Busy times, a Baby shower and a birthday in Flatland!

Aaahhhh... what a busy month. So in my last post, I mentioned that I returned to Australia for a couple of weeks. Well I got back from Aus, recovered from the nasty cold I picked up during my travels, caught up with some friends, used up all of our groceries that would go off, packed our bags into our trusty blue Panda and hit the road to drive up to the Netherlands. All of this preparation and illness recovery happened in a week. Not a nice way to start an exciting European adventure. But, we got through it. That's the thing about humans... we whinge and moan about all of the stuff we have to do but we manage to get through it all without falling over and dying - well, most of the time. Anyway, back to what I came here to talk about.

Roy and I planned out a big adventure for the whole month of June. Our good friends in the Netherlands are having a baby very soon and they had a baby shower (hence the reason for driving up there). So Roy decided that it would be a great opportunity to plan a work stint at the University in Nijmegen where his longtime friend and colleague works for the week following the baby shower. You could probably safely call him a colleague even though they don't technically work at the same institution, because they went to University together and have worked closely together for years. We arrived in Nijmegen after nine hours on the road - it seems like a long time but majority of that driving is on the German autobahns which is quite easy driving. Surprisingly our little Fiat went well! It sat happily on 130-140km/h as the Audi's, BMW's and Porsche's zoomed past at close to 200km/h. The only frustrating parts were the regular speed reductions to 80km/h through roadworks and the annoying trucks that overtake other trucks causing the fast lane to slow down rapidly. Luckily European drivers seem to be pretty sensible (perhaps a wild generalisation) and put their hazard lights on when they notice rapid braking ahead.

The baby shower was great! My expectant friend is very much into baking, so there was a fantastic spread laid out for all to enjoy. Their little, Dutch apartment was bustling with friends eager to try the tasty treats. Most of the guests were Dutch and had never heard of the concept of a baby shower as we know it in Australia. Instead they celebrate once the baby has arrived - which makes sense, but I prefer the Aussie way because once the baby is born who has the time to create a huge feast for a party?

Onesie sugar cookies.

Stroopwafel cupcakes to celebrate the baby who is affectionately named "Stroopy"

Lemon Meringue Pies! My favourite!

Pistachio macarons with white chocolate ganache. Delicious!

The day after we had gorged ourselves silly on sweet treats from the baby shower was my birthday. Since we were in the land of bicycles and our friends have a selection of spare bikes, we jumped on some comfortable, Dutch fiets and cycled around town. The weather was lovely and perfect for a galavant around. When we returned, I was surprised with a lovely birthday party with a fantastic cake and leftover treats from the previous day. Luckily I have a rather large sweet tooth because there was lots of sweets to enjoy. My friends even made me a great present which I will put to good use in my kitchen while baking - or even just to frolic around the house in.

Ernie the elephant!

Delicious!

My lovely, frilly apron. 

Aren't we cute!

The two stealthy masterminds behind the whole affair.

It was a fantastic way to spend a birthday! With awesome food, great company and some very special friends who made it all happen. More June European adventures to come.