balls and then she'd put the pan of peanut butter goodness out on the deck to freeze (Utah winters) before dipping them in the chocolate. My sister and I would sneak outside throughout the rest of the evening and steal the balls. They were delicious even without chocolate! My mom would make enough for our family, the neighbors, and our cousins, and we'd snack on homemade Christmas treats throughout the season.

My sister and I carried on the tradition for a year or two when we were in high school, with my mom's help of course, but then we just stopped. After probably five ears without these delectable treats, I felt domestic one Christmas and decided to go for it, and for maybe eight years now, I've been rolling peanut butter balls and hand-dipping them and loads of pretzels every December. I do two things different though: 1. I've incorporated dark chocolate into the mix because my husband's family loves the dark; and 2. I put the peanut butter balls in the freezer instead of on the deck. I still sneak one or two though before I dip them!

Thanks Mom for instilling this chocolaty, time-consuming tradition in me. Sometimes I want to just buy chocolate-dipped pretzels from Costco, but I know that I can't find your peanut butter balls anywhere else, so I will roll on.


Wanna take a listen to our 12 Days of Christmas Videos - Day 5? It's David Sedaris!