Sugarbread in the Tulip House

It was a particularly bright and sunny Friday afternoon when Jani Van der Veld found himself walking from school. His path was a maze to most; Jani knew it by heart. The familiar left and right turns took him by store windows or curbside gardens. Along the way, he often visited with the shopkeepers, eating a little of this and trying a little of that.
Wheels and hooves click-clacked on the brick-cobbled streets of Utrecht as Jani passed a horse-drawn carriage. He waved at the carriage driver, who tipped his top hat to Jani as the carriage turned down an alley.
On his regular trip home, Jani saw all the familiar faces and places of Utrecht. Every so often, he stopped and looked through the store windows. Inside Tuborg’s Haberdashery, a seamstress fitted a man in his waistcoat while another seamstress was busy operating the sewing machine. Further down the street, the scent of sweetbreads and freshly baked cakes filled the air outside Mr. Anderssen’s Cake Shop. Jani stood at the window and watched while Mr. Anderssen placed a whipped cream cake into a square box and handed it to the customer. Mr. Anderssen glanced up to see Jani’s curious eyes. With the wave of a hand, he invited Jani into his store.
Jani opened the door and held it open for the old lady who had just bought the whipped cream cake.
“Why thank you, young sir,” she replied.
“Have a good evening, Mrs. Hoek. I hope your family enjoys the cake,” said Mr. Anderssen.
“I’m sure they will,” she replied.
The door slammed shut as Jani stepped into the warmth of the Cake Shop. He unbuttoned his coat and placed his books and hat on the countertop.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Anderssen,” he said.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Van der Veld. How was school today?”
“It was okay.”
“When a child tells me school was okay, that must mean it was great.”
Jani smiled.
“And what would catch your fancy, young sir?”
Jani leaned towards the counter, his hands stretching to the back of the cabinet. He peered through the glass. Several trays were arranged on the three shelves, high, middle, and low. There were pretzels and almonds and cakes, all covered in dark chocolate. Unlike his younger sister Trudy, Jani was not fond of chocolate.
Jani looked at the shelves behind Mr. Anderssen. Baking racks filled with candies and baked goods sat at one end. Spools of licorice and chewing gum rope sat at the far end.
“I think I would like some black licorice, please.”
Mr. Anderssen pulled the black licorice spool off the shelf and sat it on the counter.
“How much would you like?” he asked.
“One meter, please,” said Jani.
Mr. Anderssen unwound the licorice and placed it beside the measuring tape running along the counter. With a pair of scissors, he snipped off a length of licorice rope and wrapped it into a coil.
“Would you like anything else?”
“What kind of cookies do you have?” asked Jani.
“I have all kinds. There’s ketelkoek and gevuldekoek and rijstekoek, just to name a few.”
“I’m not sure,” said Jani.
“Who would you be getting these for?” asked Mr. Anderssen.
“Trudy, of course,”
“Do you think she’d like some gevuldekoek?”
Jani nodded.
Mr. Anderssen added the cookies to the bag and sealed it shut.
“Thank you, Mr. Anderssen.”
“It was my pleasure, Jani.”
Jani paid for the treats and hurried home, where his dog Ajax was waiting by the door. Ajax was a wire-haired fox terrier, white with black and orange spots, who always waited patiently at home while Jani was at school or playing soccer with his friends.
The dog jumped excitedly behind the door until Jani pulled it open. Ajax rushed through the open door and jumped up to greet Jani.
“Hey boy, are you glad to see me? I sure am glad to see you!” exclaimed Jani. Jani and Ajax went inside. Jani placed his things on the hallway table, and then took off his coat and hat.
“I’d better not forget this, had I boy?” Jani asked Ajax. It was the usual half-conversation Jani and Ajax often had. Jani would talk. Ajax would listen. Sometimes, Ajax would bark, but mostly, he’d listen.
Jani grabbed the white paper bag and raced Ajax upstairs. He went into his room and changed into play clothes before going out to the back balcony.
On the back balcony, a small greenhouse was connected to the house. Inside the greenhouse were all sorts of vegetables including potatoes and onions and cucumbers, too. There were also tomato stakes, covered with healthy green vines and small red tomatoes.
In the far end of the greenhouse sat a small yellow stove. Next to the stove sat his mother, doing crosswords while she enjoyed her pre-dinner tea and sugarbread.
“Good afternoon, mama,” said Jani. He sat in the chair beside his mother and placed the white paper bag on the table between them.
“Good afternoon, dear.”
“Where’s Trudy? I have a surprise for her.”
“She’s in her bedroom, I think.”
“Aren’t you wondering what’s in the bag?”
“I already know what’s in the bag,” she answered.
“How do you know?”
“It’s one of the baker’s bags from the Bake Shop.”
“But you don’t know what’s inside.”
“Gevuldekoek,” answered mother.
“Yes, that’s right,” replied Jani, “but what else do I have in the bag?”
“Black licorice,” answered Mrs. Van der Veld.
“Yes, that’s right, too. How did you know?”
“You think I do not know what my son and daughter like to eat?”
“I guess so,” replied Jani. He grabbed the bag and went towards his sister’s room.
