Vintage Adventures

Howdy! I'm a crafty gal living in the Golden State of California; all about vintage clothes, swing dancing, knitting, cooking, books
and adventures!

Saturday, November 21, 2009

{Stroopwafels and the flu}

after being very busy and contracting regular flu and strep throat, i am finally well enough to do things!
i suppose that i was exposed to the germs on the dance floor at a club i went to
but at least i was only deathly ill for 2 days; my 101.7 fever is gone now!
i unintentionally gave blood before i got sick
i mean, i meant to give blood, but i didn't know that i was gunna be sick 3 days later
so that put a bit of a hamper on my recovery time

yesterday i went to henry's; i needed something with sugar.
i know this may sound like an excuse for a relapsing sugar addict, but the sugar coats my swollen tonsils which in turn lessens my coughing fits

i couldn't find dry lavender soda so i meandered down the rest of the aisle into the cookie aisle and saw them.. stroopwafels!!
i couldn't believe my luck that the kind i found were vegan; shady maple farms certified organic stroopwafels.. the maple kind!

stroopwafel = a dutch waffle cookie with a caramel-like syrup filling.
it originates in the town of gouda in the netherlands
being sweet, it is traditionally eaten with morning coffee or tea

the history of the stroopwafel is surrounded is mystery!
the earliest documentation of its creation was during the late 18th century or early 19th century.
a baker wanted to use up leftover crumbs so he sweetened them with syrup and.. the stroopwafel was born!
in the 19th century there were around 100 stroopwafel bakers in gouda and today, only four of those are still open and running.
stroopwafels weren't even made outside of gouda until 1870, and in the 20th century, were factory made.
another tradition says that napoleon may be the one to thank for stroopwafels
apparently, in the 1800's he dictated that sugar was to be grown in holland, which at the time, was a part of the french empire
not unlike certain situations today, napoleon wanted to free france from reliance of foreign goods [sugar], and not long afterward the stroopowafel made its appearance in gouda
stroopwafel recipes are guarded secrets that are passed down from parent to child, generation to generation like a family secret

they are made with two waffle-like wafers that have a caramel-esque filling
sometimes hazelnuts or other add-ins are added to the filling

i plan to veganize a stroopwafel recipe in time..
i'm not exactly up to cooking a whole lot right now