Sometimes it's the little things that you take for granted...

Hello!! Wow! I can't believe it's been the better part of a year since I last posted a blog update!

2025 has been very eventful for my little family. The biggest news is that my Heartbeat and I traded in our cowboy boots for wooden clogs. We now live in the Netherlands!! (Well, I am bringing my boots and the wooden clogs that my Heartbeat gave be 8 years ago are for decoration and not to wear. So it's a figurative trade. I like saying it.)

Usually the first question people ask when they hear we've made this move is "How do you like it?"  However, I don't feel I can give a solid answer!
I love it here, but I have a lot to learn!

We moved into our new house about 2 weeks ago. It's a 3 level townhouse. I love that one of it's features is floor to ceiling windows on both the front and the back. And there is a fairly big terrace on the top floor, right next to where my studio will be. I can stitch out on the terrace once I get it set up! How lovely does that sound?! (When it warms up too, the temperature has dropped in the last couple days.)

The house is completely unfurnished. We have some things being shipped to us from the U.S. but not much furniture. Most of the electronics were left behind because of the different voltages. What I am bringing is my 30+ year curated fabric stash, sewing machines, and a few kitchen things. The expected delivery is mid-December. That's still a month away!

If you have ever furniture shopped, you know that it's going to take some shopping around! We are slowly getting a feel for the furniture that we want. Items are ordered from different stores. Some get delivered in a just few days, some items won't come until February! I feel like we are camping out in our house. We started out with a mattress and two lawn chairs from the thrift store! The house was really bare for the first week or so.

Anyway, to make a long story short, setting up house is going to take some time. I know this. I knew it when we packed up. However, I am just beginning to realize it now. I really didn't consider that we wouldn't have utensils, plates, pots.... Well, you'll see. Here's the story that inspired me to log into my blog again...

Making biscochitos has been on my mine. On the first day that my Heartbeat went to work, his co-workers welcomed him with a basket of favorite Dutch treats. There was a bag of ginger cookies, a chocolate "V" (for his name) that is a traditional holiday treat, something similar to a fudge bar (I'm sorry, I don't remember what it was), a bottle of really good beer, and these very popular Drop candies (pronounced with a long ō sound), that tastes like licorice.

It's the Drop that had me to wanting to make these particular cookies, Biscochitos are made with anise which has a similar licorice taste. We are having lunch with the boss today, I thought I might bring a little treat for him and his wife... And so, here is my biscochito making journey:

I ended up making 3 trips to the grocery store today. Here's a snapshot from the walk on the first trip. It's about 1:30 in the afternoon, a nice cool day. Not many people out and about in this part of town at the momet. I like how the street looks with the church at the end.

I found most of the items on the ingredients list. However, biscochitos are made with lard, which isn’t as popular here. The first store didn’t have it. Back home to unload groceries.

Around 4 p.m., I went to another store and found “frituurvet” which is frying fat. Looking online, I figured that’s gotta be fairly close to lard. When I got home, I opened the package to get a better idea. It is a bit more solid than the Crisco bars I used in the states. I decided that it'll do.

After dinner,  about 7 p.m., I get all the ingredients out and noticed that I was missing vanilla. So back to the store for the third time. 

Now, with all ingredients, I had to use a wok and a pan as mixing bowls because I have two sets being shipped with our house hold stuff and I don’t need to get more! (Yes, I’m being stubborn like that. I think I can wait it out!)

But also… “cream lard and sugar until smooth”… omg, I don’t have a mixer yet either 🤦🏽‍♀️. I creamed hard lard and sugar with my hands. and mixed all ingredients the same way. It was tough but I eventually had the dough to the right consistency.

Next, it was time to roll out the dough and guess what?!? I don’t have a rolling pin (also in the shipment) or a cookie cutter!! 😂🤪 omg, I’m a mess. But I’ve already gotten this far. 

Rolling the dough into individual cookie balls and smashing them is the only option. Smashing the ball made the edges crack but a few taps around the edge got them back together. 

Then I sprinkled the cinnamon sugar on top the cookies and popped them in the oven. While the first batch baked I smashed the next batch of balls. Then while the first batch was cooling down, I started cleaning up the mess and putting the ingredients away.

Guess which ingredient was on the table still wrapped with its store packaging?? … the vanilla! The ingredient I had to make a third trip back to the store. Yes, that one! I didn’t add it to the dough! Good grief!! 

In the end, these biscochitos are still tasty, good enough for me and my Heartbeat, but I won’t be sharing any with our Dutch friends tomorrow like I had hoped.  And it was a good run through. I learned a few more Dutch pantry items. And I believe my next purchase will very likely be a mixer or a blender. I am NOT going to “cream lard and sugar until smooth” by hand again!!

Thanks for sharing my biscochito making journey with me and reading this far. Here's the biscochito recipe that I have used for at least 30+ years during the holidays.

And I hope this update has broken my blogger dry spell. See you soon!!