Auteur: vera@gtc

Today around here

Today was the 5th day of March. Today was the first day that felt like spring. It was the warmest 5th March ever recorded in the Netherlands. My son played outside the whole afternoon without a jacket. Today I properly…

Deciding what to grow

At the end of February, the vegetable garden is still in a state of planning. Because for many of us space and time are limited and complete self-sufficiency is a distant dream, we have to somehow limit what we grow.…

Mexican brownies

On Saturday we invited friends over for dinner. I decided to make a vegetarian chili with cornbread topping, because: a) we love chili b) it could be made in advance, assembled at dinner time and ready baked in 25 minutes…

Sweet and sour quinces with dried fruits

Quince (Cydonia oblonga) is right at the top of my fruit-trees-I-would-plant-if-I-had-any-room-left list. Right now, I don’t have any space left in my garden to plant one. That, however, does not really stop me. I planted quince “Champion” in my parents’…

Edible garden in January

At the moment, our garden is covered in snow and the ground is frozen. That means that not a whole lot can be done outside. At the beginning of the month when it wasn’t freezing and we were in the…

Chocolate kranz cake

It’s been snowing in the Netherlands. You know what happens in the Netherlands when it snows? Chaos happens. On the first day of snow, the traffic jam in the country reached a record combined length of 1003 km, the railway…

Super muesli

A quick look at the breakfast section of the archives might lead you to believe that what we eat for breakfast are mainly buttery rolls and muffins. We do – sometimes. But the reason our BMI is low and our…

Deviled eggs

As my sister recently observed, from an early age Dutch children are trained in raising money for charity and other kinds of projects. The school needs a new playground? The kids get family and friends to sponsor them for running…

Snowflake cookies

When my sister messaged asking what my husband wanted for Christmas, he answered all he wanted was “white Christmas” and world peace. She probably rolled her eyes and decided to give him a pair of socks. I, of course, would…

Crispy cane cookies

Saint Nicholas has left for Spain so we can turn our thoughts to Christmas without feeling guilty. And “turn our thoughts to Christmas” means mainly “start baking Christmas cookies”. Because of an overdue kitchen renovation I find myself, at the…

Honey almond speculaas pie

Sinterklaas is to the Dutch what Santa Claus is to the Americans and 5th December here is what 24th is in America. The two saints might look somewhat similar (red cloths, white beard) but it is Sinterklaas who is the…