On the third day of our Europe trip, another Dutch cousin, Wanda, picked us up. We visited with an aunt and uncle on my husband’s paternal side.

After the visit, we drove to a Dahlia farm that had 600 varieties of dahlias! All the colors, sizes, and shapes were gorgeous. Rietta cut some with visions of drying them to put in the journal she kept of the trip.

From the Dahlia farm, we drove to the beach.

We had a nice walk along the water’s edge. Rietta was excited to find so many full shells. On the Oregon coast, you are lucky to find a whole shell.

By this time, we were hungry. We came across a café on the beach that had swings for the chairs at the picnic tables. Rietta was excited about this discovery.

We enjoyed listening to the sounds of the ocean and watching the waves as we ate.

After eating, we wandered back toward the lighthouse. We climbed to the top and took photos of the views. From the lighthouse, we wandered a bit through the shopping area adjacent to the beach.

Back in the car we headed to Ouderkerk, we mentioned that Rietta’s mom wanted her to purchase 52 packages of hagelslag – it is a pure chocolate sprinkle the Dutch eat on buttered bread. Her family loves the treat. Her mom wanted her to get 52 packages so they would have one for each week of the year. Wanda felt a large supermarket would be the best place to get it. And so she took us to one. We counted out 52 packages and went to the cashier. She saw the heaped basket and asked how many. We told her and she put that number in the till. Rietta paid and we scrambled to find boxes to carry it out of the store.

When we arrived back in Ouderkerk, Wanda suggested we eat at the Panakoke Restaurant that Angie and I had seen on our first walk around the town. We agreed and we were happy we had. The poffertjes we had for dinner were delicious and filled us up. Poffertjes are small Dutch pancakes the size of a ping pong ball. They puff up when cooked and are served with butter and powdered sugar, or syrup, or fruit. I had the cinnamon apples with mine. Just thinking about it now makes my mouth water! It was the perfect way to end our third day in the Netherlands.

To make the poffertjes they use a special pan that has indents in it. But you can make the small pancakes at home in a fry pan if you like. Here is a recipe I found for them.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups milk 375ml / 12.68floz very warm but not hot (1 1/2 minutes on high in microwave), sub oat or almond milk
• 2 1/2 tsp instant yeast 7g slightly heaped
• 2 cups plain flour / all purpose flour 280g / 9.87oz sub buckwheat flour or half and half
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup sugar
• 2 tbsp butter 25g, softened or melted to grease pan
• 1/2 tbsp icing sugar / powdered sugar to dust

Instructions

• In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar and yeast, giving it a quick mix and making a well in the center.

                       2 cups plain flour / all purpose flour, ¼ cup sugar, 2 1/2 tsp instant yeast

• Pour in the warmed milk and egg, then whisk into a batter. Cover with a tea towel or silicone bowl cover, and leave to rise for an hour. The batter should be double in size and look very bubbly when ready. Note: If in a colder climate, allow extra time and pop the bowl in a warm location.

                       1 1/2 cups milk,1 egg

• Grease a poffertjes pan or frying pan with the butter over a medium heat. Once warmed, add heaped tablespoons of batter into each well in the poffertjes pan. Make sure to leave space if using a frying pan.

                      2 tbsp butter

• Once bubbles start to pop on top (1-2 minutes), flip using a single chopstick or skewer (similar to making takoyaki). Allow to cook for another minute or two, once puffed up and cooked through, then remove from the pan. Repeat until all batter is used up.
• Serve while hot, sprinkling icing sugar / powdered sugar over the top to dust.

                    1/2 tbsp icing sugar / powdered sugar

Recipe from https://www.wandercooks.com/