In October 2009 the American author F'Allen Griffin and Dutch illustrator Karen Kommer published a book with a Dutch-American theme. The book is published by the Stichting Kinderboekenmarkt, the Dutch Children's Book Fair Foundation, to accompany the 2009 annual kinderboekenmarkt in The Hague. We acquired a copy.

A bilingual children's book

The book is Tecumseh TenSee is bilingual: each chapter is printed in Dutch followed by the English version. We asked Ilana, a 10-year old American girl to read the English chapters and assist with this review, an assignment she enjoyed. On a scale from 1 to 10 she would rate it a 9.

Tecumseh TenSee is the name of the main character, an American boy with Native American and Dutch ancestors. "Tecumseh turns 11 years old and goes to Grand Father Oak who tells him he'll have a vision". The American boy experiences a coming of age vision, and in his vision he meets his Native American ancestors, as well as his Dutch grandfather in the Netherlands.

"A very brave main character"

"It was an exciting book; the main character is very brave because he traveled a long way with nobody watching him."

The illustrations in the book were by Karen Kommer. "The pictures in the book had everything the story was about; a little confusing, but you get it". The book contains many biographical elements, including the references to Serpent Mound in Ohio.

Cover text

The cover text: "An American boy of partly Indian descent, sets off on the night before his eleventh birthday, on a search through the Ohio Valley for the vision of his famous Shawnee ancestors Tecumseh and Tenskatawa.

In the magical vision quest through time TenSee, as he calls himself, transforms into a young Griffin Buzzard and flies over the Atlantic Ocean to the Nether Lands. He meets Janneke the Dragon Fly and they find their philosophy of life: Peace is the heartbeat of nature. Tecumseh TenSee is meant to inspire avid 10+ readers and seekers."

Where to buy

The book is for sale at the Stichting Kinderboekenmarkt, Stationsweg 93 (de Gebarenwinkel), 2515 BK Den Haag. The price is €7.35; shipping in the Netherlands is available for €1.25. Contact the publisher for purchasing information for the US.

Tecumseh TenSee
Author: F'Allen Griffin, illustrations: Karen Kommer
ISBN 978 90 453 1043 5
kinderboekenmarkt@xs4all.nl
http://www.griffinkommer.com/
http://www.kinderboekenmarkt.nl/marktboek.html

Sasha is leaving to NC tomorrow so we'll get up early to drive to Newark airport. It's not far, around 30 minutes, so I'll be back at work before 9.00 am.

We're watching the State of the Union address tonight; one of the two major events today. The other was the long awaited announcement of the Apple iPad. For the first time I was really looking forward to an Apple product roll-out; I really like what I've seen about the iPad so far. We watched the commercial on the Apple website at work.

It's strange to watch CNN with a political program without DVR! The apartment we're in doesn't have Tivo or DVR so we can't skip the commercials.

Several weeks ago we mentioned on our Facebook page that Danku, a Dutch restaurant in New York, had temporary closed.

However, it became clear that Danku would not reopen. The telephone and their website stopped working and Midtown lunch wrote that eviction notices were posted on the store's windows. An article today on 925.nl (in Dutch) talks about the eviction lawsuit and mentions that the second store of Danku in Antwerp, Belgium has also closed.

It's sad to see a Dutch store or restaurant close but don't forget that we have nearly 50 Dutch restaurants, stores and bakeries in the United States in our directory.

Danku in November 2009 on a Sunday (they were closed on Sundays).

This weekend we're together; Sasha came from North Carolina on Friday evening.

We had a wonderful evening with Johanna on Saturday -- great guests and so many stories. We were home around 2.00 am. The next day we had lunch with the Zanes which was great.

I usually start my days at 8.00 am here and stay till late. The commute is trivial though. Sasha is going to Durham on Thursday, I'll follow her a day later. We made a roster of 'who is where' for the next few weeks.

The Netherlands Consulate in Atlanta, which serves as a link between the Netherlands and Georgia and South Carolina, is accepting visa applications again.

The office wasn't accepting visa applications since June last year; starting Monday January 25th applications will be taken again.

For further information contact the consulate at (770) 390-3550 or at info@nlatlantaconsulate.org.

