Food and Friends

The frost and ice and skating lasted for two glorious weeks. On Sunday old and young were still skating on all the canals in Leyden, on Monday thaw set in with a vengeance and overnight the weather changed completely. No pretty pictures, except of walls of ice floes building up against dikes and lighthouses because of the strong winds.

At least I wasn't tempted to go out with a camera, which was just as well, as the week was characterised by baking and cooking, seeing friends and plodding away in the kitchen. I baked three large cakes for the choir flea market, to be sold piecemeal with coffee; a slice of cake and a cup of coffee being a welcome refreshment after digging through dusty white elephants and second hand books. Or just to celebrate a special find!

On the same Saturday that the flea market took place, one of my neighbours had organised a "running dinner", the type of dinner party where we all trouped to one house for drinks and nibbles, moved on to the next house for starters, the next one for a sit-down main course, and so on. All the courses were very nice, but the main course was exciting. We were served salmon, which had been cooked in thick layers of salt. This crust of salt turns into stone during cooking. It is a marvellous way of preparing salmon, as the juices stay in, the fat runs out and the fish, which can become very dry, stays succulent . Two of the neighbours posed with the big salmons before smothering them in brine. 

I "was volunteered" - by some neighbours who made the decision for me - , to make the desserts. I hardly ever eat sweets – too fattening - , but like making them. Although I had been very firm and told myself just to make a huge bowl of healthy fresh fruit salad, with a bowl of cream for those who liked that, I ended up by making two big dishes of chocolate mousse,  with cherries soaked in kirsch, and a very large dish with tiramisu. It involved using and cleaning many bowls: separate ones for melting dark chocolate, for beating the egg whites, for the egg yolks and sugar, for the whipped cream, for the mascarpone, a grater for the chocolate, a bowl in which to soak the slices of cake in some nice tipple, etc. From Wednesday till Saturday I whipped, beat, stirred, grated, licked spoons, washed bowls, and started all over again. In the end I ended up with far too much – I thought! – as only 16 of the neighbours took part, and after already three courses it seemed unlikely anybody could eat such rich desserts. But lo and behold, two bowls were completely scraped – or licked? - clean. I had kept one aside, and gave that to one of the neighbours to share with her family which is larger than my single person household. Especially the tiramisu seemed to be delicious, but I never tasted it. Click to see mouth watering pictures of Tiramisu.

Less culinary and more interesting were visits to old friends and unexpected visits from friends, which again included cooking and sharing meals. So much more enjoyable than eating alone.

Meanwhile I tried to take up sewing again after 30 years or so. After all I no longer have a job, and I used to be quite good at dress making. And there is a crisis... Now I am rather rusty, so I am taking my time over a summer dress, which I cut out three years ago, but which I never finished. No hurry yet! The trouble is that I can hardly now see the different lines on the paper multi pattern sheets found inside sewing magazines. It took me almost as much time to draw the pattern for another dress, as I expect it will take me to make it! The three year old summer dress is now almost ready, except for the lining, which isn't necessary but which I like. It makes a garment so much nicer and it gives it a better fit.

Now that my friends from University days all seem to be retired and their children settled, we gradually try to restore old but neglected friendships. So I went to Lelystad, for the first time in my life, not being interested in new cities. I must admit I did not see much of the town itself, but just my friends' house on the outskirts, next to the Oostvaardersplassen, a nature reserve on the drained bottom of what used to be the IJsselmeer. Here you'll find some pictures of the area.

I had often passed that area and enjoyed it driving on the dike around the IJsselmeer, but never been in it. The number of wild ponies, horses and deer was amazing. It seemed too much for the area, which originally was meant to be an industrial area. But it did not drain very well, so it was left as a rather wet bird reserve. In the end it was furnished with ponies, (highland) cattle and deer. Those animals have no natural enemies, so they multiply lustily and the population is now far too large. In winter the reed lands have this orange glow. The deer seemed used to humans and came very close to the road and the parking lot where we watched them for a while. It was most interesting. The stag with his beautiful antlers stayed a bit further away, but from a distance kept an eye on his straying harem. I will certainly go back there one day.

We also went to see the Batavia, a replica of a 17^th century merchant ship, which is now a museum, and docked at Lelystad. Another replica of a ship from that period is in the process of being built here.

Two days later I met with another friend who lives in Rotterdam. She took me to hotel New York for lunch, the place from which in the nineteen fifties many Dutch emigrants set sail for the USA and Canada, thinking they would never see their home country again. That part of Rotterdam has changed considerably in the past 20 years or so. Instead of docks and old warehouses there are now very modern apartment buildings, offices, restaurants, terraces overlooking the busy river with a wonderful view of the skyline of Rotterdam. It now is a fashionable nightlife spot, has cinemas, bars and restaurants. Before lunch we visited the Photo Museum next to the hotel, which I enjoyed enormously.  A large hall in the museum had been converted into a dark room. Visitors can pick up a large white sheet of cardboard which represents a virginal sheet of photo paper. When you place it in a "tray", a photo slowly appears, as it did when as a child I assisted my father in his home made dark room. It was magical, white or chamois paper on which this picture appeared after exposing the paper to the light projected through the negative film. In the museum it seems as if the tray is filling up with developing fluid, and just like I remembered it from my childhood, slowly the images become visible. The website of the Photo Museum gives information about the exhibition, also in English.

View from Hotel New York towards the historic dock North of the river 

Hotel New York dwarfed by modern buildings

After our visit to the museum I took some pictures of the remarkable architecture in this small part of Rotterdam, a mixture of old and new. I think it is amazing what they have done with the former docklands here, de Kop van Zuid ("Head of the south" side of Rotterdam. If you look at the small map on the website, you'll see why it has that name). Here are some snapshots taken with my small camera which I almost always carry with me. It was a rather grey day, but nevertheless they give an impression of this area. 
But the most enjoyable part of the day was sharing a delicious lunch with a wonderful friend in the restaurant of Hotel New York, chatting and exchanging ideas and opinions, as well as gossip of course! The most valuable thing in life is having good friends, especially if they are creative, talented and supportive, with a zest for life!