Anticipation...suspense...

Why you say? Because it is almost 5th of December and in Holland this means Sinterklaas! Picture boxing day, with the over-excited children, the burned out parents and the happy family gathering. Our dutch children believe that this Saint along with his not so politically correct black friend (Zwarte Piet) brings presents for the children that have been good all year. This year is the first year my kids have made the giant leap to non-believers and with that they are introduced to the making of surprise gifts and the poems that come with them.
Meaning that you highlight certain habits and/or characteristics of your loved ones or events that took place this year and make fun of them in the poem. The gift you buy is supposed to be hidden in something completely different, preferably home-made (and lots of DIY involved here!) There is a dutch lady on E-gullet that has explained the Sinterklaas thing with pictures. (She also explains and cooks up a lot of Dutch food here as well). When you read her thread carefully you know I'm supposed to bake speculaas and pepernoten and maybe a banketletter, instead I tried my hand on a real American apple pie. Although I really really need to finish my poem...
Anyway.....as we speak (or rather I type and you read) the oven is beeping and the pie should be ready now. It is almost 11.00 pm, can you tell I'm a night owl? So here it is, piping hot from the oven, my first american pie...