“I have a surprise for you,” said Jani.
“There’s my Gevuldekoek!” exclaimed Trudy.
“How does everyone know what I have in my white paper bag?” asked Jani.
“Mr. Anderssen called and told Mama. He was wondering why she had not visited his store in such a long while.”
“It’s because of that yellow oven in the Tulip House,” said Jani.
“That’s what Mama said, too.”
“Why go to the store when she can bake sugarbread and pepernoten herself?”
Trudy pulled an almond cookie out of the paper bag and took a bite. Caramel filling oozed out of the cookie’s center.
“For Gevuldekoek,” said Trudy.
“And Black Licorice, too,” replied Jani. He reached into the white paper bag and pulled out the black coil of licorice rope. They ate all their goodies in Trudy’s room, trading cookies for strips of licorice. After everything in the bag had been eaten, Jani returned to the Tulip House with his mother.
“Would you like some Sugarbread?” she asked.
“I’m not hungry.”
“I hope you didn’t spoil your appetite for dinner. I made us some Rabbit Stew.”
“I’m just not hungry for Sugarbread. I left plenty of space for Rabbit Stew.”
Jani sat beside his mother as she worked the crosswords. Every so often, she’d stop for a drink of tea of a bite of Sugarbread. Meanwhile, Jani would sit quietly, listening to the traffic on the street below.
“Why do you call this the Tulip House if we don’t grow any tulips?”
“A long time ago, your Great Grandmother Gertrude used to grow tulips in her greenhouse, so she called it the “Tulip House”. For a short while we grew tulips in our greenhouse, too, so we called this place the Tulip House. I guess it just kind of stuck.”
“I think you should call it the Tomato House.”
“I’ll think about it,” said his mother.
Every evening, just after 6:00 pm, Mr. Van der Veld’s moving truck pulled into the driveway beside the house. The air brakes squealed and the trailer rumbled as the truck came to a stop. Jani saw the truck’s bright red nose from his spot inside the Tulip House.
Mr. Van der Veld opened the truck door and stepped down from the platform beside the driver’s seat. After he closed the truck door, he turned around and waved and his wife and son.
“Dad’s home,” said Jani.
“I’ll set the table. You run along and get ready for supper.”
“Can we eat in the Tulip House?”
“The weatherman said it’s supposed to rain.”
“Look around Mama. There isn’t a single cloud in the sky.”
“Alright, I suppose we can eat out here,” she sighed.
Jani fetched his sister and they washed their face and hands. Meanwhile, Mrs. Van der Veld set four places at the small picnic table in the Tulip House, and placed the Rabbit Stew and a dish of fried tomatoes beside it. She filled the drinking glasses and straightened the tablecloth one last time.
“There, that should do.” Soon after, everyone gathered for supper.
“What’s the occasion?” asked Mr. Van der Veld.
“The occasion for what?” replied Mrs. Van der Veld.
“For the Rabbit Stew, the crisp linens, and eating outside.”
“I decided on Rabbit Stew this morning when I was cleaning out the freezer. Jani wanted to eat outside, so I decided it would be nice to cover up this old picnic table so it would be pleasant.”
“And pleasant it is,” replied Mr. Van der Veld.
Everyone’s bowl was passed across the table to Mr. Van der Veld, who poured two ladlefuls of stew into everyone’s bowl before it was passed back across the table.
“What’s that smell?” asked Jani.
“I almost forgot my surprise!” exclaimed Mrs. Van der Veld. She slipped a hand into her oven mitt and ran to the yellow oven in the corner. Quickly, she pulled the door open and pulled out a loaf of bread.
“I hope it didn’t get burnt,” she said.
Mr. Van der Veld cut into the dark brown crust, which crunched under the weight of the knife. A billow of steam rose from the center of the loaf.
“I think it’s ruined,” said Trudy.
“Just try a piece,” replied her mother.
Mrs. Van der Veld cut a piece of bread for each member of the family, including Ajax. Jani was first to try the bread.
“Mmmm,” said Jani. Mrs. Van der Veld looked up to see Jani crinkle his nose.
“Is it that bad?” she asked.
“It’s terrible,” exclaimed Trudy. She immediately spat the piece into her hand. Jani swallowed his and so did Mr. Van der Veld. Mrs. Van der Veld cautiously took a bite.
“Oh my!” she exclaimed. She gathered up the uneaten bread and dropped it to the floor. Ajax gobbled up the burnt bread as soon as it hit the floor.
“Of course you like it,” she sighed.
Mrs. Van der Veld looked at the bread on the floor and then at the bowls of Rabbit Stew.
“We can’t eat stew without buttered bread,” she said, “Jani, I’ll give you a few Euros. Run down to the Bake Shop and get us some Oat Bread.”
“Right now?” asked Jani.
“It’s only a few minutes away.”
“But I haven’t had one bite,” he replied.
“Neither have the rest of us, so hurry along and we’ll be waiting for you.”
So, without any further discussion, Jani pulled on his coat and hat and prepared for a quick trip back to Mr. Anderssen’s Bake Shop.