1. Cream the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer.
2. Continue beating and gradually add the flour, rum, vanilla and salt. Combine well. 3. With the motor off, add chopped macadamia nuts, then beat again on a slow speed until nuts are mixed through evenly. 4. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour. 5. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. 6. Grease a cookie sheet with shortening. Form balls by hand so they are 3/4 inch in diameter (the size of a quarter). Bake on middle rack of oven for 35 minutes. 7. Remove from oven. Cool slightly and roll in confect- ioners' sugar. When completely cool, roll in sugar again to give a snowy appearance. Comments: These bite-size confections blend two intriguing flavors...rum and crunchy macadamia nuts from the South Pacific. They are great to make ahead and keep fresh in a pretty tin through the holidays...if they last that long.
