Food

Dutch "poffertjes" require a special frying pan, but fortunately they also come ready made for the microwave. They are small balls, which taste like pancakes. They are covered with powder sugar and you dip them in real butter.

They are loved by children here. And since I never grew up, I love them too.

Did this on a smaller scale. I didn't add any salt nor garlic powder nor tomato paste. I used the seasonings that came with the noodles and that sparingly. Cheese is minimum. Not a bad dish.

I have cheese with ramen a lot and also eggs as well but i9 cook the ramen 1st and then add eggs in later.

I am a vegetarian too. Herbivores taste the best.

I am sure that somewhere in the Netherlands you can buy pumpkins, but I have no idea where. So, pumpkin pie is unpopular here. I have never seen it. No idea how it tastes like.

I have eaten a pie with pecan and bananas, but that too is rare. Pecan is available in chocolate or in ice cream. And even as nuts to be eaten with a drink.

Apple pie is very popular here. Of course we add sugared whipped cream to it.

The American variation looks a bit dull. Ours look like this:





We have specialized shops selling all kinds of cakes and pies. Often a bakery sells those and fresh bread too.



That one above is a typical bakery, photographed during the Easter season, so they sell all kinds of candy eggs too. Mostly using chocolate, praline or marzipan.



The shop above doesn't sell bread. It is photographed just before Sinterklaas. That is a children's tradition, which predates Santa. The 5th of December in the Netherlands and the 6th in Belgium is his birthday. So the shops are themed to that festivity. A typical gift is a chocolate letter, resembling the first letter of the first name of the child. Instead of chocolate this pastry is common during Sinterklaas too.

Everything you see in those shops is hand made by a baker. Some even make their own chocolate letters. Only supermarkets sell stuff made in factories.

When you are asleep, the baker is making fresh bread and pastries.

Edit: I almost forgot "dolls" made of speculaas. Speculaas is eaten all year round with coffee or tea, but the dolls are only available during Sinterklaas.

That bakery looks almost exactly like a bakery close to my house (Edmonton, Canada) which is German or Austrian based. I go there when I want really good bread. Also I always look at all of the fantastic desserts but never buy them.

Talking about pastries...

Today I had a pastry, which we Dutch call a "roombroodje" (which means cream bun). It is a bun of sweet white bread, filled with vanilla cream, and decorated with powdered sugar.

It appears to be typical Dutch, because there was no entry about it in the English Wikipedia.

I am making spaghetti and meat balls this evening.

I have found that the air fryer is just excellent for meat balls, i made chicken balls the other day and they turned out great.

I love simple dishes, like steamed dishes. Today I am eating chicken with cauliflower, broccoli, peas, mushroom and risotto with a cheese sauce. All is fresh and only takes 7 minutes in the microwave.

I'm making a roulade. The worst thing about it is that it takes about an hour in the oven. In the meantime the delicious smell is driving me nuts.

An oliebol is a Dutch dumpling traditionally eaten during New Year.



They are either homemade, sold by bakeries or sold at markets and streets.



Young woman with a cooking pot filled with oliebollen (plural of oliebol, painted by Aelbert Cuyp, ca. 1652).



An appelflap is a kind of apple fritter, which is usually eaten during New Year too.

Appelflap is the Dutch name for a type of pastry. The appelflap is made of puff pastry, is triangular in shape and filled with a mixture of apple cubes and cinnamon, possibly supplemented with almond paste, succade, currants, and/or raisins. During or immediately after baking, granulated sugar is sprinkled over the appelflap. Quality appelflappen (plural of appelflap) are distinguished by the use of butter instead of margarine and the addition of lemon zest and a little rum flavor in the filling.

Both the oliebol and appelflap should be served warm, but can also be eaten cold.

Happy New Year!

Nom nom nom nom nom

Made a batch of Beerfish cookiebiscuits last night.

They are what their name suggests a cross between cookies and biscuits. Larger than a cookie, smaller than a biscuit, a bit of a rise like a biscuit but not to full biscuit height, squashed a bit like a cookie.

I usually just wing the recipe, this latest batch is really really good. I think the reason is for a change i used real butter, also some raisins and just the right amount of vanilla.

Yum yum