Elisa was born on a rainy day of May. But she brought the sunshine to her new home, and revealed one of the most precious secrets. It was a baby girl! When I first came to The Netherlands I learn – with great surprise – it was rather impolite to ask the sex of the baby to the mother-to-be. Not that practical when it comes to buy a present, I guess I thought. Maybe because I was thinking of all those pink and blue little dresses people buy for babies in my country. Now, after some time among the Dutch I kind of like it. It’s part of the intimate relationship between the mother and the baby, and they reserve it for the closest ones. But what surprised me the most was the way of announcing the new to the broader audience! Beschuit met muisjes!!
“Muisjes” in Dutch literally means ” little mice” but no they are not mice ! They are little sugar coated aniseeds, and these days they come in three colours… white, blue and pink. Some say that the ” mouse” association came about because when the aniseeds are dipped into the sugar mixture a little mouse-like “tail” sometimes forms around the stalk. Aniseed is known to stimulate milk production in nursing mothers and was believed in the 17th Century to give protection from spirits from the mother and baby so maybe that’s why Aniseed is the traditional flavour.
You treat visitors with these biscuits (beschuit, almost sounds the same), but Ricardo took it seriously and also made us participate of such a tradition in the office.
After mainly many rainy days in May, we were surprised with a sunny first of June. Those are as beautiful as rare. And best way of enjoying it it’s to take a bike ride to Lage Vuursche and eat real farmer pancakes!! It’s very easy to get anywhere by bike, impossible to get lost, almost every corner you find signs. Lage Vuursche is known for having the best pannenkoeken restaurants, but also for being the place where Queen Beatrix will move to when she retires, since she used to live there before.
Savory or sweet, there is nothing like a nice ride through the forest topped by a pancake in the “de Vuursche boer” terrace
