Deventer Tribute to Opa

The 11th of the 11th!

The beginning of Carnival in Europe and the birthdate of my dear deceased father-in-law in 1916 here in Deventer.

These photos made yesterday with my iPhone camera on our Etty Hilllesum (Jewish) tour of Deventer are a tribute to Opa who was born 97 years ago today.

I am pretty sure this could have been his life motto. He was always ready for the "fun" part. Not so sure about the rule part, since he was a "stickler" for some rules.

Nederland without bikes? Never!

A rhino on the church yard, must be The Netherlands!

The lovely brick house is an old city farmhouse. I must do some research about when city farmers finally gave up herding their farm animals through the city streets.

Pristine painted windows and doors in the oldest part of the city.

Shadows show the gables on both sides of the street in the Bergquartier.

Almost the same shot, but notice the house on the right was built in 1629. That is about the time my ancestors became Americans. And yes, some of them were Dutch!

Opa's son (my hub) giving me his own tour of the city where he too was born.

Have to read about this parrot in a cage above a door. (Not real, of course!)

The sign says Evangelical Church, but it is the Jewish Synagogue. One of the few synagogues in Moorish style perhaps influenced by Spanish Jews.

City gate restored in the 1990's.

City square is bare on Sundays, but full to the hilt on Market Days. Waag ( weight house ) in the background. If you look carefully, you can see the bridge used in the movie "A Bridge Too Far."

Another city square view. Note right corner people sitting in the sunshine having coffee or whatever in the sunshine.

Inside the Jewish synagogue. The lamp is the oldest surviving original element from the original temple.

Not great photography, but you get the idea. Jewish women worshipped in the upper lofts separated from the men.

Old gable peeks out between the new structures.

Anno 1639!!!! Ijssel valei gable style.

At one time there were three synagogues in Deventer. This one is now an Everything for 14 Euros store. And the Star of David is a reasonably new symbol for Jewish people. (More about that later.)

Look carefully for the Stokvis ( remember I wrote about wanting to cook that expensive fish last Spring) hanging from the hoist on this house.

Speaking of hoists, this one is even covered. 

That was our tour. 

(Wonder if Opa ever heard of Etty Hillesum? More about her later, too.)

Non-bitter Brusselslof/witlof (Endive)

My Dutch father-in-law grew white endive spears (Brusselslof/witlof) in the dark crawl space under the foyer of his house in Olst. It was really amusing to see all of those little veggie soldiers standing to attention in tidy rows when Pa shined his flashlight on them to show us. He was proud of his crop, and we were glad for the future side dish.

(Borrowed photo)

Here is my witlof side dish for tonight's dinner:

All ready for a 5 minute "meltdown" in a warm oven.

 Oven Witlof (Endive) with Ham and Cheese

2 spears of witlof per person

2 thin slices of ham per person

2 slices of good Dutch Gouda cheese per person

Butter for greasing the inside of the casserole dish

Preheat the oven to 375F or 200C.

Wash the witlof spears with lukewarm water, otherwise they will be bitter. (I sliced each spear lengthwise, but you can leave them whole.) Then cut off the end and remove ugly outside leaves. Mine had no ugly, brown leaves even after a week in the fridge!

Very important::::::: cut out the center hard white stem. It can be very bitter and ruin your dish. Cut it out and throw it away.

Next boil the witlof spears in salty water for about 20 minutes. Then carefully drain each stem without tearing it apart.

Wrap each spear (or half spear) first in a ham slice and then in a slice of cheese.

Be sure the oven casserole dish is buttered, and then line up the "wrapped" witlof spears any way you want as long as they are close together.

Place in the preheated oven and let the cheese get good and golden brown in about 5 minutes.

Delicious Oven Witlof is ready in 30 minutes!

Anno 1654 De Roskam in Gorssel

Yesterday we visited a few antique and souvenir shops in Gorssel, Overijssel, The Netherlands. Most prices were much too expensive for our taste, but at least I can say I have looked around in those shops. I saw a few interesting ideas, but kept my wallet in my purse.

