Articles written by Katrien Vander Straeten
All 100 articles written by Katrien Vander Straeten
Chicken Stew or Gentse Waterzooi: A Light And Delicious Chicken and Vegetable Soup Or Stew
Category: Recipes (general)
This festive and easy-to-make stew or soup involves chicken, chicken broth, finely chopped vegetables, potatoes and cream. more...
Home Ground by Barry Lopez (ed.): 45 American Authors Define Language for an American Landscape
Category: Biographies/Memoirs (general)
With over 850 definitions of landscape features, many specific to America, this book is about geology and history, American identity, and how one makes a place home. more...
D.B. Johnson’s Henry Thoreau Books: A Series of Children’s Books Acquainting Kids with H.D. Thoreau
Category: Picture Books
In four picture books, D.B. Johnson manages to convey Thoreau's message about nature - now so extra urgent - to children between the ages of 4 and 99 (and older). more...
Gay's Stella and Sam Books: Marie-Louise Gay’s Illustrated Stories for Pre-K to Grade 2
Category: Picture Books
Gay has created two lovable, fun and wise children who live an enchanted life in nature. Her stories and art work appeal to parents and children alike. more...
Coperthwaite: A Handmade Life: Bill Coperthwaite on Kids and Family, Community and Education
Category: Homeschooling (general)
Bill Coperthwaite's prescriptions for our children: a varied context of home and community, and a feeling of usefulness through work. more...
Miffy (Nijntje) in America: Toddler’s Bunny or Tween’s Fashion Icon?
Category: Children’s TV (general)
The continuing story of how a little bunny rabbit survives on the global market. more...
Coperthwaite on Educating Children: Non-Violent and Natural Learning
Category: Homeschooling (general)
In A Handmade Life, Bill Coperthwaite promotes voluntary and firsthand education that values nature, community and physical work. more...
Review of Gaia’s Garden: Toby Hemenway's Guide to Homescale Permaculture
Category: Organic Gardens (general)
In Gaia's Garden, Toby Hemenway presents the theory and practice of Permaculture, and brings them home to the average backyard. A challenge no gardener can miss out on. more...
Simply in Season Cookbook: Recipes Celebrating Fresh and Local Foods
Category: Seasonal Cooking (general)
Lind and Hockman-Wert assembled a treasure trove of culinary delights centered around local and seasonal foods, that goes easy on the wallet and the planet more...
Bali 2007 Holidays and Festivals: The Indonesian Island in a Perpetual State of Holiday
Category: Thailand Travel
Going on a holiday to Bali this year? You are sure to run into several ceremonies and festivals during your stay, no matter how short. more...
Origin of the Jewish Shavuot: Celebrating the revelation of the Torah on Mount Sinai
Category: Jewish Practices
The festival of Shavuot (Shavu'ot or Shavuos), on 22-24 May 2007, commemorates the giving of the Law of Moses on Mount Sinai. more...
Festivals that Mark the Seasons: Marking Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall
Category: Holiday Entertaining
We may no longer realize it, but many of our celebrations are time-keepers on an old agrarian calendar. more...
Tattoos: Reasons, Responsibilities: The message on the body: personal and political
Category: Holiday Entertaining
Wearing a tattoo means taking on a lot of responsibilty. Before going ahead, consider the history, the many functions and meanings of tattooing. more...
Tattoo tips: Helpful resources and facts about tattooing
Category: Tattoos/Body Art
Information about safety, techniques, pain, removal, temporary tattoos, and some facts about tattooing among US adults more...
Sweet Baby Shower Facts: Strange sugary customs at birth parties around the world
Category: Thailand Travel
Baby showers logically bring to mind the sweetest of dishes, but regarding those there are some strange customs out there! more...
Detailed Lent and Easter Timeline: The events and celebrations of the Passiontide and the Holy Week
Category: Protestantism (general)
A summary of the events of the first Easter and how and when Christians celebrate them, up to Good Friday more...
Origin of April Fools’ Day: A jubilant New Year’s celebration of Spring
Category: Holiday Entertaining
We trace the unofficial holiday back to European Spring and New Year's Day festivals, and debunk some false explanations. more...
The Hindu New Years: There is no one Indian New Year's Day
Category: Hindu Culture
The Indian New Year's Day is determined by the Mesha Sankranti or the solar transit into Aries, but after that it's up for grabs. more...
