The end of November through now have been quite eventful. First, there was the delicious Thanksgiving dinner I cooked for my host family (albeit on the Friday, instead of the Thursday), following that in December were Sinterklass celebrations, my trip home to the States to spend the holidays with my family, and Christmas, my birthday, and New Years there with them. Needless to say, I've been busy.
First thing's first: Thanksgiving. American Thanksgiving this time. Never thought I'd celebrate two Thanksgiving's in one year, but hey! I'm not complaining: twice the delicious food, two full days of my favorite hobby (cooking, if you couldn't guess), and two special evening spent with my lovely host family and friends. Good food, good people, and good fun.
I decided that we would celebrate Thanksgiving on the Friday, the day after actual Thanksgiving, because I would have the whole day off to cook, and everyone could enjoy the evening without worrying about a work or school day the following morning (sense, naturally, no one gets off for Thanksgiving in the Netherlands).
For Thanksgiving, I decided on the traditional sides that any Thanksgiving of my family's back home would be incomplete without: stuffing/dressing, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, potato salad, rolls, green peas, cranberry sauce, turkey gravy, and macaroni and cheese (which we actually don't usually have with my family, but I just love it so much, I couldn't resist!).
My pride and joy goes, of course, to my beautifully roasted turkey. This year was the first time I've ever cooked a turkey! And it turned out beautifully! (phwew!!)
(Just look at that baby! Mmmmm, MMM!)
For dessert, I decided on a homemade apple pie, since Alex and I did a pumpkin pie for Canadian Thanksgiving back in October. It also turned out delicious! Though we hardly had any room left for it after all the turkey and fixins'.
My host family, host mom's brother, and a new friend, C (from Colombia) all thoroughly enjoyed stuffing ourselves as full as a turkey! (And enjoying the leftovers for days after)
Not too long after Thanksgiving, we celebrated Sinterklass! Here in the Netherlands, they have a completely separate gift-giving holiday for children. Sinterklass comes on the eve of the 5th of December and delivers presents to all the good little boys and girls. For a couple of weeks before that, the children are allowed to leave their shoes out on Saturday nights for Sinterklass to deliver little gifts. I even got to leave my shoe out and received a big chocolate A, with hazelnuts (chocolate letters are a traditional Sinterklass treat). On Sinterklass night, I got a beautiful, warm new scarf, a calendar with pictures of Holland, and some yummy smelling bath wash! Thanks again, Sinterklass! And the kids all got lots of goodies too! Sinterklass was very good to us!
On the subject of Sinterklass vs. Santa Claus, they both originate from St. Nicholas, but Sinterklass visits Dutch children on St. Nicholas Day, where as Santa Claus visits on Christmas. Naturally, the kids know about Santa Claus coming on Christmas because of all the American advertising and everything else, so they have a different name for him: de Kerstman. Confusing, I know.
After Sinterklass, I had only a couple of weeks till I flew home for Christmas! The night before I left, I made these cute little Snow Men Cupcakes for a Christmas party at Merlijn's school. I was told they were a hit!
I got to spend two wonderful weeks with my family and a few good friends who came down for my birthday!
For Christmas Eve, my family had everyone over to our house for a party, so I spent three days cooking and getting ready! The spread turned out amazing and everyone enjoyed all the hors d'oeuvres-y food that I slaved over! Deviled Eggs, Spinach Artichoke Bites, Whipped Cream Cheese Strawberry Santas, Stuffed Mushrooms, Candied Cranberries, Spicy Tortilla Pinwheels, Bacon-Wrapped Brown Sugar Smokies, Cheese Straw Stars, Whipped Cream Cheese M&M Dip, Mini Peppermint Chocolate Cheesecakes, Strawberry Pecan Brie, Little Smokies in BBQ Sauce, Champagne Punch, and Mama made her amazing crab and chicken dips. Ok, now I'm hungry.
I also etched a pretty 'H' into all of our wine glasses with my glass etching cream.
And made these cute little candy cane food labels.
On Christmas, my daddy did all the cooking (where do you think I learned it from?), so we were stuffed full to bursting again with yummy food! I did make the key lime pies, but it was a tiny contribution on my part after all that prep for the Eve before.
Santa was so good to us! (As always)
Santa also left lots of presents under our tree for three spoiled Dutch kids, I know!
We spent my birthday and New Years at the beach and had a great time! Some of my best friends came down and spent a couple of days with me for my birthday. It was so good to see them! And it was absolutely gorgeous at the beach!
On New Year's Eve, we set off some fireworks and had some champagne. Nothing fancy or big, but a lovely evening spent with the best family.
On New Years Day, we went over to the pier and Mama taught Erin and I how to throw a cast net (something I've been wanting to learn how to do for a while). Now I can catch my own mullet to cook!
That was our last day at the beach. We had to head home that evening because I was due back in Holland in just two days. It was time to pack everything back up. The afternoon ended with another beautiful sunset at one of my favorite places in the world. Definitely a perfect ending to the first day of a new year.
Now I'm back in Leiden and ready for some more adventures as an au pair! This weekend, I'm heading to Edinburgh, Scotland for some more traveling and exploring! Hopefully I'll do better in the New Year with keeping my blog up-to-date! Until next time!
Recipes from Above:
Stuffing:
For the stuffing, I used this Betty Crocker recipe, but to it, I added about 2 cups of chicken broth, so it was nice and moist, rather than super crumbly.
