New Year's delicious sin

I'm strarting to be seriously worried about my weight. Chrstmas time is always difficult for such glutons as me. There's so much deliciousness attacking from each side. Chain cafes are offering christmas specials such as gingerbread latte with whipped cream. Patisseries tempt with adorable cookies and savory cakes. In supermarkets chocolate figures of Santa Claus, cinnamon star-shaped cookies and other goodies wrapped in a golden package are taking over. However the most dangerous is visiting the city center during a day. In different parts of the city (mostly in the center and around big supermarkets and shopping malls) trailers with oliebollen are placed.

Oliebollen are sweet, yeast dough "balls" fired in deep oil. They are in a way simillar to polish donuts, but a bit thicker and heavier. You clearly can't call them a light snack ;) They are of course the best while still warm, freshly baked and lavishly covered with powdered sugar (I'm always getting messy and my coat is all covered in sugar as well... what a grace). There's quite a big choice: starting with traditional plain oliebollen, krentenbollen with raisins, more fancy ones with appels, cream, cherries or raisins soaked in rum. Yummie!

Though olibollen are traditionally eaten in the Netherlands on New Year's, the trailors can be found waaaay earlier. Usually since the end of November. Sometimes ever earlier... My parents had a chance to try the already in the beginning of October! They are sometimes available at carnivals. We're already planning to make a lot of those "donuts" for New Year's Eve and than, starting from the first day of 2013,we're gonna promise to go on diet. However most likely after one week we're gonna see this resolution as one of those rediculous things people do while drunk/hangover and at the end just simply forget about the whole idea ;)

Churros with powdered sugar

Lately I'm seriously addicted to churros. Though they are typically spanish, this year they are good friends with the oliebollen. Crunchy, delicious and same caloric (like all the yummie stuff fried in deep oil). Ohh my poor diet.... watch out and try to survive till New Years!

The best proof of the dutch love for oliebollen is the fact, that since 1993 there's a contest being organised to find the best oliebollen baker of the year. A group of ten jurors is trying the samples and judging the taste of the "donuts". Later you can find the results in the "Algemeen Dagblad", a newspaper that started the whole national test of this New Year's speciality. Within last 13 years the title of the best oliebollen baker was awarded to Richard Visser's Gabakkram from Rotterdam for 8 times! This can mean only one thing: the next time your're planning to visit Rotterdam in december make sure you'll find this famous stall and try the best oliebollen in Holland!