Hindu Festival of Holi and Dhuleti: The Indian celebration of spring, fire and color
Category: Hindu Culture
Holi is a very popular Hindu spring and Full Moon festival. It is followed by Dhuleti, the festival of colors. It is celebrated on 2 and 3 March, 2007. more...
Baby Shower: Before/After Birth?: Americans and Indians hold it before, but many more cultures wait
Category: Holiday Entertaining
Americans and Indians hold baby showers (godh bharai) before the birth. But in many other parts of the world it is postponed for supersitious as well as sound reasons. more...
The Chinese Zodiac: In the ancient Chinese lunar calendar, 2007 is the Year of the Pig
Category: China Travel
The Chinese New Year celebrates a cyclical calendar of the 12 recurring years, each assigned to an animal sign. This year it's the Pig or the Boar's turn. more...
Lent Days of Forgiveness: Cheesefare Sunday, Clean Monday, Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday
Category: Protestantism (general)
Many Christian churches reserve specials days right before or at the start of Lent for the repentance and forgiveness of one's tresspasses. more...
Category: Protestantism (general)
Why do people, right before the beginning of Lent, celebrate Carnival with excessive eating and drinking, floats and processions, masks and merrymaking? more...
Groundhog Day: North-American animal predicts weather, and the Ancient Celts
Category: Holiday Entertaining
On February 2, will Punxsutawney Phil, the world's most famous groundhog, emerge from his den, sparing the country another 6 weeks of winter? more...
Santa Claus Go Home!: Why Europeans resent the American Santa Claus
Category: Holiday Entertaining
Who is the American Santa Claus? What is his relation to Saint Nick? And why are many Europeans demanding he "go home"? more...
The Time of Year of Jesus’ Birth: Was Christ born on 25 December or on 6 January?
Category: Protestantism (general)
Western Christians celebrate Christ's birth on 25 December, Eastern Christians on 6 January. How did they arrive at these dates? more...
Christ is Born: Nativity and Epiphany: manger, shepherds, Magi, Star of Bethlehem
Category: Protestantism (general)
On 25 December Christians celebrate the Birth of Christ: the classic nativity scene unfolds. more...
The Annunciation of Christ: Episode 1 of Christmas: announcement of a miraculous conception
Category: Protestantism (general)
In any timeline of Christmas events, the Annunciation of Christ's Conception by the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary must come first. more...
Christmas Timeline: Detailed calendar of crucial events and feasts for Christ's birth
Category: Holiday Entertaining
The time around Christmas is action packed with commemorations and celebrations of the many events that make up that first, magical Christmas. more...
The Season of Advent: Western Christian New Year and preparing for the coming of Christ
Category: Protestantism (general)
Advent mixes joy and hope with trepidation and penitence as it prepares for Christmas as well as Christ's Second Coming at Judgment Day. more...
The Days of the Dead: Mexican families host souls of deceased with rejoicing and festivity
Category: Holiday Entertaining
The Mexican Day or Days of the Dead is a happy occasion: the spirits of the departed beloved are coming for a visit! more...
The Origins of Halloween: Celtic Samhain, Roman Pomona Day, Christian All Hallows'
Category: Holiday Entertaining
The roots of Halloween run deep, all the way to the ancients Celts, and have been nurtured and altered by the Roman and Christian cultures. more...
Halloween Comes to Europe: European commerce markets Halloween despite criticism
Category: W Europe Travel (general)
The European commercial world is aggressively marketing Halloween. more...
Yom Kippur: Day of Atonement: The last of the Jewish Days of Repentance
Category: Jewish Practices
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is the holiest of Jewish holidays, strictly observed by even most secular Jews. more...
Category: Jewish Practices
The Jewish people observe a penitential period of 40 Days, which include the two most important holidays. more...
Category: Holiday Entertaining
Where does the expression "the dog days of summer" come from? And why do they have such a bad reputation, one that goes beyond just sultry weather? more...
Category: Catholic Practices
For Western Christians, it is now "Ordinary Time," the liturgically quiet time between the Easter and Christmas Seasons. But there are some important celebrations. more...
Bunol, Spain's Tomatina Festival: The Valencia tomato-throwing battle, yearly at the end of August
Category: Spain Travel
On August 30 the town of Bunol in Spain will hold its yearly festival, which is centered on a two-hour long tomato-hurling battle: the biggest food fight in the world! more...
Category: Holiday Entertaining
Seed to Seed by Nicholas Harberd shows that science can be thrilling, fun, even poetic, and that scientific vision can help a culture reconnect to the natural world. more...
