Party time Wasps

I had my book group friends over and produced this little dish of delights to have with coffee. One of my ladies said "are these called Wasps??" ah no - they are called Ginger nibbles! Anyway they loved them and wanted the recipe!

I was told of this treat at an Old Girls Association morning tea and (of course) because they were  'tried and true' I asked the maker (Catherine) for the recipe. She said it is an old one she has had for years. I thought rice bubbles would be fun to work with as I had my little helper with me on this day over the holidays!

They are a lovely group of women - I am the definitely the youngest member, the average age is about 70. We had a chocolate treat (my plan is to make that next!), as one of our group had her 95th birthday, and still going strong! I love talking to them, they have such amazing stories to share and have led interesting lives as dental nurses, teachers, secretaries, wives of diplomats and homemakers. One 70 year old was a PhysEd teacher, she had some stories to tell. My how things have changed!
It gave me the idea of collecting their 'tried and true' recipes and making a little book to raise some money for our schools affected by the earthquakes, it is on my 'things I must do list'!  Each month we have a speaker and although many are hard of hearing they are all intensely interested in what the speakers have to say.

This recipe is a very easy one to make - I think that is my mantra! The measurements are not in metric but it works the way it is so I decided not to mess with it. I had a few rice bubbles left over in my mixing bowl but on checking Catherine thinks it was because I used a measuring cup!

GINGER NIBBLES

6 oz sugar                                                      

½ lb dates finely chopped

2 ½ oz butter

Put in a saucepan, warm together and beat well.  Take off heat cool a bit and add:

4 tea cups rice bubbles (a measuring cup is too big)

1 teaspoon ground ginger                          

2 oz finely chopped preserved ginger
Mix together well

Roll into small balls and shake in coconut.