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Reester bunny (Or: Chocolate and eggs everywhere)

Posted on March 11, 2018 by Niki

Today Marco and I went to Kelly’s Expat Shopping here in The Hague. It’s a great store for American and British food and a store I’ve blogged about before. The one thing I get almost every time is Ritz crackers. Yum! Snagged another box today…

I was quite amused by the “Reester bunny” you could buy:

Reese's chocolate bunny (Or Reester bunny)

Their Easter selection is pretty good when it comes to chocolate, I must admit. Lots of Cadbury eggs.

Pop or soda for 10 euros - 12 pack

Did you know it costs 10 euros for a 12 pack of pop/soda? And that’s a discounted price! Back home you could get it for 2/$5 during the right sale. Of course, that’s just how it goes when you’re an expat so far from home.

And here is a fun photo from the Albert Heijn XL on Elandstraat:

Chocolate easter eggs for sale at Albert Heijn XL, The HagueAnyone need any chocolate eggs? There are lots of flavors to choose from… But still, it doesn’t compare to the Reester bunny. Don’t you just want to nibble on those ears?

Categories: Food, Holidays, The Hague | Tags: , , | 4 Comments

Brooklyn (Or: Burgers and steaks!)

Posted on February 4, 2018 by Niki

Marco, Roger and I visited Brooklyn burgers and steaks in Scheveningen a few weeks back. Marco had a Mexican burger and I had a classic burger.

Check out Roger’s New York strip steak:

Steak at Brooklyn burgers and steaks, Scheveningen

He approved!

And here’s my apple pie with powdered sugar on top:

Apple pie at Brooklyn burger and steaks, Scheveningen.jpg

Interesting thing about this apple pie… I actually didn’t want it, but I got tripped up with my Dutch. I wanted to say “bakje koffie” (small cup of coffee) but instead said “gebakje koffie”. Gebak is the word for dessert/pastry. Since Marco and Roger had both ordered apple pie and coffee before me, that’s what she thought I wanted. Opps. It was good though! I just had to make room…

Categories: Food, Scheveningen | Tags: | Leave a comment

End of the weekend (Or: Oh no! Watch out!)

Posted on January 28, 2018 by Niki

Sign at MingleMush, the food hall I blogged about a few months back:

Sign at MingleMush in The Hague - stressed people

Loosely translated as: “Doe voorzichtig! Je gaat naar buiten waar iedereen gestrest is. Red jezelf en blijf met ons!”

Silly Mondays…

Categories: Food, The Hague | Tags: | Leave a comment

One very windy day (Or: Last week’s wind storm)

Posted on January 21, 2018 by Niki

On Thursday Europe was hit with a “wind storm”, which sounds a lot wussier than it actually was. Not much rain, but it still managed to bring the country to a halt for the day. The good (or bad) news was that the peak of the storm was around 11am, which meant that most people were able to get into work. But getting home was another matter entirely…

By about 10 or 10:30am The Hague tram system was shut down. Not surprising, since about 15 minutes before the shutdown someone tweeted a photo of a tram shelter’s roof after it flew off in the wind. Two glass panels actually – the second one is behind the right tram shelter. (Here’s a look at a tram stop roof in better times.) The buses shut down about 15 minutes after the trams.

The Washington Post has an article with a collection of photos and videos from the storm (including the person flying across the plaza in Den Bosch, which every Dutch person has seen at least once now, and the guy too stubborn to let go of his bike in The Hague).

The only picture I have of the day is someone standing in the glass at a tram stop that night:

Broken glass at tram stop, The Hague

 

Categories: The Hague, Transportation | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Zuurkool (Or: A typical winter meal)

Posted on January 13, 2018 by Niki

About once a year Marco and I ask his mom to bring over zuurkool, which is similar to the German sauerkraut. We can add this to the list of things I would have hated as a kid!

First, start with smoked sausage from Hema:

Smoked sausage from Hema\

Cook that in water for 15-20 minutes.

Then add the zuurkool, which literally translates to ‘sour cabbage’. In this case the zuurkool is combined with potatoes and smashed until there is nothing left to smash. Sounds delicious, right?

Dutch zuurkool (or sauerkraut)

Then add gravy. Bonus points if you can show off your Dutch heritage by successfully building a dam so that the gravy doesn’t leak out.

it’s hard to describe the taste… sour. Slightly off. But exactly what I want, once a year on a cold winter’s day.

