Monday, May 11, 2009

A trip to Holland, Michigan and a box of windmill spiced cookies

We drove 7 hours to Michigan. All for the sake of seeing my favorite flower- the tulip.

I was really disappointed that the field had scanty patches of tulips. I hated their fields(As you can see in the first snap)Maybe it's because I've visited Netherlands and seen their vast vast fields of tulips in bloom. I didn't care much for these here.

I thought that our trip would go to the dumps. But, fortunately, for us, the Windmill Island pepped up our day. Windmill Island features a 240 year old working Dutch windmill "De Zwaan" (meaning graceful bird).

It is the only authentic Dutch windmill in the USA. It was brought in parts all the way from Netherlands and rebuilt here.

Next came Neli's Dutch village. A lot of dutch dancing and fun rides. Nothing worth mentioning.

The stunner was Lake Michigan Light house. It's called the "BIG RED" and it's one of the most photographed light houses in Michigan. It looked cute. The best part was sunset. Oh! It was so breath taking and romantic ;)

Finally, about the cookies part. I bought a cute box of some authentic Dutch cookies from the Windmill Island. They were imported cookies which were made in Netherlands. Boy, they were awesome!
They were spiced with ginger and cinnamon and had that wonderful taste of dark brown sugar. They had a very crispy crunch too.
On the whole, it was a pleasant weekend.















Luv 'n' luc'
Smitha

40 comments:

  1. and i have seen all these places only in google maps :)

    nice snaps

    chriz

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  2. The tulip festival here in OR was great-vast fields of tulips. Almost sang the "Silsila" song,except that AB was nowhere in sight ;)

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  3. But I liked the fields :) Nice pics!!

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  4. if u love tulips...botanical garden in Chicago,IL is the place..http://www.chicago-botanic.org/
    thats one definite thing i miss moving out of chicago :(
    great pics...dutch cookies...neat!!

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  5. Nice pics..u cud have come over to Seattle..it was beautiful..but then ofcourse no yummy dutch cookies here..:)

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  6. Awesome pictures Smitha...the windmill island looks so idyllic...I must visit those places when I make a trip to MI :)

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  7. Smitha you look cute in the pic, looks like a long shot...Dutch cookies are simply the best oh you guys should have had a great snack time party...

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  8. Hey Smitha, after chopping off the Plantains you can mix Water and salt and just sprinkle a lil, you can wait for a few mins if you want they dint splutter in the oil... Or you can just slice them and drop them in Water mixed with turmeric and salt and remove let it stand for a few mins b4 frying (this is how my Mom does) but I wasnt patient enough to do all that...

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  9. Good shots! And great places to visit! The cookies look awesome :)

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  10. Hi Smitha,
    lovely travel read and nice pics ...Thanks for sharing
    Enjoy the week ahead.
    TC

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  11. Lovely fotos smitha..Those cookies look great lol..
    @ ur query, regarding the rice for that dosa, you can use any normal rice like sona masuri,kolam,ponni but not the idli rice or boiled rice.

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  12. Mmm lovely clicks. yummy cookies too!

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  13. hai smitha..thank u 4 d suggestion for my post mushroom fried rice..i never use ajinimoto..but i just write it down in d recipe as its a chinese dish....its better to avoid ajinomoto.. :) thanks again 4 d suggestion.

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  14. look at the sunset there.., awesome & truly romantic.When I was working in India, the HQ of my company was in Netherlands. I used to get all these cookies from Netherlands often then.., I'm missing them a lot here now.
    Very nice Smitha

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  15. Hello Smita!! I wanted to mail you abt the info u needed but I couldn't find ur email id..I bought mine from Mysore. Where exactly is ur sis? Maybe I could give you more info then :) Mail me at airmathew@gmail.com

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  16. Pretty snaps and the sunset looks spectacular.
    about your query,the dried prunes can also be used for making Jam. check my recipe of Jam here with dried figs.

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  17. Windmill Island sounds interesting . Love those Dutch cookies. Sunset view is superb.
    Nice post.

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  18. Moreover I am hosting an event called 'The potluck - chicken' . It is my first time to host one. Expecting your suggestions , support and yummy dishes . Hearty welcome dear.
    http://elitefoods.blogspot.com/2009/05/announcing-event-express-potluck.html
    Thanks.

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  19. Sounds like a wonderful trip...great pictures and the cookies look awesome.

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  20. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  21. Wow! Smitha u look very very cute in the pics ...Hey awsome cookies ...Thanks for the recipe

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  22. hey Smitha, did u like the tulips.....somehow i was lil dissapointed when i went there u know!Did u go to the dutch village?

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  23. wow din't read ur post properly first....hmmmm looks like we both r in the same boat.....so drove 7hrs for this haan!!!!

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  24. Just from the pictures I have seen that my friends send of the tulips from Netherlands, I must say the ones here don't even come close. But we have what we have...sigh!

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  25. nice clicks gal......good to know u enjoyed the trip

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  26. Great pictures smith..lovely ..paintin, cookies everything are so good and offcourse u too

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  27. Thanx for visiting my blog Smitha..Liked ur blog too..Awesome clicks and yummy cookies..

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  28. My Dad's favorite flower is the tulip. He wants to go to Holland to see them. I think they are lovely flowers too. Thanks for sharing the picture.

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  29. Came through Rush blog.Iam not into culinary but would read with interest your other posts.The initial impression of your blog is one of happiness

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  30. Hi Smitha, Awesome clicks, Wish i could also visit those places.

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  31. I love to travel myself and found your post very interesting.. Have made a note of it as reference for my next trip :)

    cheers

    Vish

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  32. Thanks for leaving a comment in my blog.Your mom is a rare exception not ordinarily seen.It also speaks highly of your grandma.I was just reflecting in the story what is happening around.
    kpartha12@gmail.com

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  33. something special for you in my blog.. :)

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  34. Awesome pics. Your writing was also very engaging. Keep writing.

    Best,
    Swapna

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  35. I was reading your recipe and the image down says.. you might also like... and I reached here..

    I like the biscuits displayed there above...

    Pappu also brings the same type of biscuits...mm..pappu the biscuit wala who comes with his "thela"(vehicle for transforting food items).

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  36. Sorry our tulips disappointed you. We've had a few too many "Stem Fests" in a row. But our tulips this past season were just as lovely as the ones back in the homeland, from what i can remember. Hopefully you will come again. We have so much more to see here in Holland. I am glad you got to see Big Red. If you ever come back, make sure you hit up Mt. Pisgah. There are a lot of stairs to climb but the view of lake michigan from the top is beautiful.

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