bonco

I spotted these two baking tins at a local thrift store the other day. I very nearly left them there, they looked really rusty and dirty. I naively thought no amount of cleaning would improve them, you see I mistook all the dirt for rust as it turns out. I knew that Bonco tin ware is quite a hot collectible though, and I've never, ever seen trays with ferns on them!! So I just couldn't leave them there. Once I was home I thought I'd have a little go at cleaning them up. I've only cleaned one so far, the left one in case it wasn't clear! The photo doesn't really do the transformation justice! But after around half an hour of steel wool rubbing a nice tray emerged, with no rust and almost all the marks disappeared and it's quite shiny and new looking too!

I'm thinking (and I could be totally wrong) that they are possibly trays for cinnamon oysters? I hope so because that's a recipe that I've always wanted to try. What to you think knowledgeable blog readers? I won't be in a hurry to pass up baking tins at the thrift store again either, now I know they can clean up nicely with a bit of elbow grease.

The buns pictured are unrelated to the tins, lovely Dee posted the recipe today and I just happened to have some left over mashed potato and the kids and I whipped these up for our afternoon tea. Perfect activity for the school holidays and a rainy, cool afternoon. Do try them, they are easy and yum!