Mary Bilyeu, Contributor

If celebrating Chanukkah grants a girl permission to eat fried foods, then bring on the doughnuts!

Now to you, these adorable little treats might look like simple doughnut holes drizzled with chocolate and sprinkled with coconut; but to me, they have much more significance.

Let me tell you a story....

In July, 2006, I separated from my now-ex-husband. I went into super frugal mode, anticipating legal fees and limited access to bank accounts and such. So while I was at the grocery store one day, I bought a box of day-old doughnut holes for 50 cents, figuring that they couldn't be too bad.

They were bad. They were very stale.

But I wasn't going to waste food — nope. So I tried to reinvent them.

I dunked the doughnuts into chocolate and then rolled them into toasted coconut. They were like truffles! And the firmness of the stale treats kept them from crumbling in the chocolate, while the chocolate helped to forgive some of the firmness.

The transformed doughnuts holes were a huge success!

And then I read that Better Homes and Gardens magazine, which holds regular contests with varying themes, was seeking hand-held desserts. Hmmmm.... I skewered the doughnuts holes, gave them a name and sent the recipe in to BHG.

And you know what? A few months later, I received a letter from the magazine. My ridiculous little stale doughnuts dunked into chocolate had been modified very slightly, but were still awarded an Honorable Mention! And, in addition to the recipe being featured in the magazine, I also won a cash prize... $250.

As the Psychedelic Furs sing in "Love My Way": "You can never win or lose if you don't run the race!"

Doughnut Delights

2/3 cup flaked coconut
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 1/2 teaspoons shortening
24 glazed doughnut holes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spread coconut in shallow baking pan. Bake for 10 minutes or until toasted, stirring two or three times (watch closely toward end of baking to prevent coconut from burning). Set aside to cool.

In a medium microwave-safe bowl place chocolate pieces and shortening. Microwave on 50 percent power (medium) for 1 to 2 minutes or until chocolate is melted and smooth, stirring after each minute.

Arrange doughnut holes on tray or baking sheet lined with waxed paper. Spoon chocolate over each doughnut hole and sprinkle with coconut. Let stand until set, about 30 minutes.

To serve, arrange doughnut holes on a platter. If desired, thread 2 doughnut holes on bamboo skewer; arrange spoke fashion on a platter. Decorate skewer ends with curling ribbon, choosing colors to fit the occasion.

Makes 24 doughnut holes.

Mary Bilyeu has won or placed in more than 60 cooking contests and writes about her adventures in the kitchen. She was thrilled to have her post about Scottish Oatmeal Shortbread named as one of the daily "Best of the Blogs" by the prestigious Food News Journal.

Go visit Mary's blog — Food Floozie — on which she enthuses and effuses over all things food-related. Feel free to email her with questions or comments or suggestions: yentamary@gmail.com.

The phrase "You Should Only Be Happy" (written in Hebrew on the stone pictured in this post) comes from Deuteronomy 16:15 and is a wish for all her readers as they cook along with her ... may you always be happy here.