Deciding to Emigrate Abroad: Migration and defending your choice to leave home for a foreign country
Category: Family Travel (general)
If you've made a Big Move, far away, even left the country, you're an exception in today's world. How difficult is it for those who stayed to understand why you left? more...
Setting up a Home Abroad: Are familiar items a domestic comfort when everything around you is alien?
Category: Family Travel (general)
Leaving home can be difficult. And when you move far, far away, culture shock can aggravate your homesickness, which strikes in surprisingly subtle and complex ways. more...
Category: Family Travel (general)
Our daughter was ten months when we took her on planes, trains, and automobiles. Here are some hands-on tips for air travel with an infant you won't find elsewhere. more...
Values in Children's Songs: Are nursery rhymes indicators or indoctrinators of a culture?
Category: Children's Music (general)
Are nursery rhymes wolves in sheep's clothing: do they perpetuate, even indoctrinate a cultures' values? What if those values are obsolete? more...
Category: Holiday Entertaining
Mother's Day: from pagan worship of Mother Earth, Christian devotion of the Virgin Mary and "Mother Church", celebration of our earthly mothers, to commercial holiday. more...
Category: Holiday Entertaining
In the Northern hemisphere, "May Day" or the first day of May celebrates spring and the coming of summer. This celebration has its roots in ancient spring festivals. more...
The Historical St. Nicholas: Eastern Europe reveres the man some call Sinterklaas
Category: Holiday Entertaining
Who is the historical Nicholas and how is he revered in Eastern European countries and traditions? more...
Sinterklaas or St. Nicholas: Pagan, Christian, and Colonial versions of the Children's Saint
Category: Holiday Entertaining
Who is the first Saint that comes to the Belgian mind? It's Saint Nicholas, an amalgam of childlike naivety and pagan, Christian and colonial elements. more...
First Communion Food in Belgium: A special dessert in Catholic Flanders called an ijslam or ice lamb
Category: Belgium Travel
A special Catholic occasion in Flanders is the First Communion, when a child takes his first Eucharist. Food is at the center of this important religious and social event more...
Category: Belgium Travel
Most cultures commemorate momentous occasions such as birth with a special food. A Flemish food for the arrival of a newborn is "suikerbonen" or "sugar beans. more...
Bengal's Vegetarian Widows: Food taboos isolate Indian widows in traditions upheld for generations
Category: Bangladesh Travel
To a Western person, vegetarianism implies a proud and rational decision, but to a Bengali it signifies widowhood and food taboos. more...
Hearty and Easy Potato Leek Soup: A Simple and Wholesome Recipe for a Warming Winter Soup
Category: Recipes (general)
It's time to go out and play in the snow, then to hurry indoors and spend some time with a big, steaming mug of this hearty soup. more...
Children’s Books About Thoreau: Kid’s Picture Books Introduce the Life and Thoughts of Henry Thoreau
Category: Children’s Books (general)
Several children's books depicting the complex life of Henry David Thoreau can help reconnect our children to nature. more...
I’ve Heard the Vultures Singing: Lucia Perillo’s Truthful Essays on Illness, Poetry and Nature
Category: Political Science Books
The poet Lucia Perillo has written a painfully truthful, always enlightening book of essays about living with Multiple Sclerosis. more...
First Children’s Drawings: The First Stage of a Young Child’s Art: Movement, not Representation
Category: Infant/Toddler Play
What are those shapes the very young child is scribbling? Do they represent something? Should we even ask? more...
Miffy, Nijntje and Hello Kitty: From Classic Toddler Books to Modern Fashion Icon
Category: Children’s TV (general)
The story of how a little bunny rabbit survives - and changes - in the global market. more...
Silk Road Cooking: Review of Batmanglij’s Adventures in Vegetarian Cooking
Category: Vegetarian Cookbooks
Batmanglij's cookbook combines recipes, culinary history, food anthropology and travel adventure on the millennia old Silk Road from China to Italy. more...
Review of A Handmade Life: William Coperthwaite’s Search for Simplicity
Category: Environmental Activism
A beautifully written and illustrated book about sustainable living and work for a better world more...
What and Who is Self-Sufficient?: Self-Sufficiency, Reciprocity and Self-Sustainability
Category: Environmental Activism
What does it take to be "Self-Sufficient"? What needs to be done, to what degree, and involving whom? And how does self-sufficiency relate to self- sustainability? more...
