Happy 2009!

The two of us gals are, technically, 100% Dutch. At least, that's what our ancestry is. Truthfully, our family is pretty much as American as can be. We don't speak Dutch and we don't have many Dutch recipes---it's been too many generations since our ancestors came to the United States. However, in the community we grew up in, many families had closer ties to the Netherlands and, therefore, had preserved Dutch traditions better than our family managed to. One of those traditions is Oliebollen on New Year's. Many Dutch-American families will gather today, New Year's Day, and share homemade Oliebollen with each other. The stuff is kinda like the Dutch version of doughnuts. If you'd like to try the recipe out, you can find it right here at allrecipes.com. Our family never made the stuff...but sometimes, as kids, we were lucky enough to be invited over to a friend's house where Oliebollen was being prepared. It's pretty good stuff!

We hope that whatever you are doing today---the very first day of 2009---you are feeling happy and hopeful about the coming year. We thank you for reading the Babs Blog! We love hearing from you and hope that you'll continue to check in with us in 2009! :)

---Jill & Kari