🧑‍🍳 Cooking Challenge: Show Your Photos and Story – 10× €10 Store Credit

Hello everyone!

After your wonderful participation in 🎁 DIY Gifts with Heart, we’re launching a new, simple community challenge all about your kitchen:

Show us photos of your own homemade creations – plus a short story about them (who for, why, what makes it special?). Please no recipes, no quantities, and no step-by-step instructions. That keeps it simple for everyone.

🗓️ Campaign period

September 14, 2025 through September 28, 2025 (inclusive)

🎁 Prizes

Among all valid entries, we’ll raffle off 10× €10 Crazypatterns shopping credit.
The winners will be selected at random and announced here in the forum.

✅ How to take part

1. Post your entry here in the thread (or start a new topic and refer to this thread).
   
2. Use the template below and attach your own photos (finished dish; 1–2 process photos are also welcome).
   
3. It’s about your own creations and your personal story – without recipes/patterns.
   
4. Multiple entries per person are welcome!
   

🧾 Template to copy

Dish / project name: ...
For whom & why (briefly): ...
What makes it special? (2–3 sentences, no recipes): ...
Photos: (please attach)

💡 Inspiration

Bread & rolls · Soups & stews · Pasta dishes · Pan-fried dishes ·
Fermented & preserved foods · Dips & sauces · Salads · Desserts · Drinks

📌 Rules / checklist

• Your own work & your own photos. No stock or AI images.
  
• Dishes cooked in the past are okay if you present them during the campaign period.
  
• No external or commercial links. (Mentioning inspiration without a link is okay.)
  
• Be friendly and follow netiquette.
  
• Entries with incomplete information or rule violations may be excluded.
  
• Prizes are non-transferable; cash payment is excluded.
  
• Legal recourse is excluded.
  

🏁 Process & notification

• Submission deadline: September 28, 2025 (inclusive).
  
• Drawing & announcement of the winners afterward here in the forum.
  
• Notification: After the credit has been added, the winners will receive an email notification about the credit.
  

We’re looking forward to your pots, pans, and delicacies – and to lots of new appetizing photos + stories from the community! 🧑‍🍳💛

Warm regards
Your Crazypatterns Team 💚

P.S. 🌱🐾 [Preview of the next campaign]: Garden & Animals – start collecting photos now: tomatoes, cucumbers, pumpkins, flowers & herbs, as well as dogs, cats, rabbits, goats, chickens, bees & butterflies: Info & Checklist.

Dish / project name:
Beetroot Bread
For whom & why (briefly):
For our own use, because homemade simply tastes better
and because there is no bakery in our town.
What makes it special? 
The huge harvest of beetroot from our own garden couldn’t all be eaten.
So I shredded peeled raw beetroot with a coarse grater and froze it in portions of about 150 g.
That way I only had one “mess” in the kitchen.
On the evening before baking the bread, I take one portion out of the freezer and let it thaw overnight directly in the pan of the bread machine.
The next day, the bread dough is prepared with a little less water than usual, because the beetroot also contains moisture. 
With this amount of beetroot, the bread slices have little spots. It hardly changes the taste of the bread; the amount is too small for that. It’s just for the look and so the beetroot can fulfill its purpose. I can’t say whether the health benefits of beetroot are still present after baking. In any case, with this preparation method it hasn’t done any harm so far.

Dish / project name:
I feel like I’m being watched
For whom & why (briefly): 
A small fruit snack for in between, because it’s healthy.
What makes it special?
While cutting open a banana, I felt like I was being watched.
The cut surface had two eyes and a creepy face (only if you have an imagination—my husband didn’t see anything!?!).

Vegetable Stew with Meatballs
My husband loves soups and stews. But he can’t do without meat. So it’s the perfect time of year for a vegetable stew like this.

Dish:
Potato pancakes with applesauce

For whom & why:
The grandchildren and we love it.

What makes it special? 
Since we prefer organically grown food, the ingredients for the potato pancakes are home-produced. The potatoes come from our garden, the eggs from our chickens, and I made and preserved the applesauce myself from the apples in my garden.

Anyone who prefers the savory version gets homemade tzatziki, of course with cucumbers from my garden. 

What also makes it special is that my husband always fries the potato pancakes outside in the summer kitchen during the summer. That way, the “fried-food smell” stays outside. Enjoy your meal, if I’ve inspired you ;-)

Photos: 
   
 

Dish:
Plum Pancakes

For whom and why:
For me. Every now and then. Back in my childhood, we always had pancakes or something similar on Fridays—without meat, but usually with apples.

