Patriotic Applique Shirts

We've been watching a lot of voetbal around here lately...that's soccer to those of us not born in Europe or Africa or South America...or pretty much anywhere outside of the USA. The World Cup is going strong and with both the USA and the Netherlands in the round of 16, I decided to whip up a few shirts for our son to show his dual nationality pride. 

Fortunately for me, both the American and Dutch flags are pretty easy to replicate--no ornate crests or designs. I've been wanting to practice applique to build my confidence for a quilt I have in the works. 

I used a 4"x6" index card as a template for the flag. I found the red and stripe fabric as a fat quarter at Joann Fabrics awhile ago. I knew I could use it for some patriotic project in the future, so I snatched up a few of them. I found the blue star fabric, which is 2"x 2.5", at Walmart. 

 I used Pellon Wonder-Under to make the fabric sticky so it would adhere to the tee shirt. 

This is the way to use the transfer web if you want to make a mess of your iron! Learn from my mistake and cut out the Wonder Under to the same size as your fabric so that the bordering transfer web does not melt onto the iron.

This really should have been done before ironing the Wonder Under.

After a minute, you can peel off the backing. Check the wrong side of the fabric and you should feel the shiny webbing.

I started with the stripes. I ironed the piece again, this time right side up, to adhere the fabric to the tee shirt.

I stitched around the striped piece as close to the edge as I could. I then repeated the process with the blue star piece. I didn't take photos because on of my best friends from Michigan surprised me with a visit! I only remembered to take a photo of the finished applique!

My happy American boy models his shirt.

Of course, I had to make a Dutch shirt too. I flipped the notecard over to make sure that my lines were even. The red piece is 4"x 6".  The white piece is 2-2/3" x 6" and the blue stripe is 1-1/3" x 6".

I followed the same process to make the applique. 

Two happy Dutch boys...especially after yesterday's win over Mexico in the round of 16!

Our next door neighbors are Italian, so I also whipped up some Italian shirts. For these, I made the white piece 4"x6" and the green and red strips 2"x 4".

Updated: July 1, 2014

I may have a new addiction. I made a Canada tee today in honor of our friends to the North.

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Boerenkool: A Dutch Comfort Dish

Boerenkool (literally, farmer’s cabbage) is form of Dutch stampot (translation: mashed pot). Stampot is a very popular Dutch comfort food, basically glorified mashed potatoes. Other forms include potatoes with carrots, endive or other vegetables. I never regularly bought kale until I learned to make this, one of my Dutch husband’s favorite meals. Now it’s a staple on our menu.

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch kale with stalks removed
• 2.5 pounds potatoes, chopped into chunks
• 1 12 oz. smoked sausage
•  ½ cup milk (or unsweetened almond milk, for dairy-free families likes ours)
• 2 T. butter (or Earth Balance vegan butter stick)
• Salt to taste

Instructions:

1. Wash kale, remove stalks, and roughly chop.

2. Cook kale in boiling water of ten minutes.

3. While kale is cooking, wash and chop potatoes.

4. Drain the kale.

Save the water if you have plants because when it cools, it's a nutrient-rich drink for them. (I have a black thumb, but I keep trying).

5. Pot potatoes in a large pot and just cover with water. My original recipe said to only cover half with potatoes, but the potatoes either got scorched or the top ones didn't get cooked, so cover them up.

6. Add drained kale on top of the potatoes.

7. Cut a slit in the smoked sausage, then add it to the top of the kale.

8. Cover and cook over medium heat for 30 minutes. The potatoes are done when you can easily slice a form through a piece of potato.

9. Remove sausage and drain the vegetables. Put the vegetables back in the pot and mash to desired texture.

Niels prefers a chunky texture, so we use a masher.

If you like a smoother texture, an immersion blender works really well.

10. Add milk and butter and combine. Add salt to taste.

11. Slice sausage and serve over mashed vegetables. Eet smakelijk!

If you like this recipe, feel free to make a copy of this printable version.

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Fun Food

Note: I used to have a food blog for a little while. Every once in a while I move a post over here to share. This post was originally posted in three years ago, shortly after our little guy turned two. (He's 5 now!)  

One day a few weeks, while we were walking around my hubby's hometown in the Netherlands, we hung out in a bookstore. I love bookstores in general, and now that my Dutch has improved, I'm able to (mostly) follow the instructions in Dutch cookbooks.

One of my favorite souvenirs from our trip to Holland was this Dutch cookbook for kids.

Roughly translated, the title is "Garnish with Kids" and it's full of step-by-step photos of fun meals for kids that look like animals and vehicles and things.

I haven't found anything similar in English...yet.

D and I have had lots of fun with these lunches. I've had to improvise quite a bit and my options are rather limited until we go shopping tomorrow, but it's been a really cool way to spend our long car-less days at home. (We'll getting a new car on Monday). One of D's favorite things is to "help" me cook. At least once a day, he'll pull a chair over to the kitchen counter and say, "Cook, Mommy?" Sometimes he'll go over to the pantry and start handing me seasonings. I love that he loves food, and this cookbook is an especially good way for him to appreciate the process of putting a meal together. For now, his job is to watch, help gather the ingredients, and most important, sample often!

A few of our recent creations:

Airplane

Fish

Star

Now that D is in preschool, we don't get to make as many fun lunches, but I recently made this rocket in honor of his love of space. 

You can find more fun kids meals on my Pinterest board.

Follow Jen | de Jong Dream House's board Culinary Creations :: Kids on Pinterest.

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Gevulde Speculaas (Stuffed Gingerbread Bars)

December 5 is a BIG day for our Dutch-American family. On this day, Dutchies around the world celebrate the arrival of Sinterklaas. I intended to write a post about the Netherland's version of a generous man in red, but that will have to wait til next year, because I'm going to share my favorite Sinterklaas recipe instead, and you can thank me all year round!

I was first introduced to the deliciousness of gevulde speculaas during my first Christmas in the Netherlands. I couldn't wait to to enjoy these gingerbread bars stuffed with almond paste again but I had to first translate the recipe from Dutch! 

Today we brought these bars, along with other Sinterklaas goodies and birthday cupcakes to our son's class and they were a bit hit. Both his teachers requested the recipe, so it was just the motivation I needed to get this post up before calling it a day!

Sinterklaas came to help me out.

 Ingredients: 

• 2 cups flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 Tablespoon speculaas spice (you can make your own with my recipe)
• 1 cup coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
• 10 Tablespoons butter (or dairy free alternative)
• 2 Tablespoons Almond milk
• 1 egg yolk
• 8 oz. almond paste
• Handful of whole almonds

Instructions: 

1. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.

2. In a large mixing bowl, add speculaas spice,sugar, and flour mix in a large mixing bowl. 

2. Slice butter into small pieces and add to the flour mixture.

3. Combine until mixed well.

4. Add the milk and egg yolk.

5. Knead together until a slightly sticky ball forms.

6. Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate overnight (or at least several hours).

7. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

8. Divide dough in half.

9. Grease a square pan and set aside. (I like to use my homemade non-stick spray)

10. Roll out the first half of the dough so that it will cover the bottom of the pan. Press dough into the pan so the bottom is evenly covered.

11. Spread the almond paste over the dough. If using paste from a can, break the paste into pieces and carefully spread out the paste without squishing through to the dough.

12. Roll out the second half of dough, and carefully cover the filling layer.

13. Press almonds into the dough in a block pattern so that cut pieces will each have an almond in the center.

14. Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes clean when poked in the center.

15. Let cool before cutting into pieces.

Eet Smakeliljk!

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