The curiosity towards 2017 runs wild today. The last hours of 2016 remain and its only hours before it is acceptable to kiss a stranger or down a whole bottle of champagne, or both. Well, or a majority of the world there is still some hours; Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and others hours ahead of us have already been poppin’ bottles.
Typing, sipping tea and eating an oliebol (plural: oliebollen) is a meditative combination, something I am happy to be doing on the last day of the year. Then again, like Scarlett O’Hara said, “After all, tomorrow is another day!” So, in reality, tomorrow is just another day, and, speaking in terms of holidays, another one to gorge on some delicious food. I just returned from last minute shopping for our day of cooking tomorrow for a friend’s dinner party. I will hopefully post something on it, saving the rambling for a follow up New Year’s post.
Something to take advantage of here in NL is the oliebol. It is a round, fried piece of dough; you could call it a Dutch donut. Its consistency, however, is closer to a zeppole. On the inside, it is thick, moist, and appropriately yeasty. Usually, these dough balls are filled with sultanas, raisins, and/or currents. Once fried, it is generously doused in powdered sugar. You sort of have to eat them on New Years Eve in Holland. While they can be sold during December as a festive treat, the Dutch tend to make them fresh and indulge in them today.
Appelflappen, the ones picture above, are essentially what many Americans call apple turnovers. The edges on these, though, are much crispier.They are made with special Dutch baking apples, which are more famous for their main role in appeltaart (Dutch apple pie.) Everything you see here is from Patisserie Vermeer. It is the Royal bakery, providing sweets to the Dutch King and Queen. It is not overrated by any means- they make the oliebollen apparently. Their chocolate truffles are also extraordinary, along with many other things. It is located in a small town outside of Amsterdam called Lisse.
Just a note: addressing the American counterparts of each dessert is more for gaining a sense of what they are, but not to define them by any means. It alludes to the transition of traditions through history, which I find wildly captivating. People sometimes forget how the Dutch possessed a main role in colonization in the New World. Instead, many are more concerned about which is the best coffee shop to visit when traveling to Amsterdam. Yes, shots are being fired.
Speaking of things being fired off, as I sit here, I hear the bangs of many testing out (or just annoyingly firing) their fireworks. In Holland, fireworks are able to be bought 3 days prior to the start of the New Year and can only be lit, legally, from 6 pm New Years Eve until 2 am New Years Day. It makes you feel as if you are in the middle of some military test grounds. Even the German Shepherds here are a little petrified. We relaxed them, as well as ourselves, by playing the Joe Cocker concert currently on TV. It is perhaps the most soothing thing to watch; unfortunately, you tend to forget some of the great songs that man produced out a few decades back. Its also easing my rapid shock from my boyfriend’s cat who tried to attack me for not giving her enough attention. Typing a blog post can be somewhat dangerous I guess.
So, by the time I actually finished this post, I have finished dinner and am relaxing on the couch. It was a lazy day and the menu for this evening ended up coming out a little bit buffet style. We ate, we laughed, we drank Brunello di Montalcino. I wish I had more photos, but I left my phone and camera aside to just enjoy company. It is hard to blog when I often forget to photograph the most intriguing parts of my days. I need to keep up… Ah, look! A New Year’s resolution!
Happy New Year to all!