Sunday 8 April 2012
Friends, the day of Dian's birthday had arrived. It was made doubly pleasurable by being on the same day as Easter Sunday. We started the day with STOLLEN GOODS. Actually, a stollen is a cake filled with almond paste and it used to be baked to as much as one meter in length for women who had just given birth, for her family. The one we had was filled with raisins and had a really thick paste inside. We also had hard boiled eggs, sausage rolls and ham. Roos had already been up making Dian's carrot cake and when she left to ride her horse we were entrusted to take it out when it was fully baked. We may have erred on the early side but it was still delicious.
The first guests, Harrie and Ietje, nearby Neerkant neighbors, arrived bearing a basket of locally-made honey and Dian's new favorite, Old Amsterdam cheese. Later our friends the Smalhouts from Amsterdam drove down. We gave everyone a peek at all the souvenirs we had acquired thus far. There was great food, music (Nicole and Dian on guitar and everyone singing along) and later, after Roos' brother and his wife arrived, we sat down to a nine course (!) Japanese meal.
The intensity of cousin Roos was something to behold as she started with sashimi, then wokked the salmon, seaweed, rice, shrimp, beef, mushrooms, each separately and served with chop sticks on rectangular china plates. Dang!
We had fun earlier catching Herman, Deborah, Benji and Paulo up on what we'd been doing since we pulled into their driveway in Amsterdam ("looking like the Beverly Hillbillies," to quote Deborah) nine months earlier. They thoughtfully brought an array of gifts typical of Holland including a Crabtree and Evelyn room freshener spray that Deborah (again) cracked we might use after cooking chili beans in the van. They drove back to Amsterdam after a warm afternoon get-together and reminded us we were welcome to visit again. The day was lovely and Dian couldn't have asked for a more perfect way to celebrate the beginning of her 56th year.
Friends, the day of Dian's birthday had arrived. It was made doubly pleasurable by being on the same day as Easter Sunday. We started the day with STOLLEN GOODS. Actually, a stollen is a cake filled with almond paste and it used to be baked to as much as one meter in length for women who had just given birth, for her family. The one we had was filled with raisins and had a really thick paste inside. We also had hard boiled eggs, sausage rolls and ham. Roos had already been up making Dian's carrot cake and when she left to ride her horse we were entrusted to take it out when it was fully baked. We may have erred on the early side but it was still delicious.
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| Deborah and Dian |
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| Dian and Benji |
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| Roos, Dian and Herman |
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| Henri, Dian and Harry |
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| Ietje, Nicole and Dian |
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| Dian, Paolo and Deborah |
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| A tour of the van...lasts about one minute. |
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| Sashimi (tuna, salmon and scallops with ginger, wasabi and soy sauce) |
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| Seaweed |
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| Roos and her sister-in-law, Inge |
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| Fried rice and vegetables with "local" seaweed |
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| Roos' brother Gert, Nicole and Dian |
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| Charles, Harry, Ietje, Inge and Roos |
The guest list of this extra special birthday/Easter extravaganza will never be repeated. And, by the looks of the food photos, the menu was a one of a kind culinary triumph! What a grand and glorious celebration!
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