These are chocolates made with mashed potatoes, and believe it or not, they are just as much fun to make as they are to eat, said Pitt Meadows Councillor Gwen O'Connell.

"When my mom used to make them, she would sometimes let us help," she recounted. "But a lot of times she would make them after we went bed, so they would be a surprise for us. Or, at least that is what she said. Mom would hide them in the back of the freezer. Once we got a little older, we would go snooping to find them."

Now an adult with children of her own, O'Connell said the treats continue as a family Christmas tradition. And she, too, makes them after the kids are in bed. and does her best to hide them away.

"Merry Christmas, everyone!"

Chocolate mashed potatoes

Ingredients:

2½ cups icing sugar

¾ cup mashed potatoes; do not add milk or butter to these

4 cups of coconut

1 tsp. vanilla

You mix everything together in a large bowl and then everyone helps by rolling them into small balls. You then place the small balls on a piece of wax paper and let them dry while you make the chocolate sauce to dip them in.

Chocolate sauce:

4 squares of unsweetened chocolate

¹/3 of a small block of paraffin wax

½ cup of chocolate chips

Melt the above mixture in a double boiler.

Dip the balls into the chocolate mixture and let them harden on sheet of wax paper.

These are very sweet, and you can place them on a plate with other homemade chocolates to serve them.

- Gwen O'Connell Pitt Meadows Councillor