A Dutch Gift

Every year, Mom and Dad gave each family a gift for Christmas.  In the past it’s been tents, family excursions, but this year it was a nod to our Dutch roots.  A big bin filled with tasty treats and Delft blue goodness!!

Mom and Dad both immigrated to Canada from Holland through Pier 21 as children and settled with their families in Ontario. { You can read about our Christmas gift family tour of Pier 21 HERE. } Then they met, married and started their family before moving to Nova Scotia in 1974, where I arrived the following year.  They farmed here in Nova Scotia from then until they retired just over a year ago.  You can read that story HERE.

But anyway, this isn’t a family history lesson! This is about the goody basket!  Guys!!  So many treats I remember from being a kid, treats we still enjoy – so much goodness!  And this is actually an introduction to some other things I haven’t had before but look forward to having again.

I’m not going to tell you what each thing is or review it. I know some people will know what some of these treats are, some might cringe at the yummy ‘double-salt’ candies and for others this might be a nice walk down memory lane.  For example, the King peppermints, which would be handed out at the beginning of the sermon each and every Sunday morning! I love it when Mom still digs a roll out.

One of the non-edible goodies was this Delft blue ornament.  I love it so much!  In fact, I may make next year’s Christmas tree all blue and white as an ode to my Dutch roots.  What do you think?

Every Christmas, without fail, we are given a Chocolate letter, on of the traditions in not just our family, but a lot of Dutch families, too.  Sometimes we get the correct letter and sometimes we get a fun poem explaining why we’re getting the letter D or I or P when our name starts with L.  And that is all part of the fun, too!  Sometimes we play tricks on our parents and slip a deck of cards in our box and eat the chocolate long before we are supposed to unwrap gifts 😉

Christmas is filled with traditions, new and old and it’s exciting to see how each Christmas plays out, year by year.  I know it is long past us now, but still, the fond memories live on.

Colourfully yours,

Lori