Mimi’s Bourbon Balls

"For several years, I have made bourbon balls with a friend, using her mother's handwritten recipe straight from New Orleans. So imagine my surprise when I found the exact same recipe in “Joy of Cooking.” Since the recipe includes vanilla wafers as a primary ingredient, I suspect that it does not predate World War II. My friend Nancy's passion for bourbon balls is undiminished from the time she first imbibed them. While in college at SMU, before the Christmas holidays Nancy got a tin from home -- her mother Mimi's bourbon balls. She and her roommate devoured the entire lovely, sugary contents. As nice young ladies with little or no experience with liquor, it was both novel and incendiary. I suspect that bourbon balls may become more powerful when stored. --Posey Boicourt..."