I was going to do a blog post on the
recent freeze & the outbreak of Dutch Skating Madness (it's a
bona fide disease over here) but thanks to its rarity there are a
plethora of articles on the occurrence (though I'm not sure if any
have made it into medical journals yet). To sum up the facts; it got
real cold... the canals got real frozen... mad Dutch people with no
sense of personal safety walked, skated, dined & even cycled on the
canals for about a week in a total frenzy of excitement not seen for
nigh-on 15 years. I did not contract said disease... opting instead
to take photos of the nutters.
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| Skaters on the Kloveniersburgwal canal © Kate Redman |
What has got me recently is a need for
little tastes of home. I have been living in Amsterdam now for 9
months now (feels like half that) & occasionally I'll get a
craving for British food. When I first moved here I was overjoyed
when I found out that my local Albert Heijn sold Marmite...
especially after my first jar was purchased from a British food store
about a one hour round trip away.
Recently I've been having a hankering
for cheese & pickle sandwiches. To be honest I rarely ever bought
Branston pickle when I was in the UK... or ever bought a cheese &
pickle sandwich for that matter, but the last few days I've been
really longing for one. So yesterday brought a trip to Waterstones
book store to see if they still sold food stuffs. Actually, I had
gone in there a week ago but hadn't seen any food. I thought it had
just been a Christmas thing but after a rant on Twitter I was told
that there was still food there, only it had been moved. Ironically
it had moved to where the magazines were. I had bought a magazine but
never thought to turn around. Doh! Thankfully the food section had
been put back to its rightful place at the top of the stairs &
low & behold they had Branston pickle. YAY! I also bought a jar
of Bisto gravy granules on impulse with a mind to make [veggie]
sausage & mash.
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| Much needed British fare |
I've also got my fingers crossed that
one of my British friends has bought some Jaffacakes back with her
after a weekend in the UK. I'm sorry but how has Holland, a nation of
stoners, not discovered the joys of Jaffacakes? It just seems wrong
somehow.
So my meals for today are sorted...
Marmite on buttered toast for breakfast; cheese & pickle sarnis
for lunch & sausage, mash & gravy for dinner. Good ol'
British stodge!
Now if only I could lay my hands on a
tin of Heinz baked beans..... mmmmmmm
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