Little Chapel in the Woods

The weather was so nice yesterday that it seemed a shame not to go out and enjoy it.

We headed to Oirschot, a town not too far from here, to do a geocache. 's-Heerenvijvers is an estate dating back to the 1600s. Now it's mostly an open forest with trails, but evidences of the fence still exist in places.

We came across this kapelletje (literally "little chapel") along the way.

These little chapels are pretty common in the south of The Netherlands where Catholicism is the more dominant religion. Oftentimes you'll see them along the roadside. Here's a close up of the inside.

We did about a 3 mile walk, solving puzzles along the way, and found our cache. It was a good day.

Menu Plan Monday- March 23, 2009

click the banner and "Menu Plan Monday" for more menu planning ideas

I'm so impressed with myself. I made everything on my menu last week. Well, that's not 100% true. I didn't make the bread machine pitas because I found fresh croissants at the market and they were calling my name. Other than that though, I was awesome!

The only new recipe I used last week was the Pizza Calzones and they were very good. I used more whole wheat flour and less white flour and it was perfect. I'm going to keep the crust recipe and try other fillings in the future.


This Week:

Witlof au Gratin- I have been seeing this on a few peoples blogs in the past few months and this latest post just happened to come in at a good time- the ingredients are on sale this week!

Eggplant Parmesan- I've got a recipe for this that I need to dig up and post.

Chicken Burgers and Soup- Not sure what kind of soup I'll make yet. I have lots of mushrooms, so it will probably involve those somewhere.

Drumsticks, Coleslaw, and Baked Beans

Tuna Cakes- Still looking for a recipe for these. Anyone have one that they like?

The Efteling

The Efteling is a theme park here in The Netherlands. It's located near Tilburg, which makes it only about a 30 mile drive from Eindhoven.

I think that The Efteling has a little bit of something for everyone. There is a good mix of slightly more tame rides alongside the horrifying terror of upside down loops (I used to LOVE roller coasters like that, but I think I'm getting old because they just aren't fun for me anymore).

Martijn is near the back in a yellow shirt.

The best rides though, are the slightly more mellow indoor rides like the Droomvlucht (The Dreamflight). You get into a gondola and "fly" through scenes of fairies, forests, trolls, and other fantastical things. It seems like a lot of detail goes into getting the ambience just right, and the music that goes along really fits with what you're looking at.

The entrance to the Droomvlucht

Honestly though, the main reason you need to visit The Efteling is Het Sprookjesbos (The Fairytale Forest). There are more than 20 different fairy tale scenes depicted in Het Sprookjesbos.

Sign pointing the way to Little Red Riding Hood

Most are inspired by the brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen and Charles Perrault and brought to life with animatronics. You can watch the mean witch climbing up and down Rapunzel's long hair, the little red dancing shoes, and the wolf waiting for Little Red Riding hood among other things.

Collage of Het Sprookjesbos

Even the ATMs are cool!

BANK!

I love clever little plays on words. The big couch is an ATM... the Dutch word for couch is bank. Get it? The bank is a BANK! Oh geez, I love it!

The Keukenhof

One of the "must sees" if you visit The Netherlands in the spring is the Keukenhof. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 7 million bulbs are planted annually so it's a wonderful treat to see them all coming up. According to their website, there are 100 varieties of tulips there.

When you visit, make sure to wear comfy shoes as there are 15 km (9.3 miles) of walking paths. I understand it is also possible to rent a bike and cycle through the flower fields surrounding the Keukenhof but I haven't had the opportunity to do that yet.

This is a mosaic that I made from some of the photos I took last year. To see the rest, you can check out my flickr set here.

Amusingly enough, tulips aren't even actually Dutch, but were imported from Turkey in the 1600s!

More Vintage Pyrex

A few months ago, I got my hands on the larger of these two dishes. I was terribly excited because it is so cheerful and is orange AND yellow. Then when Martijn and I went to the thrift store a couple weeks ago I found it's little brother and snatched it up as fast as I could. I think there's one more size in this style of dish so maybe I'll get lucky and stumble upon it too!

Now if only I could find some more casserole size dishes! I've only managed to find one so far.

 See more fun vintage goodies for Vintage Thingie Thursday over at Coloradolady's blog.

Pot Pie

Chicken Pot Pie
2 cups cooked shredded chicken (about 200 grams)
2 carrots, chopped and steamed
2 onions, thinly sliced
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup frozen (canned works too) corn
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups chicken broth
1 tsp thyme
1 bay leaf
Pie crust- enough for top and bottom (I use puff pastry)
Dab of butter
flour to thicken

Melt the butter in a deep skillet.
Saute the onions and celery until they're soft, but not mushy.
Add garlic and cook for a couple more minutes.
Add the chicken stock and slowly stir in the flour.
Let that cook until it thickens up and starts boiling.
Add the thyme and bay leaf and let simmer for about 15 minutes.
While you're letting the filling simmer, prepare your "crust." I used two little ramekins and because I am insane I did a lattice-- completely unnecessary but it looks cute.
After you're done simmering the mixture, add the peas, carrots and corn.
Remove the bay leaf so you don't bite into a present while you're eating your pie. You may or may not want to add a little bit of salt depending on how salty your broth was.
Mix well and pour into your crust.
Add the top crust. If you used just a sheet of puff pastry, cut a slit to let steam escape.
Cook at 200 C (eh... 400 F I think) for about 25 minutes, or until the top of your crust is nice and golden brown.

I like to use the little rammekins for pot pies because it makes them just the right size. If it was more than just Martijn and I, I would just use a regular pie plate. I'm not mad enough to make tiny latticed pies for 6 people at once! This recipe makes enough to fill a pie plate, so I usually have some filling leftover and make little turnovers to have for lunch the next day.

You can also use this recipe for beef pot pies. I have had success with ground beef rolled into little meatballs instead of shredded chicken and changing the chicken broth to beef broth. I'm not a huge fan of mushrooms in the chicken pot pie, but I think they're perfect in a beef pot pie.

Check out Tasty Tuesday @ Forever Wherever and Tempt my Tummy Tuesday @ Blessed with Grace for more yummy recipes!

Signs of Spring

The crocuses have been blooming the past couple of weeks, but it's still been rather chilly and grey. However, today I went outside and the daffodils are blooming! Spring is almost here!!