Dutch gezelligheid

The Dutch like to party. Not only do they celebrate Sinterklaas on the 5^th of December, they also

celebrate Christmas three times: Christmas Eve (24^th). First Christmas Day (25^th) and Second Christmas Day (26^th).

Christmas Eve
On Christmas Eve most Catholics go to church, the Protestants go to morning service. During both services people will sing typical Dutch Christmas songs.

Since 2004 there are too little churches for all the people that want to go to the Christmas services. Normally, very few Dutch go to church, but it has gotten quite popular to go to a Christmas service. Especially in the churches of Amsterdam it’s a social event rather than a religious event.

Read Full Post »

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Finally! It’s snowing in London!
Time for some hot chocolate, a big jumber and telling stories by the fireplace.. or the heater.
Christmas has officially started.
We love it.

~ By Steffi Posthumus

Read Full Post »

A Sinterklaas song

Dutch: Sinterklaas song

Just like Santa, the Dutch Sinterklaas has a bunch of traditional songs as well. Because very few people that are not from Holland speak Dutch, we’ve added a translation of the lyrics in this videoclip. Enjoy.

~ By Steffi Posthumus

Read Full Post »

Sinterklaas recipes

We all have our typical Christmas candy: anything chocolate, candy canes, gingerbread man, marshmallow snowmen and caramel filled Christmas trees. The Dutch are different. Sinterklaas brings them something completely different: kruidnoten.

Kruidnoten (pronounced crude-note-n) could be described as small gingerbread cookies. During the Sinterklaas period you’ll see them everywhere. The tradition is to throw them around so the kids have to find the candy. The throwing of the kruidnoten is an old symbol for fertility: the farmer who sprinkles his land with seeds.

Anyway, kruidnoten are very tasty and really easy to make, so why not try yourself? Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 250 g self-raising flour
• 125 g dark brown sugar
• 100 g soft butter
• 2 tablespoons kruidnoot spice*
• 3 tablespoons milk

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 150°C.
• Butter the baking dish.
• Sieve the flour into a bowl and make a little dimple in the middle.
• Put the sugar, butter and kruidnoot spice*, some salt and the milk in the bowl and mix it all together.
• Knead the dough. The kneading is complete when the dough is no longer sticky and the surface is smooth.
• Now make little balls of the dough and put them on the baking dish.
• Pop the baking dish in the preheated oven and cook for 20 minutes.

*The kruidnoot spice

Kruidnoot spice is a special mixture of spices. To make a fair amount of kruidnoot spice, use this recipe:

Ingredients:

• 30 g cinnamon
• 10 g cloves
• 10 g nutmeg
• 5 g white pepper
• 5 g aniseed
• 5 g coriander seeds

Directions:

Put all the spices in a bowl and mix them together. Store it in a well-sealable container.

~ By Steffi Posthumus

Read Full Post »

Dutch Santa Claus in London

Events

Sinterklaas pops up in London

Where?
KK Outlet
42 Hoxton Square
London, N16PB
+44 20 7033 7680

When?
Special Sinterklaas Event: Thursday 2 December, 7 – 9 pm
HEMA Collaboration: 3 – 22 December

About

An old man on a white horse, poems, chocolate type and a lot of gingerbread-ish candy will be arriving at the KK Outlet on Hoxton Square very soon. Why? Because it’s Sinterklaas. I can hear you think: “Say what?!” It’s Sinterklaas, a saint that kind of look like an anorexic Santa Claus.

Basically, Sinterklaas does the same as Santa Claus: he rewards the well behaved children with candy and presents. Sinterklaas doesn’t have a sleigh, he has a boat and a white horse. Sinterklaas doesn’t have Rudolph, he has Piet, a (quite controversial) helper. Sinterklaas doesn’t come from a cold, icy, secret place, he comes from Spain. Even though there are a lot of differences, Santa Claus is originally Sinterklaas; Dutch immigrants brought the tradition to America.

Between mid-November and 5 December there Sinterklaas parades across all of Holland, and now there will be one in London as well! KK Outlet and HEMA will recreate a typical parade on Hoxton Square on Thursday 2 December. Including Sinterklaas on a horseback, leaving a spare shoe in the gallery overnight which will be filled with gifts from Sinterklaas and chocolate type.

Besides, there’ll be an exhibition of the best Sinterklaas related oddities, from a large wall of chocolate typeface to the best festive designs and products provided by HEMA and available to buy.

So what’s HEMA?
Well, HEMA is an award-winning Dutch department store. Picture a cross between IKEA, Woolworths and Muji, or just look at their website, it speaks for itself.

The special Sinterklaas event will be on the 2nd of December. The exhibition and display of HEMA products will run throughout December and is open to all.

~ By Steffi Posthumus

Read Full Post »