Last week we visited The Dutch Epicure Shop Bakery in Connecticut, one of nearly 50 Dutch restaurants, bakeries and stores in the United States that we know of.

The Dutch Epicure Shop Bakery is a Dutch bakery and grocery store in Litchfield, Connecticut. It's located on a small strip mall on highway 202, about 45 minutes east of Hartford, the state's capital.

The store was founded by a Dutch baker in 1967 and a few years later purchased by Wolfgang and Betsy Joas. Mr. Joas, an German-born pastry chef and Mrs. Joas, a Dutch national from Diemen, the Netherlands, met on a ship of the Holland-American Line and started a Dutch-German-American family and store. Eight years ago their daughter Wilma, who is trained as a chef at the Culinary Institute of America, took over the business and continued the tradition of friendly service and high quality products. Her mother Betsy still assists in the store and the ordering.

A friendly Dutch bakery

Over the years the family built up a successful bakery and grocery store with a loyal following, in Litchfield and far around it. "There's only one other Dutch family in Litchfield", Mrs. Joas explains, "but we receive Dutch customers from all over the Tri-State Region, coming as far away as Boston and New Jersey". About 20% of the customers is Dutch -- the store is also the bakery for the local community.

Popular items from the bakery are the bitterkoekjes and Amsterdams krentenbrood (baked on Fridays and Saturdays). They sell out quickly -- "the people know about it and show up early!"

During the holidays Wilma bakes banketstaven and other traditional goods. Dutch cookies year-round include speculaas, hoefjes and bokkenpootjes. We can vouch for the Almond bitterkoekjes (of which we received a free sample) and the quality of the Dutch-style bread.

Customers are received with happy smiles and service in either English, German or Dutch.

Dutch groceries

Wilma and Betsy repeatedly warned your correspondent that "the store is empty because of our upcoming vacation", but the shelves were still overflowing. The store closes each year for a few weeks in February to allow a vacation break. Wilma was born in the United States but learned Dutch from her mother and speaks Dutch fluently -- something her mother is proud of.

The biggest selling item are the Dutch cheeses in many varieties and are available for a sample -- "Ik zal hem even laten proeven because hij is zo lekker". The store carries a large supply of Indonesian spices and condiments, including the Dutch Conimex brand. The store has about 30 varieties of drop, Dutch licorice.

The store combines German and Dutch influences, a nougat and strudel are joined with beschuit and Delft Blauw on the shelves. Mrs. Joas mother frequently visits the Netherlands to stay up-to-date on trends and new styles in food. Frozen herring is supplied by Vishandel de Otter from Den Haag (www.vishandeldeotter.nl) and the store carries gele vla and chocolade vla.

The Dutch Epicure Shop Bakery
491 Bantam Rd.
Litchfield, CT, 6759
View on map

The Dutch Epicure Shop is located on highway 202 in Litchfield, CT.

The front with the Frisian flag in honor of Oma de Boer.

A Dutch tulip girl welcomes you to the store.

Counter with Dutch cheese and German meats (from NYC).

Dutch cheeses.

Wilma and Betsy Joas.

Delfts Blauw pottery.

Chocolate, including Dutch brands Droste and Verkade.

Dutch and German mustards.

The second area in the store is full with Dutch groceries.

A few of the chocolade letters, post season. They are handmade in the bakery.

The fridge contains mackerel, herring and various home-made soups, including split pea soup.

I'm making Dutch pea soup (erwtensoep) and red cabbage with apples tonight. Visiting the Dutch stores this weekend inspired me.

It was the first time ever that I've cooked with celeriac, knolselderij in Dutch. It's an ingredient for the pea soup, according to the recipe I'm using. It smells good.

Sasha left for Durham on Thursday morning, and she'll be back on Friday so I spent the weekend alone.

Yesterday I traveled to Connecticut; the first time in that state. It's about two hours from here. I visited two Dutch stores there, for reviews for 'the other website'. That was a lot of fun. Had good phone conversations while driving in the car (hands free, yes).

Today was an easy day; I wrote one of the articles about yesterday, went for a run and did some housekeeping and shopping. Ready for the new week.