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This was the first time I tried to cook a turkey without the Master Chef , a.ka. Mom. After many hours of expert consultation the day before with my Mom, Rob and I set out to cook our first turkey. We had some authentic American imports brought in my parents suitcases in October like stuffing, cranberry sauce, corn bread and gravy. Luckily I thought to bring our US measuring cup, as the instructions were US measure of cups and teaspoons, but Rob’s mom only had a cup in metric measure. We made stuffing, fresh corn bread, potatoes, green beans and warm grravy.
And of course, you need a turkey. Nettie had to go to the wild game specialty shop to order our turkey a week in advance, as in Holland very few people order an entire bird. It was a delicious free-range turkey. The 7-lb turkey filled Rob’s parents oven almost entirely. The plastic turkey-bag my Mom brought burned a bit on the top of the oven, it was such a tight fit. Luckily after a minute of burnt-plastic smell, it all cleared up and the turkey came out beautifully!
At dinner, I had to provide a bit of epicurean advice – corn bread is traditionally eaten with honey or butter, cranberry sauce is for turkey, gravy is for turkey, potatoes and stuffing….and everyone had a wonderful meal.
After the meal, we celebrated the Dutch tradition of Sinter Klaus. The Dutch Sint is different than Santa Claus, much more practical. He lives in Madrid instead of the cold north pole. He arrives each year in the Netherlands on December 5 by steamboat instead of outmoded sleigh and reindeer. With the assistance of his “zwarte petes”, he delivers gifts to homes on his horse. Kids leave hay for the horse in they’re wooden clogs, and receive a gift in the shoe in place.
We did a “Secret Sinter Klaus” with Rob’s family. We each drew a wish-list randomly out of a bowl. You write a poem with the gift. Gifts are sometimes wrapped in “surprise” packaging. Rob the engineer created an entire 2-foot tall cardboard windmill to contain the gifts of 4 egg-cups and some small clothing…never would have guessed the gift by the packaging, a real “surprise”. Quinten received a masterfully written 8 line rhyming poem (in Dutch naturally) from yours truly. He was very impressed by it!
We also sang some traditional holiday songs, drank hot chocolate and ate traditional cookies. It was an incredible evening celebrating 2 traditions. I think all Dutch should try Thanksgiving and Americans try Sinter Klaus once, a holiday exchange program!
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