Happy New Year! 01-01-11 or 1/1/11 or January 1, 2011 Oliebollen and Sjoelen
"Ollie-bollen, or (Oliebollen) is a dutch pastry similar to a doughnut. It typically is a deep fried pastry filled with raisins and dusted with powdered sugar. Some modern variations serve them topped with berry filling, but this is a traditional recipe. Oliebollen are a traditional treat on New Year's Eve."
There are a variety of recipes to choose from, many to suit your own taste. You can add apples, raisins, cinnamon to the batter.
The method remains the same: deep fried doughnut dusted with icing sugar. You can check out some recipes here or here. At my sister's home yesterday we were treated to oliebollen compliments of her husband who makes close to 100 each year as part of their New Year's Eve. traditions. They are so good and were enjoyed by all who drop by for a visit. Thank you M&L for your wonderful hospitality shown to all of us! This was my version of making oliebollen this past week, using a package of Koopmans oliebollen mix. For a taste of The Netherlands, I have included this video...
This was the results of our experiment. The oliebollen were not as light as my brother in law's but we still enjoyed them. And the shuffleboard/sjoelbak game is another tradition that the dutch play on New Year's Eve. We didn't have time last evening due to our travels, but we are eager to play some games today. As we travelled yesterday to the Niagara area, I spent some time reading excerpts from my Gladys Taber collection. I thought that I would close this post with some of her thoughts which you can find here It is time to put up new calendars, and as the old ones come down I wonder where the past year went. some of it is now what Emily Dickinson would call "an amethyst remembrance." Perhaps some of it is better forgotten, but there is so much to remember and treasure.There is, I have found, at least one good or lovely thing in every single day. Everyone has sorrow, endures difficult times, but loveliness abides if we look for it. What the new year will bring, we cannot know. I think of the year that has been folded away in time. There has been much good in it, although some sorrow. but here are always, in any year, many lovely memories, and I shall cherish them. Life is not, for most of us, a pageant of splendor but is made up of many small things, rather like an old fashioned piecework quilt. no two people have the same, but we all have our own, whether it be listening to Beethoven's Fifth with a beloved friend or seeing a neighbor at the back door with a basket of white dahlias. Or after a long, hard day having the family say, "That was a good supper."
As the clock moves irrevocably from yesterday to today, I go out on the terrace and fill my heart with the intensity of the winter moonlight. This is the time when the heart is at peace and the spirit rests. I think of the words, "Be still, and know that I am God." Far off a branch falls in the old orchard, and sometimes a plane goes overhead bound for a far destination. I wish the pilot well, in that cold sky, and hope the passengers come safely home. Silently I say, "Happy New Year to all of us, all over this turning earth and may we make it a year of loving-kindness and gentle hearts."
We are leaving shortly for the Niagara area to spend the day/evening with my family, but I wanted to take a few minutes to wish you all a Happy New Year. Auld Lang Syne is a Scots poem written by Robert Burns in 1788 and set to the tune of a traditional folk song. It is well known in many English-speaking countries and is often sung to celebrate the start of the New Year at the stroke of midnight. The song's Scots title may be translated into English literally as "old long since". It is one of our traditions to listen to this version by Andre Rieu as we have his DVD series. It is also a tradition of ours as a family to 'pray in' the New Year, remembering all that God has done for us over the past year, and asking Him to lead us into the new year. It is our prayer for all of our family, friends and acquaintances, including all my kind visitors here, that God may be gracious to you and bless you with health and peace in this new year 2011.
"Many things about tomorrow I don't seem to understand, But I know who holds tomorrow And I know who holds my hand...."
I am leaving you with an Irish blessing that can be found here and here May the blessing of light be upon you, light on the outside and light on the inside. With God's sunlight shining on you, may your heart glow with warmth like a turf fire that welcomes friends and strangers alike. May the light of the Lord shine from your eyes like a candle in the window, welcoming the weary traveler. May the blessing of God's soft rain be on you, falling gently on your head, refreshing your soul with the sweetness of little flowers newly blooming. May the strength of the winds of Heaven bless you, carrying the rain to wash your spirit clean, sparkling after, in the sunlight. May the blessing of God's earth be on you and as you walk the roads, may you always have a kind word for those you meet. May you understand the strength and power of God in a thunderstorm in winter, the quiet beauty of creation and the calm of a summer sunset. And may you come to realize that insignificant as you may seem in this great universe, you are an important part of God's plan. May He watch over you and keep you safe from harm.
