Sinter Klaasje

My father served his mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Holland, and as a result my brothers and sister and I were raised with a little bit of the Dutch tradition of celebrating Christmas on December 6th. He taught us that Sinter Klaas arrives on an ancient boat and travels from door to door on his magnificent white steed, leaving goodies for all in their wooden shoes (Klompen). (In Holland he arrives from Spain and makes land at Amsterdam.) Each year we always would put treats, as did the Dutch children, like carrots, apples, celery and such for St. Nicholas' horse to eat, and hope that he would in turn give us treats back! We would all sing the song "Sinter Klaasje bona bona bona" (as you have to perform for him in order to receive a gift), and then go to sleep. The next morning we would find such treats in our shoes: traditional ribbon candy, pistachios, and clementines. (Sometimes even hershey kisses!) And then each person got a toy. Oh, boy!




Well, this year I busted out our wooden shoes. We each have a pair that actually fit us- even Aaron! They were all hand-me-downs as people's feet grew and/or bought themselves new ones with cooler painted designs. Here they are in their Klompen! Aaron didn't like to walk in his- not very comfy for little learning feet, so he took them off just as soon as they were on.





And here is what Sinter Klaas brought us!



Elena got a Hello Kitty DVD- she's a HUGE fan right now. Aaron got a farm animal toy, which you can push buttons and hear the animal sound. Oh, boy! Jim got a new Black & Decker drill. (How did Saint Nick know our old one stopped working!?) And I got a new counter-top mixer. Kinda like a Kitchen-Aid. Yippee! Oh, yeah and some really yummy treats too! He left us one of my favorite holiday treats- Stroopwafel! They are somewhat like big round wafers with caramel in between, and if you microwave them for a few seconds the inside gets all melty and gooey and SO GOOD! Especially with a mug of hot chocolate. (I despise calling it "hot cocoa". Pet peeve. Hate, HATE that word!)

Anyway, nowadays, they still celebrate over in Holland. It's a huge deal for them. They close down everything, all the shops, everything. It's kind of like Christmas and Halloween combined. Sinter Klaas wears the cardinal robes as he is a saint from Spain, and he is accompanied by Zwarte Pite (Black Pete, from Morocco). He's the enforcer, shaking a stick of switches to keep the boys and girls in line.



So kids go to the parade all dressed up as one of them, or just paint their faces.



They then have to perform for Sinter Klaasje in order to receive a gift. (This aspect was similar to what I experienced on my mission in Germany.)



Then everybody parties! Every large city has a parade with Sinter Klaas. Maybe someday we'll go over there and experience a true European Christmas. I believe I do have some Dutch heritage, so that would be cool.

Quick Trivia question:

New York City was originally called what?

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Give up?

New Amsterdam!

Back in the day, they used to celebrate Sinter Klaas European style there.

Pretty cool, no?

I have some pretty cool traditional recipes I will post later, like Ollibollen and Lefsa!

Gooi wat in mijn laarsje, Dank U Sinter Klaasje!

(By the way, adding the -je to the end of Sinter Klaas adds an air of affection to it.)