It smelled delicious in the kitchen. Annerieke had already put their meal on the large dining table. Huib and Margreet sat down and Huib invited Margreet to serve herself as much as she wanted. Margreet loved beets, but she'd never seen them so beautiful in a bowl. Annerieke had cut slices with the help of her food processor, and although the slices were not neatly lined up, of course not, it looked festive. She scooped up, beetroot, pickles, baked potatoes, and a hamburger.

“That hamburger is just ground beef with very small pieces of onion, herbs and spices, mixed well and made into the right shape with a hamburger press. And then just bake in a frying pan with a lot of butter.” Annerieke laughed because of the frowning face in front of her, full of surprise. “A hamburger press, don't you know it?” She got up, reached into the sink and held up the hamburger press: “This is my baby, indispensable tool in this kitchen…, I think. In any case, the burgers turned out nice, don't you think?”

Margreet nodded enthusiastically as she tasted a piece. “And tasty too, a bit spicier than I'm used to, but that's just delicious!”

She continued eating joyful. That Annerieke, she could do something with it, a real kitchen princess. Margreet quietly hoped she could learn something from her in cooking and baking. "It's all so delicious, I'm jealous of you Huib, with a mother who can cook like that..."

“Hmm,” Huib ate his mouth empty, “and bake, don't forget that!”

The dessert was small, a pudding. Annerieke said that she purposely kept it small, so that everyone could enjoy a piece of pie with their coffee in the evening.

Margreet smiled: “You’re clever…”

Annerieke chuckled: “That’s not about being clever, I just became wiser through the experience that people were packed and no longer wanted my delicious pie. After that happened a few times, I knew I had to change something. By the way, I'm easy with that pie, whoever wants half a slice of pie can have it the way he wants it. Usually a she by the way,” Annerieke said with a laugh, “they are almost always women who think they shouldn't take a full point anymore. They then pat their stomachs to show that they are getting too fat. And their men… how often they do the same to show that they can fit a whole slice of pie! Oh well, it just depends on how you look at it. I don't want to hurt those women, they can take what they want, but I do think that many of them deeply regret after half a piece that they did not take a whole."

“And then it sometimes happens that they still take the other half,” Huib added.

“Yes, that's true, and they're right. I like that so much. When I'm looking around there, they often look so skittish. Then I just give them a big wink. And, Margreet, did you enjoy it?”

"Yes for sure! I think I'll have to start making other clothes soon, I'll probably grow close here! It's just really great, an I-don’t-know-how many-star restaurant!”

Annerieke stood up, bowed to Margreet: “Thank you ma’am, that's the best compliment of the day! And now I'm going to check with the neighbors to see if everything is okay.

She went through a connecting door to the large dining room, where she walked between the tables and received all the compliments. Everyone had eaten enough, so she immediately took a few bowls back. “The ladies and gentlemen are refreshed and considerably fattered,” she joked in the kitchen. “It's always so nice to hear that they had enjoyed the food. They are still sitting out for a while, but I'm going to clean up the buffet."

Annerieke went back to the dining room, and came back with a few dishes. Huib followed her lead and Margreet, not wanting to be left behind, also got up to go to the dining room. Together they carried all the almost empty dishes, plates and cutlery to the kitchen, where Annerieke started collecting the leftovers. “If I have a lot left over, sometimes I make a salad for our lunch the next day. But now that there's little left, I'll take it home later. We have chickens, and they will love this feast!”

"You should see that once, Margreet," Huib said. He just came into the kitchen with the last dishes. “It's unbelievable how happy those chickens are! By the way, I just got a question from one of the guests, Anton Veth… if you were my girlfriend.”

Margreets cheeks turned red quickly. “I doubted for a while whether I would confirm it,” Huib teased, “but I have been honest, I said that you came to join our team.”

In order not to embarrass Margreet even more, he kept quiet that Anton had thought she would be a perfect match for him… He had only laughed a little in response. It had hit him, but he hadn't known an answer. Deep down he had the feeling that Anton had hit the nail on the head, but he wanted to figure that out himself first. As far as there was something to figure out…

Annerieke opened the dishwasher. Margreet started to help to fill the dishwasher. “I always wash the pots and pans by hand,” Annerieke said. “By the time the dishwasher is ready, the pots and pans will have been in the cupboard for a long time.” Margreet took a tea towel from the hook and saw that Huib was watching with a grin. “I thought so already, because of you I can rest on my laurels… in my great office… ladies, I salute you, I'm going to try to get rid of my administrative backlog!”

“Good idea Huib, good luck with it!” Annerieke tossed him a hand kiss and started washing the pots and pans. Margreet, with a quick smile at Huib, threw the tea towel over her shoulder, rinsed a dishcloth and cleaned the dining table. She immediately received a compliment from Annerieke: “Great, thank you, let's do that in the dining room of the guests too. I think they all left for the living room or their bedroom.”

Annerieke pointed out to the sink in the dining room, hidden behind a curtain. “We hung the curtain in front of it, because we didn't like such a sink in a dining room. But it is very useful for cleaning or if an accident happens”.

Together they cleaned the tables, checked that everything else was in order and started washing the pots and pans. Margreet thought it was fun, she felt less of a stranger in the Bloemenhof house!

To chapter 7. Her first evening

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