Saturday 16 April 2016

Dutch Pancakes, a little Crochet Brooch and pretty bead necklaces on a Friday

Hello dear Blog Friends,


Hope you had a good week and are ready for a relaxing weekend?

A warm welcome to my latest new followers, yes, that means you!!! :)

As you may have realised from my last blog entry, I often thrive on happy coincidences, when suddenly two or more things come together at the same time, resulting in new creativity!


First: A little flower brooch (crocodile stitch)


This is a quick and easy project, that will put a little fun back into your crochet when you are working on a very loooooooong project that just seems to go on forever. I find the best way is to indulge yourself once in a while and do something quick, it sparks up those brain cells!

For those of you who are interested how to make such a crocodile stitch flower (brooch), check out one of my previous posts here!

Here is the finished brooch!


You see that the petals are in different colours/shades of orange, red and purple. This is because the yarn is Lang Mille Colori Baby Merino wool which changes colour. It is one of my favourite yarns and there are many different colour combinations!

So a variegated yarn looks more colourful, but you could also make one in just a single colour to pin onto your favourite jacket! Why not pick some pretty spring colours that will contrast/complement your outfit?

This is also a great project for little yarn leftovers!


I also noticed on another blog yesterday check it out here, Lorraine was showing some interesting craft books, some mention embellishments and buttons - well you can see above that I also get a nice button collection (by colour) so it was fun to pick out a pretty button to go with the flower.

So - you see it will also make use of your button stash!

I added a little felt circle with a brooch pin on the back so it will fasten well. Voilà! Finished!


Secondly: Dutch Pancakes


Yesterday I was in the mood for pancakes, and by happy coincidence I came across this recipe link for Dutch pancakes.

Basically it says to bake your pancake mix in the oven in small muffin tins or similar. For my English friends this may ring a bell! Well, it's almost like Yorkshire Puddings, but not quite!

I must admit I didn't follow the recipe instructions from scratch, purely because I had cheat ingredients in the house already! (Cheeky, I know!)

I used Dr Oetker Waffle Mix and Forest Blueberry Jam which may have saved a minute or two (=more time for crochet).

The main thing to remember: heat your muffin tin in the oven with some fat (I used coconut oil), make sure the fat is sizzling hot. Add your batter quickly into the fat and return to oven. I used an electric mixer to get the batter nice and smooth, I also added 4 eggs plus a sachet of vanilla sugar - this is what makes the dough so custardy and gooey!

Don't overfill the tin, half to three quarter full is plenty! Mine rose beautifully!

Dish up quickly, add Icing sugar and your blueberry jam/sauce! Eat with gusto!

I was pretty much pleased with the result, they looked very much like those from the recipe (these are my own photos!) and tasted delicious!

PS: they may not be exactly authentic 'Dutch' pancakes - I invite my Dutch readers to comment on the differences! (I only know 'poffertjes' which are tiny puffy pancakes but I am ignorant on how these are made!)





Dutch pancakes with Forest Blueberry Jam

Thirdly: Seed bead Necklaces

And after that, I made a couple of quick seedbead necklaces which was fun! (and a bit fiddly with those tiny beads, but hey, I like a challenge!)

Crocodile Crochet Flower Brooch and Seed bead Necklaces

Later on, normal crochet service was resumed. I kept working on my Teal coloured Alpaca Cowl which is growing nicely.


Hope you enjoyed this little post and wishing you all a happy (creative) weekend!
Get those buttons and yarns ends out and make something!!!

As always, I love to hear from you, so why not leave a little comment below. I really appreciate you taking the time to read my blog. Thank you so much!

17 comments:

  1. Hi Ingrid, thank you for mentioning my blog. It was wonderful to see buttons been used on your beautiful brooch. Love the variegated yarn, such a great range of colour. They would make great little gifts.

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  2. Love all of your wonderful projects Ingrid. Well done,
    Meredith

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  3. What a beautiful brooch! And those dutch pancakes are incredible... I'm adding them to my breakfast wish list for sure!! Thanks for sharing x

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    1. Hi Helen, you should definitely try them, so easy to make and so tasty! :) xx

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  4. Das sieht richtig lecker aus und das Rezept klingt auch so (ich hätte gedacht wegen der Form der Törtchen wäre noch etwas drin, was ich nicht vermutet hätte). Lass es dir gut gehen, Birgit

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    1. Danke, Brigitte! Sie haben sehr gut geschmeckt! :) xx

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  5. Hi Ingrid
    I love the flowers they are alot different to the usual flowers I crotchet. I will give them ago .
    The Dutch pancakes look very simple and quick to make
    Thanks for sharing

    Jacky

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    1. Hi Jacky, have fun crocheting these flowers! :) xx

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  6. Hi Ingrid, your flower brooch looks pretty! I like to wear them, as well. But I usually use cotton yarn to make them because I sometimes forget to put them down before washing and cotton yarn forgives such forgetfullness. Your new yarn looks delicious, it is always a good feeling having new yarn isn't it? I have been to the Netherlands two weeks ago and we love to eat Dutch pancakes, especially poffertjes. They are smaller and kind of flat but yours look delicious, as well. I think of trying the recipe next weekend. Have a nice week, Viola

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    1. Hello Viola! Thanks for your kind comments! Good thinking using cotton yarn! Let me know what you think of this recipe then! :) xx

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  7. Hi! Well those 'Dutch pancakes'do not look very dutch, but definitely super delicious!! I should try it your way once i've seen this. But for real dutch pancakes you should klook at this video (for example): https://youtu.be/t6maiY8RFdE
    For making poffertjes you must have a special pan with little holes in it. See here: https://youtu.be/9C3D9UlnHK8
    But you can also use a recipe in stead of the "koopmans-mix", but i shared the video's because you can see very clearly how it should be done. Good luck! :)

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    1. Thanks, Lizette! I thought as much. I will have to check out your links! :) xx

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    2. May I also thank Lizette for the link - I have always eaten poffertjes when out and about and never made them at home.

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  8. Haha! As soon as I saw your headline and the photo I thought, "Poffertjes!" I think the secret to any pancake is a hot pan.
    Who's hungry now? ;-)

    Crocodile Stitch has been on my list of techniques to try for absolute aaages - your flower project looks like an achievable first project.

    Haha! Your words "normal crochet service was resumed"
    made me laugh. :-D

    Thanks for the cheer! :-)

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