Pancake supper

The Dutch LOVE their pancakes or "pannenkoek" as they call it.  The Dutch pannenkoek is very much like the french crêpes.  It is much thinner than the "North American" pancake.  The Dutch do not eat these for breakfast, however, this is purely a supper meal. Specialty pannenkoek restaurants can be found through out the Netherlands in huge quantities, they really take their pannenkoeken seriously.  As a topping they will often add bacon, cheese, peppers, mushrooms, pepperoni, Turkish meats, apples, strawberries,  or anything else they can think of.  Commonly eaten with "stroop" (syrup), sugar (brown or confectionery), "appel stroop" (a very thick syrup that tastes like apple) or jam.  The desired size?  The bigger the better!  There is a true technique to eating these too...  particularly the plain ones are rolled up and eaten like wrap.  Plain ones can be found pre-made ready to eat in packages in the grocery stores but they are never as good as fresh made ones. 

As a Canadian we try to have (North American styled) pancake breakfast at least once a month with maple syrup (of course).  When ever we have the children's friends sleep over they think we are crazy for eating (what they think is) supper for breakfast but they never seem to complain while they devour the thick pancakes.  We do have Dutch pannenkoeken once in awhile but not enough because they are LEKKER (delicious).

Pannenkoeken


Ingredients:

• 250 grams of Flour 
• 2 Cups of Milk 
• 2 Eggs 
• 3 teaspoons of Sugar 
• Dash of Salt 
• 1 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract 
• Oil , to brush your Pan with so they don't stick

Directions:
Mix the flour and milk together until smooth. Add the eggs, sugar, and salt. Mix together until smooth. (optional let the batter rest for 30 minutes for optimal results)
Heat up the largest frying pan you own on medium heat. Brush the oil onto the pan. Pour batter in ensuring a thin round circle covering the whole bottom of pan evenly.  Cook until batter sets and is golden on the bottom, usually about 1-2 minutes. Flip the pancake and cook until golden on the other side, another minute or so. Add any preferred toppings (ie bacon, ham cheese peppers etc) serve with stroop or sugar. 


Eet smakelijk!



Edited to add :

All this pancake talk had my husband craving pancakes (American ones) so I woke up this morning to very tasty pancakes.

Here is the exact recipe he used and trust me they were the best we have ever had!!!


Fluffy pancakes

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• cooking spray

Directions

1. Combine milk with vinegar in a medium bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to "sour".
2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk egg and butter into "soured" milk. Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and whisk until lumps are gone.
3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side.

Our Dutch boys are home!

Our Soccer boys played really well but yet were defeated in the last few minutes in over time against Spain making the score 1:0.  With their tails between their legs, the very sorry soccer players arrived back in the Netherlands yesterday.  Today their day was packed with a meet with the Queen, press conference, canal tour and a salute celebrations "de Huldiging".  I am sure after they saw over 500,000 people show up to the celebrations, their confidence were renewed! Our boys may not have come home with the world cup but they certainly put up a fight for it!






Sorry the video is in Dutch - This video was thanks to our media but it was to give you an idea of how much of a hype our boys in orange are. They may not have come home with the world cup but in my eyes they are winners all the way!!

The Biggest Water Falls in Holland!

The weather was piping HOT here this weekend.  It was 30 plus degrees and sticky humid.  So we decided to go to the biggest water falls in Holland to cool off.  The Loenen water falls, 15 km from Apeldoorn.

Now coming from Ontario, Canada and driving distance from Niagara falls, we would visit the falls often and still do on our trips back to Canada.  Canada is full of hills, mountains and drop offs..... and the Netherlands full of .... well flat flowing ground.  Did you really expect them to have a huge water falls?   The actual size of the waterfalls might surprise you.... or not!

The girls enjoyed cooling off their feet while walking to the falls

There are a total of four steps to the waterfalls - the fourth step is closed off to walk beside but it is about half the size of the rest seen in the picture above.  The total hight of the falls is about15 meters tall. 

Hmph not very impressive compared to Niagara falls?  Maybe not but it is a different type of experience.  Niagara falls is completely over run by tourists and will always be that way.  The Loenen waterfalls will (hopefully) always keep it's natural beauty in the middle of the forest where you can take a long walk and enjoy the pure serenity of nothing but the leaves blowing in the wind.  

Even Daisy enjoyed enjoyed the day out and met a few friends a long the way...

The lovely walk we had to the falls was ended by a delicious ice cream cone. How could we not make a perfect ending out of this day? There is an ice cream van in the parking lot to the waterfalls but we decided to go into town where we could sit and enjoy an ice cream (from the same company as the ice cream van). 

Orange you Glad?

The Netherlands soccer team (football) is through to the finals!  They just played a very exciting game against Uruguay and came out winning 3:2. If only you could hear the partying going on in my street right now as I type this (yes I guess I prefer to sit here and type this then to party in the streets). Cars are honking their horns, squealing their tires. Fireworks are being shot off, vuvuzelas are being blown at full force and the out of tone singing of drunken men set the perfect tone for an after game win party!

Now on to the Finals either against Spain or their rivals, the Germans.  The last time the Dutch played the Germans in the finals was in 1974 and unfortunately lost. I have confidence that they can take it ORANGE all the way!!!

Even Daisy was sporting an orange bandanna to support her favorite Dutch team!

