Coffee | Brittany Leaning

I recently purchased a coffee maker for only €10. Even though I won’t be bringing this back with me on the plane, it was well worth the cost for satisfaction’s sake. This is one material item that I could definitely live without, I just prefer not to.

Every morning, before I got a coffee maker, I would wake up craving a nice hot cup o’ Joe. There weren’t really any coffee places next to my building and I dreaded starting classes without my caffeinated wake up call. That is one American thing I do miss; coffee at your fingertips at all times thanks to drive thru windows, the Champlain College dining hall, or the pot my parents made hours before I’ve even woken up.

Now, I can have coffee at any time of the day! I even got a milk-frother from IKEA to make the coffee like a latte. I used one of these every day in the summer of 2009 when I lived at my cousin’s house in Portland, OR. After that I became completely addicted to the luxury that a simple cup of coffee can bring to your life.

Indonesian Pancake

I realize it doesn’t look so pretty from the picture, I just couldn’t help myself. Once I took the first bite, I just couldn’t stop eating it! This is an Indonesian pancake. I ordered it from a place called the Pancake Corner, which has really great reviews on their pancakes. This was more like a crepe than an American buttermilk pancake and was filled with chicken fillet, onions, mushrooms, and peanut sauce. It was served with a side of Indonesian style salad.

Typical Cup of Coffee

My aunt Jennifer was right when she said that there were a lot of great Indonesian dishes served in the Netherlands. I had no idea! Pancakes and peanut sauce are two of my favorite things; I would never have thought that combining them would create something absolutely exquisite. This plus a cup of Amsterdam’s famous coffee was just the cherry on top of a great meal. The cups are small, but the coffee is strong; just the way I like it. Although, I do occasionally miss my overly sweet, watered down iced coffees from a good ol’ American Dunkin Donuts…