New Years Eve, part II

It is quite a challenge to have a big frying pan filled with oil and trying to heat it on a little camping heater. As you can imagine that isn't easy.
As I told before we celebrated New Years Eve at our friend's house and I was baking fritters in their garage. What I didn't tell you was that the garage door was slightly opened to let the smell of the baking fritters get out. But on the other hand the freezing cold came in and the garage wasn't heated. So, although I was facing a very hot frying pan, my fingers and toes were stone cold. Furthermore, boys from around the block already started early that evening to shoot of some heavy firework in front of the garage, with that door opened! That didn't work out very well for my nerves, I must admit. Luckily no fire-crackers or rockets have entered the building. But I was very relieved when I finished baking the fritters in that garage!

Illustration Friday Time

As a result of this week's topic on Illustration Friday, I drew my watch. It's a very nice watch to wear and to look at. There's only one thing about this watch: it seems that there's always less time left at the end of an hour than I've expected!
To make more time for myself, and my favourite hobby, I usually put it out of sight. So I don't have to look at it all the time and somehow this works out quite well. When I finished what I planned to do, for example this drawing, I've spend less time then expected. Lesson learned: draw without knowledge of time.

New Years Eve

We've spend New Years Eve with friends. I usually make the Dutch New Years Eve treat: the 'oliebol', in English I think you call them 'fritter'. Because you have to make them in boiling oil, your house will be smelling for a few days that typical New Years Eve smell. Including your clothes and coats. But this year we didn't want our friends to bother with that smell, so I suggested I'd bake the fritters in their garage. No problem, only they didn't have a stove in their garage. Who hasn't? So, with a little improvisation, I've baked them on their gasoline camping heater. Fortunately that worked out well. The friends and family said that the fritters tasted excellent. Maybe because I've put a whole bottle of beer in the dough?

Climbing

The German boot factory Hanwag is known for its excellent mountaineering boots. I'm glad that I have a pair of them, as you can see above, for about nine years now. The colourscheme is a bit different then what you usually expect for these kind of shoes. That's mainly because these boots aren't made for climbing, but for use by paragliding pilots. Look for example at the hight for better protection of the heels. Furthermore paragliding pilots are a bit different then ordinary mountaineers, so that's why Hanwag made the different colourscheme. Which luckily didn't really became a trend.

Dutch Treat

Last Christmas I made an old Dutch treat: apples baked in puff paste. The recipe is very simple and the result is very sweet and delicious. What does one want more in life?
After removing the skin and core of the apples I've putted a great deal of sugar, cinnamon and raisins into the apples. With almondpaste on top and bottom of the apples I folded the puff paste around it and baked them for about twenty-five minutes in the oven. As allways they were eaten in no-time by family and friends! I only had time to make a quick snapshot of these three. So I must admit I didn't draw this sketch in "real life" but by (digital) photograph. I hope you don't mind and that they look tasteful enough to give you an idea.
In the old days my father always had trouble making these apple bowls in our bakery. Somehow they mostly bursted in the oven because of too much heat and less time, I think. It's important not to have to high temperatures when you put them in the oven. Just give them a little time to get used to the heat. That works best (as with most things).

IF - Pale

Me and my good old skates. Too bad the winter seems to have left our country already. It looked so promising about three weeks ago: the whole country was excited to skate on the frozen lakes and ditches where the ice looked strong enough to hold the skaters. It was one big party on the ice. One night I went skating with my neighbour enlightend by nothing more than the pale moonlight. Such a great experience: skating in the (almost) dark. Too bad our wives couldn't come with us that evening. Perhaps we have to wait for another twelve years before we can skate again out in the open...

Citroën BX

More than ten years ago I bought my second Citroën: the model BX. At that time I played in a band so I choose the stationwagon. It was really a big car, the complete band's soundsystem could be transported with my car! The other guys always drove with another car to our (not so many) gigs and the guy with the drumkit had to go by his own car. Those were the days!
I parked my car always on the other side of the road, because there was a Citroëngarage. I kind of hoped they would spontaneously buy my car, because (I thought) it was a real classic of it's own. Nowadays I know what a real classic car looks like and which ones are worth their money. The Citroën BX still isn't...
Anyway, it drove like a Citroën is supposed to do: very smoooooth and I had a lot of fun with it. So for old times sake I made this little sketch in which I remember how the car looked parked on the other side of the road.