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Time to “gourmetten” (Or: Fun in the Netherlands for New Year’s Eve)

Posted on December 28, 2016 by Niki

This year we are celebrating New Year’s Eve at Roger’s. One of the most important parts of that (besides hanging out with friends, of course!) is “gourmetten”. Below is a picture of all of the gourmetten foods Roger purchased for the evening, although we already know we won’t be able to eat everything.

preparing-for-gourmetten-and-new-years-eve-in-the-netherlands

“Gourmetten” is a Dutch tradition of frying meats and (to a lesser extent) vegetables on a small grill on the dinner table. You can see pictures of the gourmet grill in the 2015 New Year’s Eve blog post I made. Roger purchased a new grill for 2016, so I will try and take some photos of that in action. I can’t wait!

Categories: Culture, Food, Holidays | Tags: , | 1 Comment

Second day of Christmas (Or: Christmas tree in Bijenkorf)

Posted on December 26, 2016 by Niki

To celebrate the second day of Christmas in the Netherlands…

I was in Bijenkorf last week and noticed they put in their Christmas tree for the holidays. It’s so large (four floors high) that it is difficult to get a complete photograph of. But to give you an idea:

2016-christmas-tree-bijenkorf-the-hague-from-below

A look at the tree from below, standing on the ground floor

I love the blue theme!

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And a look at the tree from above

Last year’s Christmas tree was a red and gold theme.

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First day of Christmas (Or: Christmas tree in De Passage)

Posted on December 25, 2016 by Niki

To celebrate the first day of Christmas here in the Netherlands, here is a look at the Christmas tree within De Passage:

christmas-tree-de-passage-the-hague-2016

The fun story being this tree – in 2013 there were rumours that the Christmas tree would no longer come back because it ruined the view of the incoming Apple Store, but it was still present in 2013 (the Apple Store wasn’t open yet) and luckily present in 2014 and 2015.

And here we are in 2016! (This year I heard from someone that it wasn’t that Apple wanted to ban the Christmas tree so it didn’t ruin the store view, but that they wanted to decorate it themselves but the other stores were against that. Makes sense, but probably just another rumor.)

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

Bailey’s chocolate mousse (Or: A Christmas dessert by Roger)

Posted on December 24, 2016 by Niki

Roger made a chocolate mousse with Bailey’s liquor for Marco and I last week. It was actually a trial run for this weekend, when he will be making the dessert for his family:

baileys-chocolate-mousse-with-chocolate-shavings

Yum!

Last year’s Christmas dessert was a tiramisu dessert in a wine glass.

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Photos from a work Christmas party (Or: Oh – THOSE are crackers?)

Posted on December 22, 2016 by Niki

A few weeks back Marco and I attended a Christmas party for my work.

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A look at the table we were sitting at

christmas-crackers-in-the-netherlands

The red and white tubes are actually Christmas “crackers”, although all of these are broken open already. It’s basically a tube which two people pull apart to make a noise like a firecracker (“cracker”), apparently with a witty saying inside. Mine was something like “The things you dream about can’t keep you awake at night” or similar.

Ever since I moved to the Netherlands I thought these items were actually crackers – that is, food. Imagine my surprise when a coworker said we should take turns pulling them apart. Haha!

Continue reading →

Categories: Holidays, Working & Volunteering | Tags: | Leave a comment

Four year in the Netherlands! (Or: Another oliebollen photo)

Posted on December 18, 2016 by Niki

Much like my 3 years in the Netherlands anniversary post last year, I will post another oliebol themed photo:

oliebollen-pop-up-store-the-hague-2016

This is a photo of a pop-up store near the Grote Markt. Here’s an article about it in Dutch –   Pop-up oliebollenfabriek opent deuren in Den Haag. I confess I hadn’t quite understood the concept until reading the article. Alongside the traditional oliebollen and appelbeignets, they also sell champagne oliebollen. Except that it’s just in the name – there’s no actual champagne inside. The difference is in the sugar that they use. Some examples of the types of sugar they use include limoncello, salted caramel and chocolate sugar. In total there are 10 different types of sugar you can choose from and some samples for you to taste.

I can’t believe it – four years in the Netherlands already!

Categories: Holidays, The Hague | Tags: , | 2 Comments

Smoked meats (Or: At the local grocery store)

Posted on December 17, 2016 by Niki

A few random photos from an Albert Heijn in The Hague:

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It is smoked meats (meat covered in spices like paprika, black pepper, and similar).

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Just a random thing that caught my eye – “Hmm, this would make a good photo for the blog.” 🙂

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Coca-cola truck (Or: Christmas time in The Hague)

Posted on December 15, 2016 by Niki

A few days ago a coworker of mine showed me a few pictures she had taken around The Hague. As she comes from a warmer climate, she loves to see how Christmas is celebrated here — not that The Hague is that cold. Her favourite pastime seems to be visiting Christmas markets, which is pretty cool.

The first picture she took was of the holidays Coca-cola truck in the city centre:

coca-cola-christmas-trunk-in-the-hague-2016

And the other one she took was an awesome picture of the holiday lights at the Plein. I just love the hazy moon:

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In the middle, to the left of the Christmas tree, you can just make out the statue of Willem the Silent, which I previously blogged about.

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Pans by Vivo (Or: Albert Heijn promotion)

Posted on December 13, 2016 by Niki

Albert Heijn’s latest promotion is saving up for pans designed by Vivo. The last promotion Vivo did for Albert Heijn was kitchen knives. That promotion was kind of funny because people ended up complaining that the knives were too sharp. (Seriously? What did you expect?)

But this time we have luxury pans. Cool.

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Actually, Marco and I don’t really need anything, so we’ve been saving up for Roger to use them if he wants.

albert-heijn-promotion-stamp-card-pans-by-vivo

Since this photo was taken we’ve collected more stamps – at this point we have exactly enough.

Definitely “luxury” pans – one pan requires 60 stamps. In theory you receive one stamp for every 10 euros you spend, though there are ways to get additional stamps if you buy certain items and sometimes you get more stamps than you should.

We’ll probably keep collecting stamps on the off chance someone else needs them, but I don’t think we’ll attempt to fill another card. However, we have until mid-February so you never know.

Categories: Everyday purchases | Tags: | 3 Comments

An illusionary pizza (Or: Marco’s latest creation)

Posted on December 11, 2016 by Niki

Marco made some pizza last night:

slice-of-%22dessert-pizza%22

But this pizza wasn’t what it seemed. This pizza is actually a dessert! The pizza dough is white cake, while the cheese is a yellow cream (it was already yellow, but yellow food dye was added to make it an even brighter yellow). The pepperoni is actually strawberries, though in this case it was preserved strawberries out of a can because they tend to be darker in color. There is a bit of pineapple to look like onions, as well as a bit of mandarin to look like orange peppers. The “spices” on top of the cheese is actually shaved chocolate.

a-look-at-marcos-%22dessert-pizza%22

I never would have thought pizza would go so well with coffee! Here’s a look at his other creation, a dessert “hamburger and fries”.

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

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