Categories: Culture, Food | 4 Comments

Bijenkorf in The Hague (Or: Holiday decorations, 2017)

Posted on January 8, 2018 by Niki

I was looking through my photos from last month and realized that I hadn’t posted my photos of Bijenkorf yet!

Christmas lights Bijenkorf, The Hague, 2017

Holiday lights (the same every year, but always pretty!)

Bijenkorf does different window decorations every year. A lot of businesses in The Hague take part in holiday window displays (see the TINK competition).

Christmas window display, Bijenkorf, The Hague (2)

And this one:

Christmas window display, Bijenkorf, The Hague (1)

This year the Christmas tree was rather simple, at least compared to previous years:

Christmas tree, Bijenkorf, The Hague 2017

It was of course as tall as ever – the base started at the top of the ground floor, with the peak reaching to floor 5. As evidenced by the escalators at the left…

Christmas ornaments, Bijenkorf, The Hague, 2017

Check out the Coke and Diet Coke can ornaments in the upper right. I especially like the slightly ‘frosty’ look. Cute!

Categories: Holidays, The Hague | Tags: , | 4 Comments

Fireworks! (Or: The Hague exploded last night)

Posted on January 1, 2018 by Niki

I found a cool link on Youtube of last night’s fireworks, taken from above the city with a 4K drone. It lasts about 5 minutes and is not to be missed!

Here’s a look at our ‘Christmas table’ on the second day of Christmas:

Christmas table 2017.jpg

Yes, we were streaming a fake fireplace through Hulu!

In the glass was a raspberry spoom (sorbet ice cream). Yum! The two bottles were purchased at The Hague’s Royal Christmas fair.

But seriously – go back and check out that video. It does a good job of showing how crazy the Netherlands can get at New Year’s Eve.

Categories: Food, Holidays | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Chocolate Christmas decorations (Or: Hop & Stork)

Posted on December 24, 2017 by Niki

Recent photos that I took of Hop & Stork in De Passage, a covered shopping area in the heart of The Hague. The creations they can make with chocolate are just insane…

Hop and stork chocolate shop Christmas decorations, 2017 3

Dressed up and on your way to a fancy Christmas soirée…

Hop and stork chocolate shop Christmas decorations, 2017 2

Hop and stork chocolate shop Christmas decorations, 2017

Hop and stork chocolate shop Christmas decorations, 2017 4

Tasty!

Categories: Dordrecht, Food, Holidays, The Hague | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Christmas shopping on the Fred (Or: Life-sized Disney decorations)

Posted on December 23, 2017 by Niki

A few days back I was doing some Christmas shopping at “The Fred” which is short for Frederick Hendriklaan, a street in the Statenkwartier neighborhood. There are a lot of international organizations and businesses in this part of The Hague.

Much to my delight, I saw some cute Christmas decorations:

Mickey Mouse at the De Fred, The Hague, Christmas 2017

There was also Pluto:

Pluto at the De Fred, The Hague, Christmas 2017

And Olaf:

Olaf at the De Fred, The Hague, Christmas 2017

I never knew how popular Frozen was until I went to Disneyland Paris last month…

Apparently there was also Minnie Mouse and Goofy, but I missed those (news article in Dutch).

Categories: Holidays, The Hague | Tags: | Leave a comment

5 years in the Netherlands (Or: Wow!)

Posted on December 18, 2017 by Niki

Today marks five years to the day since I arrived in the Netherlands. It is amazing how time files… Yesterday was otherwise a very typical December day:

  1. We visited the Christmas Fair at the Lange Voorhout
  2. We went grocery shopping at the local Albert Heijn (this one being of the “XL” variety over on Elandstraat)
  3. We baked cookies (see below)
  4. We started working on Christmas cards… we are really behind on the international cards this year!

To mark the occasion of “five years in the Netherlands” I made lemon cookies. You can find the recipe in Dutch over at OhMyFoodness. It’s one of my favorite recipes to make. The cookies turn out very lemony and chewy – just the way I like it!

A plate full of lemon cookies

Five years! I couldn’t bake five years ago if my life depended on it…

Categories: Food, Holidays, Marco&Niki | Tags: , | 2 Comments

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