What makes it special?
My mother-in-law also had this tradition, and in the fall she’d make them with plums. And she always added baking powder to make the pancakes nice and fluffy. A lovely and delicious memory.

Plaice Fillet

We absolutely LOVE FISH.
In every variation.
We especially love this breaded plaice fillet with crispy fried sage leaves.
Served with potatoes and a bean salad (both fresh from the garden).
And to top it off, 1 tsp. of butter in the pan. Simply delicious 😋

Dish / Project Name: Colorful Vegetable Stir-Fry with Ground Beef
For whom & why: We all need to lose a few kilos, so I whipped up this colorful stir-fry using delicious zucchini, colorful bell peppers, and parsley from the garden, along with eggplant, onion, and low-fat ground beef. Served with some tasty herb-flavored quark, it was a filling, low-carb meal that we’re now making more often because everyone really enjoyed it.
What makes it special? It’s low in calories, colorful, and delicious😋 

Dish: Chicken gyros with tzatziki, coleslaw, and flatbread

For whom: Best enjoyed with a large family gathering

What makes it special: All components are homemade or prepared from scratch and can be made ahead of time very easily. I let the flatbread dough rest in the fridge for 36 hours; the final rise on baking day then happens almost on its own. 😋😋

Dish / Project Name: Homemade sourdough bread—the BEST

For whom & why (briefly): For my family, because there’s nothing better than fresh bread without additives—simply delicious, whether on its own or with butter, it’s pure bliss!

What makes it special? (2–3 sentences, no recipes): My bread is made only with organic flour, water, and salt—and a lot of love while baking!
Photos: 

Dish / project name:
Stuffed peppers with smashed potatoes

For whom & why (briefly):
Thanks to my loving care, our garden always produces lots and lots of peppers. When enough of them are ripe, we kick off pepper season with a large pan (32 cm in diameter) full of stuffed peppers. I make them in the oven. We have smashed potatoes with them, made from homegrown potatoes. Since my husband and I can’t manage the whole pan by ourselves, we always invite the entire family over. It’s a tradition for us. 

What makes it special? 
Because we grow the peppers and potatoes ourselves in the garden, we know they’re organic and don’t contain any pesticides. That gives us a good feeling. It’s also a wonderful feeling to have produced the food ourselves, from seed to finished fruit. I’ll tell you more about my peppers from my own garden in the Garden Challenge.

Photos:
  

Dish / Project Name:
Sourdough bread with cracked spelt

For whom & why:
For us, because we no longer have a good bakery in the area.

What makes it special?
Our local organic market, where you could have grains cracked to order, has unfortunately closed, and we no longer have a source in the area. Now my husband has bought a new malt mill for his hobby (he brews beer), and it actually has enough power to crush even the hard grains.
So, after a long time, we finally had a delicious, wholesome loaf of bread with a cracked-grain scald—just the way we love it.

Photos:

Project: Scored rolls 

What makes them so special: Baking and cooking are some of my hobbies, along with crocheting and knitting. For over 10 years, this has also included bread and rolls.
Once a week, I bake 32 rolls, among other things. The roll dough contains leftover sourdough starter, Demeter-certified, home-milled wheat and forest perennial rye flour, a tiny bit of yeast, water, and salt. I prepare the dough in the evening and then let it rest in the refrigerator for about 12 hours. After baking, the rolls go into the freezer and are simply reheated in the air fryer for breakfast.
It’s nice to know what you’re eating.

*Spaghetti Carbonara (Original)*

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like it. It’s quick to make when friends come over.

Under no circumstances should it be made with cream sauce. Just bacon, eggs/egg yolks, and cheese. 😋 

My story:Anyone who’s ever baked macarons knows... These little things have a mind of their own. 😅

I’ve gone through countless attempts—some crack, others don’t form feet, or stick to the parchment paper. Even today, they don’t always turn out perfectly, but every attempt brings me a little closer.

Photos: My baking setup in various colors 🎨 and the finished result—filled macarons, neatly lined up in boxes.

It takes a lot of patience, practice, and sometimes frustration, but in the end, these little works of art are simply too beautiful and delicious to give up on. 💕

It’s the epitome of “practice makes perfect”. And even if not every attempt turns out crack-free—when it does work out, the joy is twice as great!

Dish / Project name:
Colorful bow-tie pasta with fresh tomatoes For whom & why:
My neighbor brought me a big package of colorful bow-tie pasta as a thank-you for emptying her mailbox. For me, because I love all kinds of pasta!
The colorful pasta was such a beautiful sight that I didn’t want to cover it up with a sauce. So I garnished it with sautéed cherry tomatoes.
What makes it special?:
The highlight is the toasted pine nuts and pumpkin seeds, which give the dish a wonderfully nutty flavor.
Photos: 


The already opened package of pasta


Quick to make, beautiful to look at, and so delicious!