Amsterdam canals

If you live in the Netherlands or visit the Netherlands, one thing you MUST do is a boat trip through the canals of Amsterdam.  For our Canada Day celebrations, a friend of mine organized a 3 hour Canadian themed boat trip with 40 Canadians (and associates) through the canals with an all you can eat BBQ incl. side dishes and all you can drink (that's usually where it goes wrong for me but that's another story).  The food was beyond delicious!

Even my dog Daisy was invited, in fact, I don't think I would have been allowed on board with out her.

I was totally surprised by the pure beauty of the canals and what was to be seen.  It was hard to socialize with everybody because there was so much to see along the side of the canals.

The Netherlands is very much known for having very little land space and because of this, many people decide to live on boat houses.  During my 9 and a half years living in the Netherlands, I have seen many boat houses but none as beautiful or modern as these.

The different boats and the different type of people that we came across on the canals is what made the trip spectacular (besides the atmosphere inside of the boat of course).

I even found my future boat ;-) 

I know where I will be next Canada Day!  Yup, celebrating it with my new found friend Mr. Moose!

BBQ Non Dutch style

When I first moved to the Netherlands, I moved to a small city where no body spoke English (at least not to me). I couldn't find any other English speaking expatriates like my self - I didn't even dare to go to the store alone. If I told you I felt alone, that would be an understatement! I quickly dove into a high level Dutch language course just so I could learn to communicate quickly with my fellow civilian.  That course took about 1.5 years including the extra levels I took on top of what was mandatory.  
The culture shock was extreme - I won't kid any body.  The food is different, the mannerisms are different, and the most difficult; I was miles away from my family and friends who meant the world to me.  I can't begin to tell you how many times I questioned my ingenious idea to move to the Netherlands.  
I quickly met a few English ex-pats in the Dutch classes who I am very happy to say I am still friends with but we also all have our own lives and families but unfortunately months go by before we find time to see each other.
My grandmother always told me I should write a book about my experience in the Netherlands.  I have always known that I don't have any creativity when it comes to words.  My grandmother on the other hand has her Bachelor of arts in English and only expects her first grand daughter to carry the same genes. Sorry to disappoint you grandma...
Even though my grandmother is in no way tech savvy, I decided to possibly make her somewhat happy.  I decided to write a blog about my experiences.  As I started I began looking around at other peoples blogs here in the Netherlands who are also experiencing what I am experiencing and finally came to the realization that I am not alone. Hallelujah !   The first blog that I found was Tammy at Canadutch  Everything she wrote about, I could totally relate to... in fact it felt like I was writing it (but with a better writing style then my own of course).  I stalked her immediately and found her on facebook and it seemed like we connected.  Shortly after finding Tammy's blog, I found Sonya's blog at Home Cooking with Sonya.  I too felt like I had a connection through her witty yet loving words.  PLUS she had such YUMMY treats and recipes on her blog. BONUS!  She made me remember how much I loved to bake.  I loved trying her recipes because I knew they ALL were good!  I then realized she lived on my side of the country, another BONUS! It didn't take me long to stalk her too and find her on Facebook. 
Today was the day we got to meet up with our husbands (and children) for a delicious BBQ at chez moi's house.  The weather may have been hot but didn't stop the time from flying by as we chatted it up non stop as if we were all long lost friends.  It didn't take me long to realize that my inclinations were correct and I have indeed found a group of friends that I can totally be my self with. 

Tammy brought some mouth watering cheese cake.  This was seriously the best cheese cake I have ever tasted!!

Lots of pictures were taken but I think they were just trying to make me jealous of their camera's ;-)

Questions and answers Tagged by Tammy

I was tagged in another blog by Tammy.  She had to answer 5 questions and then ask 5 different questions where she tagged me so here they are and here are my answers. 

1. Do you believe in ghosts?  Why / Why Not?

I do!  When I was younger I had seen them on and off.  A few years ago I had seen one in my parents basement (where we sleep when we visit eeek!).  Now my youngest daughter sees orbs particularly in my parents house when we visit.  She says they are nice orbs full of colour - so they don't scare me. 
2. If you are totally honest, do you consider yourself to be a gossip?  If so, has it ever gotten you into trouble? I'm not really a gossiper - I know when to keep my mouth shut!  I love hearing it though especially if it's about someone I know!  It hasn't gotten me in trouble as far as I can remember (maybe when I was a teenager but we aren't going back to that dark era).
3. Is there anyone you’ve lost touch with from your past that you Google or search FB for regularly to find out about them? The people I want to keep in touch with I am in touch with now, there is one  I occasionally stalk just to see how their children have grown up.
4. What is your biggest passion in life? (other than your kids) Grooming dogs and the well being of dogs.  Animals in general! And trying to keep in touch with all of my friends and family back home.
5. What is the craziest / scariest / funniest / weirdest thing you’ve ever witnessed? (Any of the above) Beside the ghost I mentioned earlier... A UFO hovering not too far away from where I live while there was a no fly zone due to the  Eyjafjallajokull Volcano eruption in Green Land.  I never believed in that nonsense and I still not sure if I do but I am not sure what else could it be.  It was glowing yellow orange (hard to tell) - it hovered for some time when finally it took off straight up into the star lit sky. 




I am really bad with making up questions so bare with me!  Tiffany at Clogs and Tulips, Frau at West Family Adventures and Arwa from Orangesplash - these questions are for you! Anybody else who wish to answer these please feel free to do so - I am always curious to see your answers!




1. What do you miss most from your home country?
2. What is your fondest memory as a child?
3. What has been your most difficult obsticle to over come in life?
4. You receive one million euro's, what do you spend it on?
5. What are the top 5 things on your bucket list (things you must do before you die)?