{"id":5679,"date":"2011-05-20T22:35:04","date_gmt":"2011-05-21T05:35:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shescookin.com\/?p=5679"},"modified":"2017-03-06T16:26:51","modified_gmt":"2017-03-07T00:26:51","slug":"queens-day-soup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shescookin.com\/queens-day-soup\/","title":{"rendered":"Queen’s Day Soup"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nIt was sheer serendipity that we were in Amsterdam for Queen’s Day<\/span><\/strong> on April 30th. What a way to kick-off our week-long bike\/barge tour of the Netherlands! Queen’s Day commemorates the (former) Queen’s birthday and is the most widely celebrated national holiday and, with a carnival-like atmosphere, the biggest street party\u00a0 in Amsterdam – much like Mardi Gras or New Year’s Eve in Times Square.<\/p>\n

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We were in good form at a club in the Liedseplein on Queen’s Night and the next day walking along with crowds of revelers meandering through the city-wide street market. Fortunately for us, we boarded our barge on Queen’s Day and the harbor was within walking distance to city centre where festivities were in full swing. Amsterdam attracts more than 700,000 visitors from all over Europe to join in the fun and, if you’re not already in the city on Queen’s Night, you’ll have to hoof it as streets are closed and trains and public transportation run on a special schedule on Queen’s Day.<\/p>\n

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Our carousing ended early and we were safely back on board the barge to be “fitted” for our bikes by late afternoon.<\/p>\n

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We met the crew: our skipper Else, who would safely navigate the many canals and locks; first mate Peter, who would later surprise us with an amazing magic show; cook extraordinaire Ellen, who had us applauding as she announced “for dinner tonight”; and the lucky man who was to be responsible for our crazy group for a week, Piet \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

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On our first night on the barge, Ellen served up a “Queen’s Day” Pumpkin Soup that won the instant approval of all the women. I didn’t waste any time telling her that I have a food blog and would love to feature her smiling face and one of her recipes. Throughout the week, she impressed us with her delicious, flavorful soups and entrees, colorful salads full of fresh veggies , and smashing desserts. But in the end, I came back to the special Queen’s Day soup. Cooking for 25 guests and crew, she doesn’t really use recipes, but graciously jotted down the ingredients and basic instructions.<\/p>\n

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One thing that I discovered when I took the L’atelier des Chefs cooking class in Paris<\/a>, is that Europeans refer to squash as “pumpkin”. This is actually a squash soup, although I don’t know what kind of squash she used. I decided to use kabocha squash <\/a>because it has a rich, nutty flavor and a taste between pumpkin and sweet potato. I also roasted the squash to bring out its rich flavor and adapted the recipe to serve 6-8 instead of 25 \ud83d\ude42 Oh, and I always like a little heat so added some chili spice along with pungent coriander.<\/p>\n

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