A Pentecost Birthday

How many times do you get to celebrate your birthday on a holiday, especially if it isn't Christmas, New Year's, or 4th of July! Lucky for me, today is one of 3 holidays in The Netherlands that is officially celebrated for 2 days each: Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost. So when you're talking about the holiday, you have to be specific about what day you mean. The 2nd Christmas day would be 26 December, for instance. Today is the 2nd Pentecost day, which is always Monday...not Sunday.

AND today is my birthday. #66 to be exact. Because it's a holiday, Astrid is off work, so it really IS a holiday birthday for me. And for her.

A Pentecost Birthday.
That's what my Vision & Verb post is about today.
[Image from the Hammerfest Church, Norway.]

Now you have a hint why we celebrated my birthday in Belgium two weeks ago instead of now. The Dutch go crazy on the highways over holidays. There was no way we would be part of that.

Last week I posted about the lovely Belgium city of Ghent. Next week I'll post about the next day driving home through Dendermonde, Mechelen, and Lier. Today I'll post about our B&B stay in Berlare, outside Ghent. But first, some birthday shenanigans....

TWO (count them!) tarts! First an appeltaart, eaten 3 days in a row (with Astrid's son Jeroen joining us today) and a spinach tart for Sunday (yesterday) and today, the two days of Pentecost. And both made by Astrid!

This part blows me away!
The Dutch don't use measuring cups for their recipes. They WEIGH their ingredients, like sugar and flour. A cup of sugar does not weigh the same as a cup of flour. So, as Astrid says, she gets very confused by my measuring cups. She knows that volume does not equal weight! I guess American recipes take all that into account.
These scales from Germany are over 50 years old, inherited from Astrid's mom. They operate on a counter weight, up to 10 kilos (22 lbs.). Modern scales, of course, are now digitalized.


The dough was supposed to be rolled out with a rolling pin but the butter was a different brand than Astrid was used to and ended up crumbing better than rolling. Did I care? She tossed the apples in cinnamon, added in a few raisins, and then more dough on top. Kinda like an appel crumble, but not really.

Then, into the oven for an hour at 180 C (356 F). This contraption that looks like a microwave IS, but it's also an oven, a broiler, and a convection oven...all wrapped into one. If you have a kitchen here without a built-in oven, this is usually what most people buy because of space. And believe it or not, I have learned to not only use it but to like it!

So, an hour later....

In case you can't tell, that's a springform pan. I love it!


Astrid used to make this appeltaart 5-6 times a year in her past life.
Am I lucky or what to have it for my birthday this year! A labor of love...in my own house.

That was Saturday. On Sunday, yesterday, she made the spinach tart! Enough to last for two days:

The dough is croissant dough and comes in squares that Astrid fit into another springform pan.
The mixture is cooked spinach, corn (both drained), with cheese and beaten eggs. Halfway through a layer of sliced hard-boiled eggs is added, with the remaining mixture on top.
Then the entire top is covered with the remaining dough and baked for 45 minutes at 220 C (428 F).


And just like that, Voilà!
One quarter is a vegetarian meal for one person. To die for!

DID I MENTION THAT I FEEL VERY LOVED ON MY BIRTHDAY!

**********

OK. Now, back to Belgium and the B&B in Berlare. THAT was the main birthday gift from Astrid, spending the night so we didn't have to do Belgium all in one day.

Berlare is a town of only 14K people. We've discovered you can sometimes get a better B&B price if you're willing to go outside the 'cig bity,' which we often do. We were delighted by this sweet little B&B Hagewinde. Our hostess, Monique, was perfect in every way.
We LOVE B&Bs and have never yet been disappointed.

After getting settled, and while it was still light and not too late, we went off to see two churches:


The first church was St. Martinuskerk near the city center, built in 1910.
And locked.


But the second, Bareldonk Chapel from 1302, stole our hearts.
On the property was a path that looped around 7 stations of the cross. In fact, as we were leaving, a group of parishioners was being led around the loop for Vespers recitation.


Midway through the 'stations' is this life-size monument of the sick and wounded coming to the Cross. I grew up being told the difference between Protestants and Catholics was whether or not the crucified Christ was still on the Cross. For Protestants, because we believed in a risen Christ, Jesus was no longer on the Cross.
Today I no longer split those hairs.


This chapel was open!
It's not a huge cathedral. It's not a protestant church.
But it's the kind of cozy church I would be drawn to for worship, truth be known.

Next week I'll take you to 3 more Belgium cities with BIG churches, all Roman Catholic. Till then, here are some more....

...niches...


...gevelstenen (gable stones).
Well, the last one (sheep) may be a stretch.


Two more water towers, with a bridge thrown in for good measure.


Make that 3 more water towers.




Some more weathervanes (my first moose!)....


...and last but not least, a vending machine for loaves of fresh bread!
This is the first time I've seen this anywhere, period.

That's it for now and my Happy Birthday! More like my Happy BirthMONTH which continues next week. In the meantime, please don't forget my Vision & Verb for today on the sexy number 66!