Happy Sinterklaas everyone

[Mephistopheles]

Tonight is Sinterklaasavond, Saint Nicholas' eve.

Most of you will probably have never heard of Saint Nicholas, but if you ever wondered where Santa Claus had his origins, look no further.

Originally he was a bishop and patron saint of sailors and children, and over time that has evolved into what it is today. Children get presents and basically everybody spends fuckloads of money, just like Christmas in the US.

For those of you who wish to learn more about this, here's some more info.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinterklaas

Anyways, thought I'd share some Dutch culture with you guys.

 

[TklDuo-Ann]

Happy feast day to all who celebrate the real St. Nick.

 

[Mephistopheles]

You guys really should try some pepernoten, or spiced shortbreads as they are called in English.

Those things do spark controversy every year because it's something traditionally associated with Sinterklaas but supermarkets are selling them as early as september. (personally I'm a bit undecided on the matter; it's a bit like them bloody christmas decorations in october, but then again, it's brilliant stuff to eat so I'd love to be able to purchase them all year round)

 

[TklDuo-Ann]

I seem to recall seeing a good traditional recipe for them some time ago. As I remember, they were pretty easy.

 

[Mephistopheles]

I seem to recall seeing a good traditional recipe for them some time ago. As I remember, they were pretty easy.

Yeah, easy as pie and really good.

Here's a recipe I just randomly got from the interwebs and stuffed into Google Translate:

Recipe Pepernoten

No sinterklaas party without gingerbread. Of course you can parcel evening recipe for gingerbread gingerbread just buy at the store but Sinterklaas evening is much more fun if you enjoy the gingerbread itself is baking. Here you'll find recipes for your own gingerbread and as St. Peter come.
Ingredients:

* 250 gram flour
* 3 g baking powder
* 5 grams cinnamon
* 2 grams ground cloves
* 2 grams cardamom
* 1 gram of ginger powder
* 125 grams butter
* 125 gram brown sugar
* 50 grams pouring syrup
* 3 grams of salt.

Preparation:

* Sift the flour with the baking powder and spices in a bowl.
* Heat the butter with the caster sugar, the syrup and salt in a saucepan, stirring to about 45 C until all is melted.
* Pour the flour to the masses and mix well together until a smooth dough.
* Leave in a cool place a few hours to set.
* Roll the dough to a piece of cm thick and put this example in a drill or apple with the back of a nozzle even in jokes.
* Put them in a buttered baking sheet and slide for about 15 minutes in the middle of a moderately hot oven (about 180 C).
* Take the gingerbread on the baking tray and allow to cool.

seems to be something worth a try.