Welcome Crossroad Readers

It’s been a busy time for a week where I haven’t had much time to post about our adventures. Dan & I got a very nice write-up on the English language blog site Crossroads Magazine courtesy of Gina (website). Thank you for the great article.

If you haven’t seen Crossroads Magazine yet, it is an English language website serving the Maastricht area with news, expat experiences, and event information. They also have a handy Newcomer’s Handbook PDF you can download.

Welcome Meuse-Rhine readers

Stafford Wadsworth, the gentleman who runs the Meuse-Rhine Journal and website, was kind enough to give my blog and podcast a mention in this week’s edition. Welcome to those of you who found me though that publication and I hope you find our little projects and adventures interesting. Keep in mind the podcast can be subscribed to via iTunes and RSS (as can the blog).

The Meuse-Rhine Journal and website is a semi-monthly news journal that covers a wide variety of topics including Business, Events and Activities, Science, and more. Its free, in English, and sent direct to your email, so if you live in the area and haven’t signed up yet, go give it a try.

Cooking with Speklap

One of the great things about living abroad is checking out the new foods. Many things are familiar, but every once in a while you encounter something new that tastes great, even if it isn’t good for you. Since I’ve been doing all the cooking lately, I get to pick out the new foods to try.

Speklap (or Bacon Flaps or Streaky Bacon) is one of those foods. Basically strips of long and thick bacon, Speklap is available marinated or plain at nearly any grocery store (and probably the butchers’ as well). It is a fairly inexpensive cut of meat and, since it a fatty cut, four slices can be made to stretch over a couple of meals when combined with a starch and veggie. It is also sold chopped up for those sorts of dishes.

Cooking Suggestions
When it comes to dinner, I like to keep it simple. I recommend buying the Speklap pre-marinated (the orange marinate is good and a bit spicy) and pan frying it on medium heat until the pink is gone. Then I serve it with rice and a vegetable. The “a la minute” Speklap cooks very fast, but even packages that don’t indicate that cook pretty quickly.

Leftovers can be chopped up for breakfast the next day or for American omelets. Its also good with potatoes, but really nearly everything is.

We haven’t tried it yet, but speklappen appears to be popular for BBQ. Since it cooks up quickly and takes marinades well, I can see why.

Real Recipes
Of course others have much more experience with speklappen then me. Here are a few recipes that I hope to try in the future.

Beans with Apples and Pork: A traditional Dutch dish according to GoDutch.com.
Speklappen with a Crispy Herb Crust (Dutch only)
Grill Speklappen Sate: (Dutch only) Dan & I are suckers for the peanuty flavor of sate sauce.

Do you have a favorite recipe or ideas for a good one? Share it in the comments.

Kringloop Winkels in Maastricht

I’ve mentioned Kringloopwinkels (second-hand stores) before on this blog, so I thought I’d share the ones I’ve visited. While you can also find plenty of second-hand clothing stores in Maastricht, these three were able to provide me with most of the extra kitchenware, storage, and office supplies I needed.

Kringloop Zuid: The “official” second-hand store in Maastricht, the Kringloop Zuid is on the outskirts of the city, but makes up for the distance with its warehouse sized space and low prices. They have a large selection of furniture (including lots of solid wood) as well as the best deals I’ve seen on simple kitchen utensils. Of course the cost depends on the item, so you mileage (kilometer-eage?) will vary. They also have lamps, lighting fixtures, books (mostly in Dutch), clothing, and more.

Kringloop Zuid will deliver to the ground floor for 15 euros per trip.

Mattie’s Kringloop: Mattie’s is a smaller, but jam-packed kringloop located in the city. The prices are not always as low as the Kringloop Zuid, but it often has interesting things such as office supplies, sewing things, strange paper, and nice glassware. They have less furniture, but a decent size collection of clothing, kitchenware, music, books, and nearly anything else you could want. In my experience, the staff was very friendly and the two people I spoke with had very good English.

Mattie’s also offers a frequent shopper card (when you get enough stamps, you get 2.50 euro off your next purchase) and each month a different type of item is 50% off. They even have an English section on their website.

Mattie’s will deliver for 12 euros or less per trip within Maastricht. They deliver to Meerssen, Bunde and Eijsen as well for 18 euros.

Regin’s Kringloop: Of the three kringloops listed here, I’ve spent the least amount of time in Regin’s and have not actually purchased anything from them. The reason is simple: they don’t use price tags. My desire to engage someone in a price discussion was low the day I visited so that was enough to stop me.

Regin’s collection is similar in size to Mattie’s, although the store has more space to move around in. Notably they have a lot of tea and coffee pot sets and lots of very “Dutch” things (think, Delft & Delft-like pottery and wooden clogs). They also had some furniture, clothes, and other kitchenware.

Regin’s delivers for 11 euros with some restrictions (such as ground floor for heavy items).

Good to Know
All three locations will take housewares, furniture, and clothing off your hands if you call or otherwise make an appointment in advance. You may need to bring the items to the ground floor and the goods will need to be in resellable condition. That decision is made by the pick-up drivers. We tried to give two love seats to Kringloop Zuid, but they refused them because the fabric was worn and one had a small tear. Fortunately, like Bostonians, people in Maastricht love to nab the furniture you leave out on the street.

Shopping around and comparing used prices to new is still worth it. While second-hand items are almost always cheaper than their new counterparts (and reuse is certainly eco-friendly), other circumstances may make new items worth it. For example, we purchased some furniture at Ikea because it was cheaper (although flimsier) and easier to move (flat-packed) than similar pieces at the kringloops.

On the other hand, second-hand goods are just that and you should take care to inspect them very carefully. I purchased a large cabinet at the Kringloop Zuid only to discover it was partially infested with mold after it was delivered. I was able to save the bulk of the cabinet (I didn’t feel like trying to return it), but it was an important lesson learned. Mistakes are made from time to time, so its always a good idea to be vigilant.

Episode 7 of Maastricht Minutiae

Listen to Episode “7″ of Maastricht Minutiae. (I know it’s really number 6, but Dan seemed so sure…) Beware that there is more of an echo in this episode than usual.

In this episode we talk about:
- Throwing our first Open House/Apartment Warming
- PinkPop
- A bike adventure into Belgium (that lasted much longer than planned)

Have a comment or question? Comment here or email me at ampotter (at) gmail (dot) com.

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