Knicky Noot! (Ya Gotta Love that Name!)

In my last post, I had discovered that there was possibly a son of Antje Tuijnman (my grandfather's aunt) and her husband, Hendrick Noot.  It seems that my new friend Vicki has it correct.  Cornelis "Knicky" Noot is the firstborn son of Antje and Hendrick. 

Cornelis came to the US on Oct. 22 (my dad's birthday!), 1914 aboard the SS Potsdam.  My grandfather, his first cousin, sailed here on the SS Rotterdam just ahead of Knicky in April 1914.  I wonder if they were aware of each other's trips?  Knicky came to live with his brother Albert in Rock Rapids, Iowa.  He didn't stay with Albert too long, however.  By the 1920 census he was living with and working for the Francis family, also in Iowa.  He also lived with another of his cousins, Trintje and Theodorus Noot, also in Iowa, for some time during the 1930s.  At some point, Trintje decided he was a freeloader and got him to move on.  He never married and we don't know if there were children.  He died on Feb. 24, 1966 at the age of 94 in Nobles County, Minnesota.  Thank you to Vicki and her book "My Dutch Family", available on http://www.lulu.com/ for all of the above info.

As we are nearing the time for our trip to the Netherlands, I am sorry to admit that I haven't got a single living Dutch relative with whom to try to make contact.  However, I have been told that the genealogical archives in Amsterdam are "amazing" and so I hope to visit there. 

I also wanted to look into what kinds of foods I might expect to eat while we're there.  I know there are all kinds of cheeses, and herring's a popular item.  But what else?

Well, there's snert.  This is pea soup with sausages.  Ok...   Then we have stamppot.  This is a dish with vegetables, potatoes and meat mashed together in one stew. There are varieties with kale, sauerkraut, onions, carrots, sausages and bacon. The final touch is an indentation in the middle of the stew that is filled with gravy. 

Gotta have fries, right?  They have patatje met, which are fries with mayo.  Also, the previously mentioned herring is known in Holland as haring.  It's the most popular fish in Holland.  They eat it on a bun with onions or pickles, or eat it the original way and bite while holding the fish in the air by its tail.  What?  No cream sauce??

More interesting to me is poffertjes, a kind of mini pancake, but thicker and sweeter which is often served with sugar and butter.   Not too bad!  Also hagelslag - chocolate sprinkles on a sandwich!  Finally, one I've heard of (besides herring) - stroopwafel is a flat waffle which is a typical Dutch treat. So, I guess if I don't like the food, I can go straight to dessert!