clog blog: Baking, batting and bicycles

This week saw the first batch of biscuits to be baked in our new home, an improvement in Justin’s batting performance and an investigation into acquiring Dutch bicycles!

Baking in this country is no mean feat! Finding the required ingredients and equipment has proved challenging. Firstly, we don’t have a proper oven, only a convection microwave. I have a healthy distrust for microwaves and was not very excited that it is the only option if I want to do any baking. And it is so small! Our normal baking trays from home don’t fit inside so I had to get new ones. Considering this is how many people cook in the Netherlands you would think you would be able to find a flat baking sheet that fits into a microwave, not in Rotterdam! I finally got some when I was visiting my sister in London, a bit far to go for baking trays!

That settled, next was to find all the ingredients. I managed to find everything easily enough except for bicarbonate of soda, none of the supermarkets had it! After searching every supermarket I came across, I eventually found it in a small non-descript mostly Indian ‘supermarket’. Yay! I was so excited. I think it was a bit over-priced but it wasn’t a time to be fussy. There isn’t a lot of options on most things in the supermarkets here, except maybe beer ;~) You can get pre-mixes for bread and pancakes but not really for cakes or muffins and not as wide a range either, only one or two brands available per product. It can a bit frustrating when you are used to a choice and are looking for something specific. I am hoping to still find a little baking shop tucked away somewhere that has cool stuff in it!

Final ingredient in hand, I rushed home and started baking!! After working out how to use the ’oven’ part of the microwave, the final product turned out ok. The biscuits taste a little different to how they did when I made them in SA; not better or worse, just different. With a little practice I think the little microwave oven will work out ok =) I don’t think I will be able to make rusks or anything fancy in it but it will do for plain biscuits, milk tarts and casseroles etc. The people in Justin’s office have already ‘ordered’ milk tarts for his birthday! Although, I am not sure how I am going to make them as I only have one round dish and can’t find any of the round foil ones in the shops *sigh* The next challenge! Or I might just make square ones, lol.

On Saturday we headed out to Megabike to investigate Dutch bicycles! Dutch bikes are a bit different to the bicycles we are used to. Cycling is a mode of transport here and so bicycles are designed for comfort and not speed. They call them ‘city bikes’. You sit upright on them and they are not particularly fast. Other important features are there is a cover over the chain to prevent it from getting dirty and also covers over the tops of the wheels to prevent your jacket getting dirty, important in the winter time! City bikes generally don’t have many gears, if they have gears at all, and they are also designed to carry some baggage. Over the back wheel is generally a rack where you can hang a double bag over the sides and there is space in the front for a basket. There is also a built -in lock that locks the back wheel in place, a bell and a stand. It’s been years since I’ve been on a bicycle and felt very unstable during a test ride!

After looking around a bit we decided to buy a bike Bron had seen on special on the internet. We ordered an ‘Omafiets’! An Omafiets generally doesn’t have any gears (so only one gear, the one it’s in!) and you backpedal for the brakes. Something I have to get used to! The frame is also a bit different to a normal ladies bike, more curved rather than straight. The bike we ordered also has front brakes and a rack in the front for a basket. Basically, the more options you want the more expensive the bike. However, bike theft in Rotterdam (and Amsterdam) is quite real and we were advised not to buy an expensive bike. The saying goes to spend more on the lock than the bike! Delivery is 2-3 working days so we are expecting the bike to arrive tomorrow or Wednesday. Will add some pics next time. Looking forward to cycling around and getting to know the city but also nervous of getting lost! Will have to learn some of the local road rules before I head out. Watch this space!

Yesterday, Sunday, Justin played his third cricket game of the season. His team batted first and things were not looking good when the top order crumbled and the score was 4/3, 17/4 and ~30/5. However the middle and lower order made a good come back and they ended on 224/9 after 40 overs. Justin’s batting performance improved dramatically this week and he made 24 runs, not out, batting at number 10. I thought the game would be over quickly when the opposing team made about 50 runs in the first 5 overs but apparently it became a nail biter and was close at the end with the winning runs made in the final over of the game with one wicket in hand. Justin had one wicket caught behind and made a great dive catch. His first 3 overs were a bit expensive but the other 5 were better. Overall his bowling figures were 41/1 after 8 overs, 24 runs coming off the first 3 overs. Unfortunately they lost the game but at least it was close and they weren’t all out. Bron braved the miserable howling wind to watch most of the game and got a few snaps of the man in action!

Otherwise, the weather was a bit poor last week. It was cloudy with some rain just about every day and the wind was blowing the whole week! It’s like living in Cape Town ;~) Saturday was a lovely day though, warm with no wind. But yesterday the clouds and wind were back and today is still very windy. Hoping the summer weather will arrive on schedule with June next week!

No real plans this week except the delivery of the Omafiets and Justin’s cricket game on Sunday. We are keen to explore Utrecht so might head out there this Saturday. We also need to get back to Ikea at some point to get a CD rack/display unit. We’ll get there. Next weekend is a long weekend so might be a good time, also post-pay day, lol.

Hope yours is a goodie!