Green Bean Casserole:
For the green bean casserole at home, we usually just do the traditional Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup, canned green beans, and French's French Fried Onions; however, here in The Netherlands, they do not have French's French Fried Onions OR Cream of Mushroom Soup (that I could find at the Albert Heijn XL), so I had to make do:
Ingredients:
- 1 can/pre-made package of mushroom soup
- 1 package mushroom sauce
- large can of green beans
- 1/2-1 cup oil
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 onion, sliced super fine
- ~1 cup flower
- salt, pepper, and other spices to taste
Directions:
1. Prepare mushroom sauce as directed on package.
2. Combine mushroom sauce and mushroom soup and season to taste.
3. Mix mushroom mixture with green beans and spread in casserole dish.
4. Heat oil in skillet on stove.
5. Prepare three bowls: (1) milk (2) flour and seasonings (3) empty for coated onions.
6. Dip onions first in milk, and then coat thoroughly in flour mixture.
7. Fry onions in two batches in skillet until golden brown.
8. Sprinkle onions over top of green beans.
9. Bake casserole at 350°F (180°C) for 20 minutes, or until heated through.
Sweet Potato Casserole
Recipe can be found here in my post about Canadian Thanksgiving.
Potato Salad
Ingredients:
1. 5 lb. bag of red potatoes
2. 1 large onion, chopped finely
3. 12 eggs, boiled and grated
4. 1 cup mayonnaise
5. 1/2 cup sweet pickle relish
6. Salt and pepper to taste.
Directions:
1. Boil potatoes, then peel and cube.
2. Mix all ingredients together thoroughly.
3. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Refrigerate until cold.
Simple recipe but a favorite!
Macaroni and Cheese:
For the macaroni and cheese, I used this recipe, but used the Dutch 30+ cheese in place of the cheddar called for.
Snowmen Cupcakes:
For the Cupcakes and Icing, I used this recipe and I got the idea for the decorations from this website.
Deviled Eggs:
Ingredients:
1. 12 hard-boiled eggs
2. 1/2 cup mayonnaise
3. 3 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
4. salt and pepper to taste
5. Paprika
Directions:
1. Cut eggs in half length-wise and scoop out yolks.
2. smash yolks and mix with mayo and relish.
3. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Fill egg whites with yolk mixture.
5. Top with paprika.
Cheese Stars:
For the cheese stars, I used this recipe, but instead of slicing the dough into sticks with a pizza cutter, I used a small star-shaped cookies cutter to make cheese "stars."
Mini Peppermint Chocolate Cheesecakes:
For the mini peppermint chocolate cheesecakes, I used this recipe, but made it into minis with my new mini cheesecake pan!
Cherry Pecan Brie:
For this, I simply removed the wax layer from the brie and topped it with cherry preserves and roasted pecans.
Champagne Punch:
Mix 2 bottles Welches Sparkling White Grape Juice, 2 bottles of your choice of champagne or sparkling wine, and 1 liter of sprite in a large punch bowl.
Stuffed Mushrooms:
Ingredients:
1. 1 package medium-sized mushrooms
2. 1 small onion, finely chopped
3. 4 green onions, diced
4. 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
5. 1 8 oz. package cream cheese
6. 1 container feta cheese
7. 1/2 lb. bacon, cooked and crumbled
8. 1 clove garlic, minced
9. salt, pepper, an garlic powder to taste
Directions:
1. Remove and dice stems from mushrooms (be sure to leave caps intact).
2. Combine mushroom stems with all other ingredients and mix well.
3. Stuff mushroom caps with mixture and place in a foil lined baking dish.
4. Bake at 425°F for about 20 minutes, or until tops are browned.
Whipped Cream Cheese M&M Dip:
Ingredients:
1. 1 8 oz. package of cream cheese
2. 1 quart heavy whipping cream
3. 1/2 cup granulated sugar
4. 1 cup powdered sugar
5. 1 teaspoon vanilla
6. Christmas colored M&Ms (or regular, depending on season)
Directions:
1. In a cold metal bowl, beat cream with an electric mixer until soft peaks form.
2. Add granulated sugar and whip until stiff peaks form.
3. In a separate bowl, whip cream cheese until smooth.
4. Mix cream cheese with vanilla and powdered sugar and beat until combined.
5. Slowly fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture until just combined, being careful not to over mix.
6. Mix in M&Ms.
Whipped Cream Cheese Strawberry Santas:
Ingredients:
1. 1 8 oz. package of cream cheese
2. 1 quart heavy whipping cream
3. 1/2 cup granulated sugar
4. 1 cup powdered sugar
5. 1 teaspoon vanilla
6. Christmas colored M&Ms (or regular, depending on season)
7. Strawberries
8. Chocolate Sprinkles
9. White melting chocolate
Directions:
1. Follow directions for the Whipped Cream Cheese M&M Dip, leaving off the last step (don't add M&Ms).
2. Cut the stems off of the strawberries and dry thoroughly.
3. Dip large end of strawberries (where the stems were) in melted white chocolate.
3. Allow the chocolate to cool and harden.
4. Slice the strawberries in half horizontally.
5. Pipe about a teaspoon-full of the whipped cream cheese in the middle of each strawberry between the two pieces and replace the top piece.
6. Pipe a small dot of the whipped cream cheese on the tip top of each strawberry.
7. Add Santas' eyes with chocolate sprinkles.
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