Lucy Cousins’ Maisy Books: An Adorable Little Mouse Captivates the Youngest Children
Category: Picture Books
Maisy the Mouse has taken the world of the youngest toddlers by storm, with books, DVDs and television programs. more...
Nyepi: Bali’s New Year’s Day: New Year Celebrations on the Indonesian Island of the Gods
Category: Thailand Travel
Bali, home to Hindus, Muslims, Christians, and Chinese, devotes no less than 4 public holidays to New Year's celebrations. more...
The Counting of the Omer: Jewish season of preparation for revelation and mourning
Category: Holiday Entertaining
The counting of the Omer is a 49-day Jewish liturgical season between Passover and Shavuot. It is a time of spiritual preparation for the revelation of the Torah. more...
Great Kids Craft Internet Sites: Review of kidscraftweekly.com
Category: Kids Crafts (general)
Kidscraftweekly.com is a resourceful website about crafting with toddlers and preschoolers. more...
The History of Tattooing: A summary of the past of tattoos shows its many functions
Category: Holiday Entertaining
Tattoos have been used as therapy, protective amulets, to indicate high social status, to ostracize, and were finally popularized as an art form by Roman soldiers. more...
Tattooing for Parents and Teens: Good and bad reasons for getting that tattoo
Category: Tattoos/Body Art
An informed "tattoo talk" can be surprising and enlightening for both parents and teenagers. more...
Detailed timeline of Easter: The 3 days of death or the 3 last days of the Holy Week
Category: Protestantism (general)
The events of that first Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday, also called the "three days of death" more...
The April Fish: One of the more curious April Fools' Day pranks
Category: W Europe Travel (general)
The April Fish is an April Fools' custom that is as interesting as it is mysterious. more...
Kids Crafts Sites on the Internet: Review of Kiddley.com
Category: Kids Crafts (general)
The qualities of a good Kids Craft website, and a review of Kiddley.com, a site worth parents' and children's attention. more...
The Hindu Calendars: Indian solar, lunar and lunisolar almanacs
Category: Hindu Culture
India's numerous calendars count the days by the sun, the moon, a combination of the two, or by the Indian Zodiac of rashis, and beginning from several different Eras. more...
Purim: Jewish Feast of Lots: Victory, merrymaking and lots of food, and the Book of Esther
Category: Jewish Practices
During Purim, Jews celebrate the bravery of Queen Esther with good cheer and lots of food. more...
The Chinese New Year Festival: Celebrate the Year of the Pig with family feasts, food and lanterns
Category: China Travel
China and Chinatowns are getting ready for 15 dayws of New Year's festivities, both private and public. more...
The American Baby Shower: Its history and customs
Category: Holiday Entertaining
Are American baby showers really cheesy, lame with parlor games? Or worse, purely commercial? Do that have a legitimate historical or psychological background? more...
The Season of Lent: Forty days of fasting prepare Christians for Easter
Category: Protestantism (general)
During Lent, fasting, prayer and almsgiving prepare the Christian worshipper for the sorrowful days of Holy Week, which ends in the joy of Easter. more...
Category: Holiday Entertaining
On Saint Valentine's Day, men and women across the world proclaim their love. What are the origins of this tradition? more...
The Adventure of Culture Writing: The parabel of the Six Men of Hindustan
Category: Holiday Entertaining
John Godfrey Saxe's "Six Men of Hindustan" can be applied to about any kind of quest for knowledge. more...
The Massacre of the Innocents: Herod's Slaughter of the Innocents and Holy Family’s Flight to Egypt
Category: Protestantism (general)
King Herod had all Bethlehem boys under 2 murdered in an attempt to kill the new King of the Jews, but the Holy Family has fled to Egypt. more...
The Year of Jesus’ Birth: Christ was not born 2006 years ago, in 1 BC
Category: Protestantism (general)
Vague and contradictory sources make for a fascinating pursuit of Christ's "real" birth date. more...
Journey to Bethlehem: The Feast of the Expectation of Our Lady
Category: Protestantism (general)
Mary anticipates of the birth of her son as she and Joseph prepare to go to Bethlehem for the Roman Census. more...
Winter Solstice Festivals: Ancient celebrations of the return of the sun throughout the world
Category: Holiday Entertaining
Ancient cultures, so many of them dependent upon agriculture, celebrated major festivals on or around the day of the Winter Solstice. more...
Category: Holiday Entertaining
Many festivals are keepers of time: they mark the seasons. But what determines the seasons? more...
