Southern Biscuits, dutch style

Coming over to the Netherlands was tough on my recipes. It seems like the things I enjoy cooking always require an ingredient that's damn hard to find here. Perhaps most difficult is my family's biscuit recipe. Similar to an unsweetened scone, this marvels of soft and flaky deliciousness, requiring both baking powder and vegetable shortening.

A few months ago the super market we lived above had Crisco in the American section. I bought 2 of the tubs. Then, this last Friday a friend of ours let me know she had spotted baking powder at a high end grocer Gransjean.

This morning, 10 of these bad boys popped out of my oven:

Het Strijkijzer

A quick follow up on the last post

Rachael did have an adverse reaction shortly after writing her previous blog post. After the sugar effect wore off, she slipped into a coma, that was quickly upgraded to "light nap". TeamVaughnBlog (a subsidiary of Peauxdellco) does not endorse the recreational use of Tressor. If you or someone you know has a cereal addiction, please seek professional help.


So after 8 months of Rotterdam, we're packing up and moving out to Den Haag. Het Strijkijzer is the largest residential tower in Den Haag (the tallest in the netherlands is Montevideo, which is in our current neighborhood). Construction just completed. It's so new Google Earth doesn't even show a building there.

Here is what the tower looks like now:

The bad news is it'll be smaller than our current place, so no separate guest room. We actually lucked out, most of the floor plans are 1160 sq ft, but they had a handful of odd ones that are 1,270, which we managed to get. We're on the 35th floor, so I'm also concerned about the elevator situation. It's a new building so the elevator capacity could have been overlooked. There is student housing in the bottom of the building, but there should be enough distance floor wise so that won't be a problem.

Good news is Rachael will be a few tram stops from her work. My commute will change by at most 10 minutes a day, but I won't have to rely on a metro. My rail ticket also will be the same, as I've got a network pass anyways. There's a pretty big gym in the building under construction. The Hague is also an easier city to live in if you are an expat. There are more bars there that cater to a mostly foreign clientel. In Rotterdam, we haven't really found a place we can just go for a drink with friends.

We'll be moving in either around the 1st of April or the 15th. Pictures of our new digs will follow shortly.

Obama-rama in the Netherlands

It's fascinating to watch how another country views our elections. In particular most dutch people like Obama, and it's bizarre to see the front page of the news papers here, about once a week covering the primaries.

"What will Obama really change?"


















"Hillary wins, Barack loses: Why smear tactics work"


















I've learned more about how we elect people this election from simply explaining to colleagues how the system works. Texas is a perfect example, and I've had to explain to people how Obama probably actually won the state as a whole, even though he lost the primary.

The biggest confusion, when it comes to a dutch person, is the federalist system, and how America uses some very weird ways to insure proportional representation.

I will leave with these, and the comment that as far as I can tell, these aren't meant to be racist.















Graffiti seen on my train to work at Rotterdam Centraal station.

Democratic Primaries

We voted yesterday for the Democratic candidate. Democrats Abroad represents US citizens overseas, and sends 23 delegates to the convention.

It's weird being over here, because you don't get the constant news paper and TV barrages. I voted for Obama, but to be perfectly honest I think whoever wins out of Obama, Clinton, McCain I think I would be happy.

Pictures from Antwerp

From the Antwerp Christmas Market

Papa's brand new bed

So last weekend, Rachael and I went to the Woonwinkels (lit. Living Shops) in Rotterdam. We went there with the sole purpose of securing for ourselves a new means of sleeping.

Our apartment was furnished, which is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, we had a full set of appliances and eating utensils upon moving in (as mentioned in a previous post), yet we have to deal with some very unfortunate curtain and couch upholstery.

Never the less, these minor transgressions I'm capable of living with. I do not ask much out of my color combinations. The biggest problem was the master bed.

You see our bed is perhaps one of the finest on offer from IKEA. Many metaphors leap to attention, so I'll pick one at random. That's like picking out the best smelling turd in the sewer. The mattresses we have (the dutch always use 2 for their larger beds) are here. I can't find the frame we have.

Anyways, after a month, it has slowly worked it's magic and now has me waking up each morning with my upper thigh killing me and my back stiff.

The first place we look at had some interesting models, but we had difficulty figuring out what the prices included. e1500 is a great deal on a full set, a crappy deal if it just includes the frame. When we were finally ready to get some help from a sales person, it was some sleazy guy giving us the hard sell. We got out of there, regrouped, and headed to:

Linker Lisse.




That is not in fact our bed. It was next to the frame we did get though! Picture it without all of the oranments on it. It's actually a really nice stainless steel frame.

Anyways, we'll get it in 5-6 weeks. They're delivering it 2 weeks earlier than usual, out of sympathy for the ikea stuff

Gettin' our digits

We've got a SkypeIn account. You can call us at the US# +1 817 945 6615

We're at GMT+1. Texas is (mostly) at GMT-6. If we're not around it'll go to voicemail.

Allergies

With in a week of living in Rotterdam, I developed a nasty allergy attack. Full sinuses, constant drainage, itchy throat, all that jazz. That's not uncommon for me, when staying in a new place. My immune system just needs time to adjust.

The problem here is that the two most common treatments I take for allergies are Benadryl and Sudaphed, both of which are not available here.

Pot is, but allergy meds aren't.

All the lonely poodles

3 weeks in Rotterdam. You've all seen the pics my lovely wife put up. Rotterdam is a great city. We made an excellent choice living here. It's very clean, and very american friendly.

Crazy, keep your eyes out for some posts on the food, and the hell allergy suffers go through.