​It has been a while since we made a recipe, but here is Gwen's "Stamppot Boerenkool" from the Netherlands...actually the 3rd or 4th recipe we have made from the Netherlands, and Toby loved all of them

Okay - so after we made these, we realised that we probably should have made them bigger, big enough to wrap the food up. But even as they were, they made for a lovely lunch! A big thank you to Lorenzo for sending us the recipe!

This was our second attempt at Eddy's tiramisu.........the first time, we "accidentally" ate all the biscuits before we got round to making it! It was definitely worth finishing the recipe, and Toby loved the "no coffee" version!!!

We don't always make desserts, honest!! Tanja sent us this blueberry pie recipe from the Savo region in Finland - we had just found a lovely pie dish in the local second-hand shop, and the pie worked beautifully with it. We ate it warm with ice cream, just as recommended, and we had enough left over for another couple of days - this recipe made lots! 

Okay, yes, this is recipe no. 3 from the Netherlands...we couldn't resist! Yael mentioned oranjetompoucen in her letter, and when we looked for a recipe, we could only find one in Dutch. So, we became language detectives, and Toby did a brilliant job, using his English and his German to work out much of it. Our filling was more of a thick custard than a cream, but we didn't let that stop us - it tasted delicious!

The lovely Lino from San Marino sent a "holding postcard" while his letter is making its way over. Bearing in mind how long we looked for a contact in San Marino, we can't quite believe it, but it's here, we promise, stamps and all! When we sent him an email to let him know, he had more news for us:
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I wanted to share with you another exciting happening. Last Wednesday I was received by Giuseppe Morganti the Hon. Secretary of State for Culture and Public Instruction of the Republic of San Marino.
I shared with him Toby's project. He was very interested in hearing Toby's project, acknowledged it was a very nice and stimulating venture, and asked me to congratulate Toby and thank him for including San Marino in his project. I asked permission to take a picture of me and him, right after I read to him Toby's letter. Here is the picture: I'm the one standing on the right.
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What an honour!!! Thank you so much, Lino!! This brings the list of "missing countries" down to 40, with four of them arriving in the last two weeks!

We have to admit that this recipe is cheating a little, because it didn't come from a penpal, a friend shared it with us! Still, after last week's nests, this looked such fun, we just had to try it! The recipe can be found here, if you'd like a go: ​http://www.homecookingadventure.com/recipes/estonian-kringle-cinnamon-braid-bread

Okay. These are not really called "Any-Time-Of-Year Nests". The recipe we have (from the early 1970s) calls them Easter nests. But we love them so much, we have been known to bake them in November. So...who are we to restrict  a nice recipe to one particular time of year? We hope you enjoy making these - Toby has enjoyed plaiting, rolling and shaping them since he was two years old!

Marko and Alex sent us a yummy recipe from Serbia - it took us a couple of weeks to get round to making it, but when we did, Toby has lots of fun chopping leeks and grating carrots - and he really enjoyed the idea that there was a "surprise" inside the pepper, too. We'll definitely be making this one again!

So...we made these two days in a row. Both times, we tried to leave some for Daddy. It never happened, so we have bought more apples to try again. I think it's safe to say that these are delicious!