The First Thanksgiving: Who was first: Canada or US? The dubious story of Martin Frobisher
Category: Holiday Entertaining
Who can claim the first Thanksgiving? Taking seriously the nature of the holiday as a harvest feast disqualifies the Canadian "Frobisher Thanksgiving" of 1578. more...
Origins of the Day of the Dead: Ancient Aztec festival resists assimilation to Christian somberness
Category: Holiday Entertaining
In certain regions of Central America, the Aztec Day of the Dead has survived Christianity's attempts at assimilation. more...
The Fall Festivals of Death: Samhain, All Hallows’ and All Souls’, Halloween, Days of the Dead
Category: Holiday Entertaining
What else but death binds together the pagan festival, the solemn Christian holy days, the modern ghoulish revelry and the Mexican celebration? more...
Category: Holiday Entertaining
Halloween is taking Europe by storm, but there are still many other, similar festivals and holidays that perform its functions of fun and treats for the kids. more...
Category: Jewish Practices
The Jewish holiday Rosh HaShanah, or the Jewish New Year, marks the beginning of a time of introspection, repentance and new resolutions. It is solemn as well as festive. more...
Category: Holiday Entertaining
The Chinese seventh month, usually August, is the most ill-fated time of the year. It is called Ghost Month, and its climax is the Festival of the Hungry Ghosts. more...
Labor Day/Labour Day: The American and Canadian celebration of labor: a long stretch from May Day
Category: Holiday Entertaining
The North American Labor Day is a holiday that has, by all considerations, deviated far from its origins. more...
Category: Holiday Entertaining
There is always something to celebrate! These are the major political, historical, religious and plain fun holidays and festivals around the world for August 2006. more...
Whistling as an International Art: The human whistle as music, language, common habit, and taboo
Category: Holiday Entertaining
In some cultures whistling is impolite, even taboo. But it is on the decline also where it was common in music or as a custom, and even where it is part of the language. more...
Baby Shock and Homesickness: Precarious familiarity: big changes and the stranger in your home
Category: Family Travel (general)
If you live far away from home and family, "being at home" can be a precarious thing, as I experienced when we brought our firstborn home. more...
Category: Family Travel (general)
Living far way from your family can make you homesick. But for which home? For the home it is now, or the home you left so long ago... and can never go home to again? more...
Category: Family Travel (general)
Here are some general tips for traveling with infants and very young children. And they're good for the older toddler as well! more...
Category: Children's Verse
Is revisionism of fairy tales and nursery rhymes in the name of political correctness itself politically incorrect? more...
Dutch Twinkle Twinkle Little Star: The Dutch lyrics give this popular song a shocking meaning
Category: Children's Music (general)
Some nursery rhymes are not what they seem. Case in point: a Dutch song that is sung to the tune of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". Prepare to be shocked. more...
Popular Kids' Songs in Translation: Cultural transformations of nursery rhymes and familiar tunes
Category: Children's Music (general)
Our nursery rhymes are close to all our hearts. But what happens when those familiar tunes cross cultural wires, for instance in translation? more...
International Workers'/Labor Day: The eight-hour workday, protests and Black Friday
Category: Workplace Culture (general)
"May Day," 1 May, is International Workers' Day, when many all over the world (with some notable exceptions) celebrate the successes of the labor movement. more...
Category: Belgium Travel
Saint Nicholas is invariably revered as the Children's Saint in many European countries. But his helpers differ in many aspects from country to country. more...
International Funeral Foods: Culinary traditions for wakes and cemetery ceremonies around the world
Category: Holiday Entertaining
A funeral meal is not just a bite to eat; it is a transition from death to life. As such, it is an important element in the funeral rites. more...
Belgian Catholic Ceremonies: Funerals, baptism, and communion in the country's northern Flanders
Category: Belgium Travel
Here is some statistical background information on the Catholicism of Belgium and Flanders, to accompany the articles on "Food for Special Occasions". more...
Saint Hubert Mastellen: The blessed East Flemish donut that's a cure for rabies
Category: Holiday Entertaining
In East Flanders, Belgium, one can enjoy bread rolls called "mastellen". Not only are these delicious. Eating them will also protect you against rabies! more...
Raw Meat as Culinary Tradition: Belgium's delicacy is the world's disgust: food in cultural context
Category: Holiday Entertaining
In Belgium raw meat is a delicacy. But try to convince an Indian or an American of that! Do irrational taboos still inform the taboo? more...
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