Cinnamon Balls

The East and the West – the East where you have the saints and gurus and the West where you have materialism; the East where you have lack of democracy and the West where you have too much freedom; the East where God is seen in everything and the West where “I” is everything.  This week I was told of another difference – apparently the women in the East have no stress compared to the women in the West.  The reasons I am told are because the women in the West, time and again have to prove themselves to be better than their male counterparts.  You do not have this in the East.  Women there know they would never be treated as equals with men, so accept that.  They do not need to prove anything to anyone.  

Men and women can never be the same.  However, they do deserve to have equal rights and status in society.  Then why are men still paid more than women for the same job in the West?  Why do we still have so less women in the Parliaments?  What is the ratio of the male world leaders to the female world leaders?  We have come a long way  in the emancipation of women, but still have a long journey ahead of us.  And equality of man and woman is not only for the West or for the East – this is something the world will embrace.  Gender prejudice, like all other prejudices, we should try wipe off from the face of the earth.  Equality of sexes is not longer just a good idea – it is one of the prerequisites to peace.

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Makes: 18 balls

 

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups ground almonds

½ cup caster sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

2 egg whites

Oil, for greasing

Icing sugar, for dredging

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.  Grease a large baking sheet with oil.  
2. Mix together the ground almonds, sugar and cinnamon.  
3. Whisk the egg whites until they begin to stiffen and fold enough egg white into the almonds to make a fairly firm mixture.  
4. Wet your hands with cold water and roll small spoonfuls of the mixture into balls.  
5. Place these at intervals on the baking sheet.  
6. Bake for about 15 minutes in the centre of the oven.  They should be slightly soft inside.  
7. Place a spatula under the balls to release them from the baking sheet and leave to cool.  
8. Sift a little icing sugar on to a pate and when the balls are cold, slide them on the plate.  
9. Shake gently to cover the balls in sugar and store in an air tight container.