Catching Up

          The past week has been eventful and uneventful all at the same time. Last week was the 3 Oktober Feest here in Leiden, which is the biggest festival and holiday in Leiden, rivaling even Christmas and Sinterklass, to my understanding. Naturally,  A and I and our new friend from California, P, had to go explore and join in the celebrations on Wednesday night and Thursday day. Though we didn't stay out all night as the host dad suggested we would be, we did enjoy the festivities. There were stages set up everywhere with live bands and DJs playing, as well as food and beer stands on every corner. We indulged in a few Heinekens (traditionally Dutch), had this delicious puff pastry thing with chocolate and whipped cream, and walked around listening to the different acts.

          We stayed till about 2:00 AM and then decided to head home, though not before grabbing some typical late night food: gyros (Greek, not Dutch, but Gyros:the Netherlands like Taco Bell:The US). I didn't cook anything fancy or time consuming last week just because it was such a hectic week, with host mom in New York, J with his broken leg, and M at play dates and not home for dinner half the week; thus, I thought this sign outside the gyro place adequately summed up my week:

          On Thursday, A and I went back to the festival to check it out in the day time. We walked around some more and ate some churros (again, not typical Dutch, but delicious fried fair food all the same), one of which A dropped! I'm still not sure if I've forgiven her. We rode the ferris wheel to get a good view (and pictures) of Leiden and the fair and the big windmill close to central station (it's Holland, so of course there was a windmill nearby), though we both found that ferris wheels are scarier than we remembered. Once again, a day devoid of cooking, but full of other activities. 

          On Saturday, my friend S came from Utrecht and we walked around Leiden for a few hours while we were waiting on my phone screen to get fixed. Shattered iPhone screen=no fun. We stopped for some bagels for lunch, which, according to trip advisor, were supposed to be the best bagels in Leiden. They were alright.

           On the way home we snagged a couple of the best treat that The Netherlands has to offer: stroopwafels! They're made with round, flat waffle cone type shells, with this caramel sauce sandwiched in-between and they are amazing. Especially when they're fresh and warm. Mmmm... Stroopwafels. This is what they look like:

          When we got home, A came over and we ordered pizza, ate it and ice cream and had a Halloween movie marathon: Hocus Pocus, Tower of Terror, and Interview with the Vampire. 

          Sunday morning afternoon, we got up and made ourselves a feast. Bacon stuffed pancakes and chocolate Nutella muffins. We fried up the bacon, then used a recipe that A's mom sent her for the pancakes and just poured a little batter in the pan, added the bacon, then poured more batter over the top. They were amazing. Unfortunately, we did not have any maple syrup, just schenkstroop, which is Dutch syrup that's good, but is a little more bitter than maple syrup. I got the idea from a recipe I came across on pinterest. The ones on pinterest looked a bit more like dippers. Ours were more like regualr oval shaped pancakes, but they were still lekker! 

           The chocolate Nutella muffins I bake just because I wanted to bake something. I made up a recipe using 1 cup of Nutella, 1/2 cup of flour, 2 eggs, 2 tablespoons of hotchocolate mix, and a teaspoon of baking powder. I mixed it all up, poured it into cupcake liners in a muffin tin and baked them at 175°C/350°F for about 30 minutes. While they were baking, I mixed up a glaze to go on top with sugar, hot chocolate mix, and melted butter. When they came out of the oven, I spooned the glaze on top while they were still hot so it would melt and drip down the sides a bit. 

          Sadly, our girls weekend had to come to an end, but I'm looking forward to another one soon! 

          Monday, I made Stromboli for dinner! 

          I was a bit sad that J didn't want to help me make the dough like he normally does, but his broken leg's got him feeling like he can't do much, poor baby. I used this recipe for the dough, though I might suggest finding another. This one turned out a bit sticky and didn't rise as well as it should've, though it still turned out ok. 

          After rolling out the dough on a pan with olive oil, I spread the sauce(s) on the dough and topped it with various toppings. I did my stromboli half and half. One half was traditional tomato sauce with cheese and pepperoni (or salami, rather) and the other half had a pesto base with cheese, pepperonis, roasted garlic cloves, onions, and red peppers. 

          After all the toppings were on, I carefully rolled the stromboli up and then placed it in the oven to bake at 175°C/350°F for about 40 minutes. I then sprinkled the top with parmesan cheese and let it bake for another 10 minutes. 

          Viola! Lekker stromboli! A delicious twist on the classic pizza! 

          Now, for the last part of this very long post: tonight's dinner. This evening, I fried up some salmon fillets on the stove, seasoned with lemon, salt, pepper, and onion and garlic powder and cooked in olive oil. To go with it, I sauteed some asparagus, also in olive oil with salt, pepper, and onion and garlic powder, and cooked some brown rice, flavored with butter, salt, pepper, garlic, and basil. Simple, but delicious, filling, and even healthy! 

          That's finally it for this very long blog post. I'm now going to read my book while finishing some hot chocolate in the mug my lovely host mom bought me on her trip in New York and go to sleep! Until next time!