Food Review & Friends

Popsicles

Knetter Lolly's

Upon trying to find a good popsicle at the Albert Heijn these treats looked good, Knetter Lolly's. From the box impression they look like these big strawberry sherbert Popsicles dipped in multi-colored sprinkles. The reality of the situation is that these are not nearly as good as they look. They are very small, have some sort of sherbert on the inside (maybe strawberry? maybe cherry? either way not good) and those sprinkles are actually pop rocks. Pop rocks are typically a good candy there is nothing more fun then having that sensation in your mouth, however, these pop rocks are soggy and do not taste good on a sherbert Popsicle. The combination of the sherbert and the pop rocks creates an over done, way too sweet, soggy catastrophe. D- (worst)

Since the Knetter Lolly's did not work out, the search for a good Popsicle continued. In the picture above we can see two types of treats: Vrieslollies Sucettes a Congeler and FestiniPopsicles. The Vrieslollies reminds me of the classic multi flavored ice pops you can buy in bulk and then freeze and enjoy. While these Vrieslollies did have a purple, orange, red, and a yellow selection, none of them tasted like the flavors you would assume they would. The problem is that I don't even know what they tasted like, some mixture of flavors which were very gross. They are sitting in the freezer not being touched. One day I found the Festini Strawberry pops. I figured you can not go wrong with a basic real fruit Popsicle, and my friends that is the truth. These are delicious and thoroughly enjoyable. From here on out I'm sticking with the basics!
Vrieslollies Sucettes a Congeler=D (not better, but not the worst)
Festini Strawberry Popsicles Strawberry =A+ (by far the best)

Matzah Crackers

I had to add these Matzah crackers to the blog. After purchasing a spreadable cheese one wants something to spread it on, naturally I think of crackers. In the cracker isle there happened to be these Matze Crackers. I thought these were actual Matzah crackers like the Matzah that I eat during Passover. Dave and I did not believe this was true. Why would the Dutch want to eat this bland cracker? Sure enough, it is definitely Matzah. Too funny, never would have thought this would be found here and stocked all the time! I can not really grade this cracker because I have Matzah every passover.

Friends

Albert Heijn has something new they give out every couple of months with purchase of 10 euro or more. Since I have been here puzzle pieces were given out to complete a "football game" puzzle. Now that is over and its time to collect all 15 characters from Sneeuwwitje en de 7 dwergen. These are my first characters up above, the friendly turtle and squirrel washing clothes on his stomach.

What are your neighbors like? Our apartment is surrounded by several other houses, apartments, restaurants, etc. The one neighbor who really has me curious is the bird that lives next door. I can never completely see him to know what he is. All I know is that he is always out there perched in the corner of his cage.

I discovered another neighbor today, there is this cage on top of one of the roofs. I have no idea what its for and what lives in there! Time will tell.

Wendi's First Food Review

Fries with mayonnaise and onion

I'm proud to present my first food review. I have been doing a lot of cooking, so I have not been eating anything out of the ordinary, until now! You walk around Holland and you see these "snack walls" or "snackbars." What are these? These are places where you can get fast food. I'm not one for fried food, but every now and then I like to indulge. I decided to try something I have been wanting to for a while, fries with mayonnaise and onion.

Fries are typically served with mayonnaise or a lower-fat version called fritessaus. Other sauce options include; satay sauce (peanut sauce), ketchup, speciaal (a mixture of chopped onions, fritessaus, and ketchup), Patatje Oorlog (Dutch for French Fries War, which is french fries with a variety of sauces differing from region to region or snackbar to snackbar). Dutch snackbars usually have around 8 condiment options. Fries are not only limited to being purchased at snackbars, they are also served as a side dish. I really enjoyed these fries and I especially enjoyed my combination. The original thought of mayonnaise on my fries was unappealing to me. I only want to see and eat mayonnaise on my sandwich. Now I have a new love for this treat. The onions give the combination that extra flavor you need to make it all come together. A+

Prince Cake & Choc Duo

I was in the mood for something with chocolate and these Cake & Choc Duo's were on sale. After reading Dave's previous blogs about Prince treats and knowing I see this brand advertised a lot on TV, I decided what the heck? After dinner I tried one of these little treats. It is basically a fun size marble cake with sprinkled nuts on top. I liked it because it was not overwhelming or too sweet. I think it did what I needed it to do for my sweet tooth, however it was nothing crazy, amazing, or that I would crave again. B

My Pretty Flowers

Lastly, I felt like showing off the pretty flowers Dave got for me from the market. They were beautiful.

Food, Life, Amsterdam, & Heineken

Hey everyone, okay update time. Currently, Dave is trying to sponsor me because he has temporary residency. Once I am sponsored I will have residency and then I can work. At the moment it would be illegal for me to work so I have to play whats known as the "waiting game." The good news is that the paperwork is mostly done and parts are already being processed. Let's hope that this works out.

Meanwhile, I am learning how to live a stress free life. I am so used to being a crazy busy person so the concept of "relaxing" is confusing to me. I am learning a lot about myself and what I enjoy doing. While Dave goes to work I do a variety of different things and create my own projects. I am learning this website software for my professional interior design portfolio website. Once I am ready to look for a job, this will be my portfolio I present. I have needed one of these for a while, so now I actually have the time to learn how to create one. It is very fun, but time consuming. In the future I can have this website link on my resume so an employer can look at my portfolio before an interview.

I have also taken over the blog for a little bit. Feel free to leave comments about anything. Dave finally got Rosetta Stone working on his work computer so we are learning Dutch starting this week. I am really interested to learn Dutch or at least the basics. If I am going to attempt to get a job here, I think it will look good to show that I am putting forth the effort to learn. I know it takes years to become fluent with Dutch...and I can believe it. There are so many noises we just do not make in our language. This will be something nice Dave and I can do together.

Finally, I have been working on my cooking skills. Those of you who know me well know that I am not the best cook! I have lucked out because Dave and my mom are good cooks and they have always cooked for me. This is going to change. So far I have made homemade spaghetti and meatballs, green bean and pea salad, broiled chicken seasoned with balsamic vinagrette and olive oil with a variety of fresh vegetables, and my favorite, bean salad. I got this recipe online and I have mastered it. This bean salad fesh, delicious, healthy, and we love it. I just made my second one today! I am sorry I do not have a "Dutch Food Review" in this blog, I PROMISE next entry! I will still grade this...Here is a picture of it:

Wendi's Healthy Bean Salad gets an A++

Dave and I took a nice trip to Amsterdam on Saturday. We chose to go to the Heineken brewery. Take a look:

Me in the center of everything

Above shows the process of how they bottle the beer and then a really cool room that had a ceiling design using empty Heineken bottles. The picture does not give the ceiling justice as to how cool it really looked. Thanks for blogging with me. Next time I will have the food review.