Netherlands Points of Interest April 10 - 22

Here's a list of the places we plan to visit while in the Netherlands.  Any other suggestions?

• Hilversum (staying with Dad's cousin)
• Amsterdam
• Keukenhof
• Alkmaar
• Rotterdam
• Kinderdijk
• Utrecht
• Zwolle (staying in Reuben's aunt and uncle's place)
• Geithoorn
• Kampen
• Hoge Veluwe
• Het Loo / Apeldoorn
• Groningen (staying with Mom's cousin)
• Schiermonnikoog
• the Hague (back to staying in Hilversum)
• Delft
• Deltaworks
• Den Bosch

Wow! That is a lot of things to see and do.  I don't think we need anymore suggestions.  Thankfully, my Dad's gracious cousin is allowing us the use of her car so we don't have to wait on public transportation too much.  

The Netherlands

Well, Andrew(any other readers out there?), it looks like I won't have to bore you with recipes for too much longer as we've bought our tickets for the Netherlands.  After much hemming, hawing and arm-twisting (of Reuben by me), we're off to explore the land of our ancestors!

Places on my must-see list, which probably varies from Reuben's, are:
Lisse - tulip fields which will, hopefully, be in bloom while we're there
Hilversum - my dad's cousin, Ina's home
Ten Boer - my mom's cousin, John and Seibje's home
Delft - why not?
Terschelling - island, sounds cool
Zeeland - delta project
Zwolle - cool place to stay
The Hague - why not?
Amsterdam - the canals and the Rijksmuseum
De Haar Castle Utrecht - looks cool


etc. etc.

Dates of the trip: Thursday evening April 10 to Tuesday late night April 22.

What's for Dinner? Monday Night

I thought I'd do a little series on what I make for dinner and whether we'd like to have it again in the future since I'm always experimenting.

Last night, I made Honey-Lime Quinoa Stuffed Sweet Potato.  I had to make some substitutions because there were some things that I didn't have in the house.

Honey - I used pancake syrup
Corn - I didn't put in as much corn as they called for because I only had a frozen package of mixed veggies.  I separated the corn from the rest of the veggies but the amount was only about half of what I needed.
Sweet potato -  I bought yams.  I'm not sure if there is a difference between yams and sweet potatoes but they sure were sweet.
Monterey Jack cheese - I used cheddar since that's what I had

All in all, it was a pretty easy recipe, although it took quite a lot longer than expected to cook my yams in the oven.  I also halved the recipe and I had about a cup of stuffing leftover.  I really liked the stuffing on it's own when I taste-tested it.  It also tasted good with the melted cheese on it but as I was eating it there was something not quite right about it.  I don't know what it was but I could hardly finish it.  I think it was too sweet with too many heavy ingredients.  Afterwards, Reuben and I both thought we should feel fuller but we ended up having popcorn and hot chocolate just to fill our empty-feeling stomachs.

I probably won't make it again.