One shop had nice hats and caps, and my hub found a new corduroy cap (with earmuffs) to wear here in this cold country. So we did support the Dutch economy, a bit.

While we were out in the rainy drizzle, we decided to have a late lunch. We ate at an anno 1654 hotel/restaurant called De Roskam.

(Photo from hotel website)

 Hub chose a cup of French onion soup, potato and meat kroketten/croquettes on white bread, and a cup of coffee. I just stayed with the krokketen on brown bread and mineral water.

When researching this blog post, I found this miserable English translation about De Roskam. Read it and chuckle. Hope this was a translation app and not a lovely Dutch person who "thinks" they know English. ;) Linda

 "HISTORY

All of the mid-17th century in De Roskam donated wine. An account of that time is before the evidence. It was then lifted the glass to the decision just taken to increase. Church tower with ten foot

In 1751 Aeltjen Aelbers widow bequeathed "the house in the village Gorssel, where the Roskam whereabouts" to her servant William van der Meij and his wife. After De Roskam generations remained in the possession of the same family. Operating a tavern with lodging and livery was apparently not profitable enough to support a family.Therefore had around the 19th century the then owner, Willem van der Meij, also a coal trading and an insurance agency. Son Jan was crazy about cars and the livery was taxi. Jan was also during the prewar years commander of the local fire brigade. The fire alarm call came to him in De Roskam stream, where a siren firefighters were alerted. 

The button for the siren was-of course-operated from the same Roskam. At Roskam a significant piece of land, which over the years was partly crammed heard. A portion of this land was made available free for buildings with a public function. Thus the town Gorsselse not coincidentally right next to De Roskam. 

Early thirties was also put down a station on a plot of Roskam. There was at that time a steam between Zutphen and Deventer. The tram line was short-lived, but the station, known as the Tram House, still stands a stone's throw behind De Roskam. 

The renovation since 2004 has ensured that the hotel is a landmark has remained an essential function in the Gorsselse village community. Well may be said: "De Roskam, for over 350 years a warm welcome." 

Accidents--Fear of Falling

Oops! I tried to be a painter with my nervous ladder fear and arthritic right shoulder. Bad decision!

3/4 of our expensive door frame paint soaked into the hall carpet.

And some went on the newly painted wall.

Most went on my knit pants and my old Birkenstock Boston house shoes which were immediately deposited into the garbage.

But we finished the new (old) door frame.

(Shadow on door is the ladder my hub set up to keep me off of the paint puddles.)

No workmen this week! :((((((((

New floor next week! ;))))))

Home again on November 20!

Job accomplished? 

My doubts!

Sunday Storm

No hurricane this time, but we had a storm today outside the Beltway Apartment.

This was the view a couple of weeks ago:

Here is the view we had this afternoon:

And this:

And this hail:

And this:

And this:

What Are We Eating Tonight? Romanesco Cauliflower

Left to right: Romanesco cauliflower, speklapjes, and bread pudding for dessert.

Romanesco cauliflower "bushes" boiled in water until done ( not mushy!). My hub says they taste like white cauliflower and look surrealistic.

A little Tony's cajun spices sprinkled on top and fried in the skillet.

Easy bread pudding recipe: old white bread cubes, 3 eggs, 2 cups skim milk, 1 cup dark brown sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, dash of cinnamon, and 2 tablespoons of butter dabbed on top. Bake 45 minutes in a 350F (175C) oven. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

As Fresh As It Gets

We really do try to eat right. Just sometimes we eat MORE right than other times. Finding good, fresh fruit and veggies here in The Netherlands is easy. Healthy stuff is right out on the street.

This is not an "open" market place. This the sidewalk in front of the vegetable store. In most instances, the shopkeeper really does not want you to touch his wares. He will do that for you. All you do is point out what you want. This sidewalk is full, but his shop is even fuller!

And then there is fresh, warm bread! Well, this bread isn't so fresh or warm anymore, but you get the idea. My hub says he remembers when bread bakers went from door to door delivering fresh bread. Kind of like the milkman, which they had here, too.