Old Fashioned Coconut Patties
By Memere Rose Morin
Quelque chose souvenir – By Juliana L’Heureux

	One of the first memories I have of my mother-in-law Rose Morin L’Heureux was, actually, the story relayed from my husband Richard, who loved to tell about how his mother made coconut candy.  His family loved his mother’s candy, a simple recipe taught to Memere Rose by her mother Emma Martin Morin, who was raised in Roxton Falls, Quebec (or thereabouts).   Although my husband (Dick) could easily remember how his mother made the candy, he didn’t really trust his ability to recall the ingredient measurements. In other words, he could see his mother putting in a little of this or that, but how much?  So, after several years of doing an exhaustive literature search on the antique finders dream “eBay”, I found a stained and very old Acadian cookbook which I paid $7 for including shipping where, voila…..c’est ca!  On page 90 of a truly homespun cookbooks titled “Quelque Chose pour un Joyeux Noel: Acadian recipes for Christmas Dinners and Desserts” Edited by Mercedes Vidirne and illustrated by J.A. Allen, Batron Rouge, Claitor’s Book Store 1967, there was the recipe.   

Okay, the cookbook says it’s Acadian and my mother in law was definitely a Quebecois from Roxton Falls.  In my mind, this simply demonstrates how old this recipe might be= if it was learned by Grand-Memere Emma and taught to her daughter Rose.  It’s simple and here it is:

	1 whole coconut (I use one bag of coconut)
	4 cups white sugar
	Coconut milk plus cow’s milk to make one cup (I use whole milk or canned milk)

Drain the coconut milk into your measuring cup (or whole milk) – make one cup.  Break the shell from the coconut and cut into pieces. Remove the brown coating from the coconut pieces and grind the coconut fine using a meat grinder or other type of chopper or grater.  (Or, just use a bag of shredded coconut – that’s my interpretation).

Place the sugar and the milk in a heavy aluminum pot. Cook to the soft ball stage stirring often and do not leave mixture unattended.  Remove from the heat, add the shredded coconut.  Return to fire and cook to hard ball stage. Remove from heat again.  Stir until thick and drop by the spoonful onto waxed paper.  

You can add a drop of red food coloring to give the candy patties a pink color. 

These are terrific for family reunion.

Bon appetite.