Christmas 2024
For every Christmas I can recall, my mother has made a coveted batch of worstenbroodjies at some point around the holidays. They never lasted long, and it was commonplace for a tally to be kept ensuring everyone got their equal shares and no one had a chance to snitch any more than their allotment. My dad loved them, and I have perfect memories of his face going slack with utter bliss with the first bite he took every year.
Mom never had a set recipe. I doubt any two batches were spiced exactly the same, but they were all absolutely delightful. Apparently, my Oma began churning out these savory treats over 65 years ago, and the tradition has inadvertently been passed on for 2 generations already.
It isn’t a tradition independently invented by my ancestors, but it will hopefully carry on through my descendants. If there were to be a holiday season where I didn’t discuss our worstenbroodjie plans, I have no doubt one, if not all five, of my kiddos would eagerly remind me to start planning.
I’ve rolled out dough with my arms stretched out to accommodate my big pregnant belly, I’ve spiced the meat with the help of many overzealous seasoning shakers, and I’ve smacked away thousands of little fingers attempting to sneak a rogue worstenbroodjie before they were safely cooled.
Through the years the kids have all become bigger and bigger helpers. We’ve gone from having to sacrifice batches of the delicacies to stubborn instance on helping from little ones to now being able to churn out well over 200 of these treats because of my eager band of worstenbroodjie teammates.
When the kids and I first set out to surprise our friends with these Dutch treats, we had no idea it would become such a fun and cherished Christmas tradition for us. The kids are a vital part to this crazy enterprise that has become “Ding Dong Dolder-ing.” Their help is paramount in pulling it off every year. This year was no different.
Maybe I should explain the concept a little clearer. While I wouldn’t say we are complete social butterflies in the Dolder family, our network has grown over the years. There are many families in the area that hold a special place in our hearts for one reason or another. And while I always have the very best intention to send out beautifully crafted and photographed Christmas cards, it never seems to happen. In addition, I love to do things a little different. And so, we came up with the idea of dropping off little baggies of our favorite Christmas treats on the doorsteps of dear friends, ringing the doorbell, and RUNNING LIKE THE WIND! Not many people are fond of unannounced guests, and scheduling a visit around the Christmas season is near impossible with everyone’s hectic schedules. For that reason, we’ve adopted the idea of “ding-dong-ditching” for laughs but leaving behind a little treat and note for the cheer of it. I don’t know for sure, but I believe it is always received well by the recipients.
This was our third year of these antics, and it just keeps getting better. The boys and I spent the better part of the day whipping up the dough and meat filling, followed by assembling the treats, and finally baking them into the delicious morsels they are. Once we had our list of friends who we wanted to “get” we set to portioning out the worstenbroodjies into family sized baggies and attaching a letter explaining what they were. Annika had been away most of the day at a babysitting job, but she returned in time to taste test our efforts and gave them a hearty thumbs up. We loaded all the treats into two huge Aldi bags and headed out on our quest.
All told, we drove over 130 miles, delivered nearly 100 worstenbroodjies, acquired one injured knee, had countless giggles, faced one very serious and unaccommodating security officer, and came home with smiles on our faces and bellies hungry for the remaining worstenbroodjies we had left to cool on the counter. I’m still not 100% sure everyone who was delivered to actually received their treats. I’m kind of convinced we didn’t knock hard enough to be heard at a few houses and the treats may have been enjoyed by the family dog or goat before the homeowners were aware there was a treat to be had. Either way, we enjoyed the experience and will certainly be doing rounds again next year.
