It's Christmas Eve Eve.... and the baking and candy making started at my house last night.
This carousel tin belonged to my brother who left us in 2016. This is not a sad story about him though.
Although I don't know how he acquired this tin, we have seen it for many Christmases and other family gatherings, always filled with something yummy.
It seems it was put out by Sunshine Biscuits, maybe back in the 80s, not sure about the years really, not that it matters.
A good while after my brother was gone, his wife Tammy brought a few things to my Mom's house at one of our family gatherings. It was a random bunch of "stuff" and this was one of the things included. She had brought them in case any of his siblings would like to have any of it. I don't remember at the moment the things I actually took, but I thought someone else had called dibs on the tin, maybe my Mom?... maybe one of my other sisters? I don't know, but it was ok as long as someone who remembered the love took it.
Another good while after that, Tammy sold the house they were living in and bought a new one of her own nearer to where her daughters now live. She had invited me, my mother, my sisters and my brother Mark's wife to come spend the day and then stay for a pajama party one weekend. My Mom wasn't able to make it that day and the other's had family obligations at home, so I was the only one that stayed over night. We had fun ! The next day, after lunch, she told me she had a garage full of things that she was going to donate to charity and she asked me if I'd be interested in looking through it to see if there was anything I might like to have and of course I said yes. I couldn't believe my eyes at the amount of stuff she no longer wanted or needed. So we visited while we went though the boxes. In one box, I saw this tin. I picked it up, held it in the air and asked her if David had two of these tins. She told me he only had the one. I told her I had seen it when she brought it to Mom's house previously, but had thought someone else had claimed it, but if this was the only one, obviously nobody did! I couldn't snatch it up fast enough ! ha ha.... it was going home with me ! No way I could let such a valuable treasure get away. Later as I told my Mom about it, she seemed surprised also and said if she had known no one else had taken it, she would have taken it herself, but like me, she thought someone else was taking it.
Now I know this all sounds a bit like too much tadoo over a simple tin, but the history is full of love and fun times with David.
The thing I remember most that showed up in this tin was Snickerdoodle Cookies, a somewhat plain cookie on the inside that was rolled in cinnamon and sugar before baking.
With that in mind, I decided to include some of them and present them in the carousel tin on Christmas Day when our family gets together. I baked them last night because they keep well.
The only dilemma being that although he left them soft and chewy when he baked them (half cooked in my opinion LOL !) because some of my sisters and possibly my Mom liked them that way. It could have been his preference as well, but I can't remember that for sure. I prefer mine crisp, not over cooked, but still fully cooked. Yes, it's true, I like my cookies crunchy. So the first few pans I cooked normal and the last couple of pans I took out before they were done.
When I added them to the tin, I put the crunchy on one side and the chewy on the other. I'm only hoping the chewys don't steal the crunch from the crunchies. They are now waiting happily in the carousel tin for their Christmas Day presentation. There's going to be some extra smiles around the dessert table, I'm just sure of it.
I had some with coffee for my breakfast this morning. They were absolute crunchy perfection and really kicked my cup of coffee up a notch with their cinnamony goodness.
I hope you are all doing well and are enjoying the season, however you celebrate it.
