Dutch Fest - The Best Fest

Dutch Fest.


Up until a few weeks ago, I never even knew it existed.  But it does, and it is WONDERFUL.

Now, I must post a bit of a disclaimer here:  Mindy and I got there late...but we actually didn't.  It was supposed to end at 4, and we got there at 3:15.  Most everything was packed up, or in the process of being packed up.  (This is the Dutch, remember.  They are serious about being on-time, which translates to, "ends at 4 = completely gone by 4.")  It is because we got there "late," that I cannot say that we fully experienced Dutch Fest in all its glory, and therefore cannot provide a truly accurate review.  What I can say, you ask?  Simple:


Dutch. Fest. Rocks.


As tardy as we may have been (or not), we did what any little heritage-starved Dutch girls would do in a virtual cornucopia of Dutch-related foods and products.  We ran like mad for the ticket booth, bought an armful of tickets, and hightailed it to the Dutch food booths.  And then we stuffed our faces.



You see, we don't often get Dutch foods anymore.  Moving away from Mom and Dad has virtually cut off our supply of Dutch rusk, stamppot sniebonnen (totally spelled wrong), chocolate hagel, oliebollen, and the like.  We were ravenous.  And we were in the Disneyland of Dutch.


We even got to partake in something we have never had before: Poffertjes.

And, people?  Let me tell you.  The Dutch *know* their food.

Once we had quenched our thirst for all things delicious, we meandered to the other section of Dutch Fest - the shopping.

While this may not look like Oak Brook Mall or Gurney Mills, to us, this was the holy grail of shopping.  Delft, hand-crocheted kitchen rags, wooden shoes, Dutch dolls, Dutch cookies...it was all there, and all housed in adorable mock Dutch storefronts.  Well...sort of.  Most of it was already packed away in boxes.  But we did manage to score some free kettle corn (free is among our people's most cherished words) and windmill cookies.

Our lesson for next year?  Arrive early.


Which is around 6:30AM, Dutch Standard Time.