Soar-Dream-France: Building a Collection

This season I find myself building a collection of Christmas Cookie tins. I didn't really expect to be enjoying this cookie making so much, AND I needed a place to put them.

Oh, I do have plastic containers, but tins are so much more fun. Some I've bought, some were gifts, and some came full of store bought cookies all their own.

The treat there is I get to eat all of those cookies in those tins before they are ready for the cookies of my very own.

I've told you the pecan ball story already. That batch in the photo above is the result of my "ball surrender!" I made rolls and then cut them into standard, more uniform, round cookies. And then, you see the results of my almond strip efforts.

If I say so myself, they are excellent, very pretty and easy to make. Almond strips were my Mom's favorite Christmas Cookie. She had a special recipe that I believe she got from Nannie. My sister may have THAT recipe, but this recipe is NOT it!

We shall see when I get back to St. Louis, if Kat can produce it for me. Otherwise, I'm still good. I also realize that as much as I can't duplicate the cookies from my childhood, I really can't duplicate those experiences either.

The closest I'm coming is feeling Mom (and sometimes Nannie too) very present all the while I bake. The memories bring them here. Mom sometimes made 25 different Christmas Cookies and she had tins for all of them They were all fun and pretty.

Some she'd brought back to the states with her from England (kind of like me)!

My tins are just as pretty and actually have more of a French flavor! One in particular that was a gift from Jane, made me smile. It's one of the silver tins of sites of France that have chocolate in them during the holidays. This one is Chateau de Chantilly. It looked like all the others I'd seen, until my magic almond strips were laid in on top of tin foil...et voila. Look at those lights and reflections!