Project: Spinach Garganelli with Tomato Sauce and Baked Eggplant Slices

What makes it so special: A meatless, light summer dish that appeals not only to the palate but also to the eyes. I dry the garganelli to use for 2 more meals, and I always have tomato sauce on hand anyway. The eggplant slices are quick to prepare, and you’ll have a great meal in no time.







 

Raspberry Mascarpone Cake 



The idea came to me while browsing through recipes.
The cake combines elements from three different recipes:
the crust from a cheesecake, the filling from a dessert, and the topping from a raspberry cake.
This also works with currants or mangoes, for example.

Birthday Cake 


This is my first themed cake for my mom. She’s a big fan of knitting, hence the design featuring yarn and knitting needles 

Chocolate-Berry Cake for My Daughter’s Wedding


It was such a wonderful baking experience when my daughter got married. Decorated with berries and daisies 

Butterfly Quark Cake

My daughter had asked for a butterfly cake for her birthday, so I whipped up a butterfly-shaped quark cake for her with delicious fruit:

Dish / project name: Birthday cake - Hannes, Don’t Get Angry 

For whom & why (briefly): for my son’s birthday - he was sooo happy!!

What makes it special? (2–3 sentences, no recipes): his favorite cake - spiced cake slices - as the base, apricot-glazed with chocolate icing and decorated to match the theme

Photos: 

Dish/project name: Mediterranean lentil stew with fresh spinach

A recipe from a friend that she brought back from vacation.
I’m not usually a fan of lentils, but they taste really delicious this way.

Dish: Quiche Lorraine with lamb’s lettuce

Breakfast and dinner are the main meals in our family. That’s why we’ve always had a hot meal in the evening for the past 47 years.

But sometimes we don’t have much of an appetite. Then one or two quiches Lorraine are enough.

Cabbage Rolls – Family Meal
Ever since we were kids, we’ve all loved cabbage rolls. Everyone ate as if there’d never be another meal. Of course, everyone wanted the very last cabbage roll on their plate, BUT: our dad got that one to take in his lunchbox for work.
Once I had a family of my own, my kids also really loved stuffed cabbage rolls.
Since they’re so much work, I always made large batches (30–50 rolls, depending on the size of the cabbage) and froze them.
I kept doing that even after the kids had moved out.
A dear friend of mine was absolutely crazy about the stuffed cabbage rolls. We bought 8 kg of cabbage and 4 kg of ground meat. I was busy all day and was relieved by evening when I’d packed everything up and stowed it in the freezer.
A few weeks later, I went to take out the first package and nearly collapsed: the freezer was broken, and all my cabbage rolls had gone bad. I could have cried.
Still, they’re one of my favorite meals, and I’m already on the lookout for suitable cabbages...


I got this great pot as a gift from an aunt. Depending on their size, it holds 25 to 30 of them.

Dessert creation in a glass
For our family celebration
Chocolate mousse - fruit layer - yogurt cream

Dish:
My husband probably makes the world’s best tomato sauce!

For whom & why:
Well, how could I come to any other conclusion? After all, he always makes it for the whole family. Back in the day, it was for our family of five. And now, whenever the grandchildren are asked about their favorite meal, they always say “Grandpa Uli’s pasta with tomato sauce.” There couldn’t be higher praise.

What makes it special?
The secret is probably the onions, which are first sautéed in butter until soft. And then you have to use the right tomato ketchup. And that comes from me—specifically, from my homegrown tomatoes. I make the ketchup myself from my garden tomatoes. There are no chemicals in it, just pure flavor. I actually have a really great, medium-sized tomato variety that I grow every year and that still actually tastes like a tomato. If you’re interested, feel free to ask me for some seeds. I don’t know what the variety is called, though. I call it “kitchen tomato” because it works for everything: ketchup, freshly stewed, or tomato salad.

This combination of his culinary skills and my canning skills is probably what ultimately creates the wonderful flavor of our favorite tomato sauce.

Photos: 
    
 

Apple roses
baked as “booth fee” for a DRK autumn market
I wanted to bake something different from the usual cakes.



I could have made more money with that recipe than with my booth. After all, food comes before crafts.

Hello everyone,

Thank you very much for taking part in the Cooking Challenge – we were delighted with your creative entries! 🥘✨ The winners have now been chosen – congratulations to everyone who was drawn! 🎉

👉 Here’s the winners list

Stay tuned for the next events – the next community challenge will be starting very soon. It’s worth checking in! 🌱🐾

Best wishes
Your Crazypatterns Team