Pretzel Bites

In my journey to become better friends with yeast based foods, something came to mind that I've been thinking about a lot lately. Maybe because it's summer, maybe because I recently put Germany on my "to travel" list, or maybe it's because I'm a food addicted crazy person... but it's pretzels!

Rather than going all in with a perfectly shaped big pretzel, I figured I'd go with the gateway pretzel and start off with bites. That way when I'm comfortable with the bites, I'll move onto bigger and better things, rods, the typical pretzel, and the big daddy- the bagel, one of the worst food drugs of life.

Back to the bites. These little nuggets of love are sometimes trial and error. I watched/read many recipes trying to figure what looked the best, sounded the best, had the best reviews, and came up with something to move forward with. Also... cheese sauce. Got to have the cheese sauce, dipping is essential in pretzel nugget land.

You know the craving is real when it's summer, in humidity ridden Maine, and you feel the need to boil water AND turn the oven on. Plus side? My dough rose in half the time.!The only good thing about baking in the summer. Let's get into it, shall we?

-1 1/2 cup warm water
-2 tbs brown sugar
-1 packet active dry yeast
-3 oz butter, melted
-2 1/2 tsp salt
-4 1/2-5 cups all purpose flour (this may differ depending on your environment, you'll see when you start mixing)
-3 qt water
-3/4 cup baking soda
-1 egg
-1/4 cup kosher salt or pretzel salt, for sprinkling. You may need more or less depending on how salty you like it)

1. Warm the 1 1/2 cups water to about 100-110F.
2. When the water has come to temperature, place in a mixing bowl with a dough hook attachment along with the yeast packet, brown sugar and melted butter. Give it a little stir with a fork and let sit for around ten minutes for the yeast to activate. If your yeast isn't alive, no pretzel for you!
3. Once you can see and smell the yeast activating do your best Victor Frankenstein "It's aliveeee" and set the mixer to low speed.
4. Add the salt and the flour one cup at a time, stopping at 4. Gradually add the flour after this in half cup increments. When you see it start to stick to the hook and not to the bowl, you are in business. (My dough took 5 1/2 cups- it was pretty humid out. yuck.)
5. When the dough has pulled away from the sides, knead on low for a couple minutes.
6. When the dough is good and ready place it into a clean bowl to rise. My dough was still pretty sticky so I lightly brushed a bowl with vegetable oil, but feel free to skip this step.
7. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for about an hour or until it's doubled in size.
8. Once the dough is nice and big, plop it on your work surface- you don't want too much extra flour hanging around, so only dust a small amount if your dough is still sticking.
9. Preheat the oven for 425F.
10. On a high heat, bring the three quarts of water to a boil.
11. When the dough has risen, cut the ball into eight pieces so it's easier to work with.
12. Take each piece and roll it into snakes about a half inch in diameter.
13. Cut one inch pieces off of the snake, set them aside until they are all cut.
14. Now that the water has come to a boil, very carefully put the baking soda into the water, a couple spoon fulls at a time. Once the baking soda hits the water it will bubble and get to be quite the mess, so be gentle. 
15. Prepare baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
16. Once the water and baking soda have combined, gently place the dough balls into the water. Do this in batches so you don't overcrowd the pan and have it boil over... don't ask how I know that.
17. Cook the dough for 1-2 minutes. When they are done, carefully take them out and place on the parchment paper. Repeat until you have done all the dough.
18. Whisk your egg and brush over each dough ball.
19. At this point you can throw as much or as little salt on them as you want.
20. Place the pan(s) into the oven to cook for 15-18 minutes depending on the thickness. You are mostly looking for a nice golden brown color.

And that's it! Now I must tell you, these are simply amazing served hot and fresh from the oven but they are even better with cheese sauce! So watch out, another recipe coming your way!

-2 cups whole milk (use what you want, just not skim. If you're going to have cheese sauce, might as well have it taste good)
-1 tbs butter
-1 tbs flour
-1/2 tsp dry mustard
-Pinch of cayenne powder
-Salt/Pepper
-1 cup cheese of your choice- I used cheddar and provolone

1. In a sauce pan on medium heat melt the butter.
2. Once the butter has melted, toss in the flour and whisk around for a couple minutes to cook off the raw flour taste.
3. Now put in the mustard, cayenne, salt, and pepper. Whisk for another few seconds.
4. Pour in the milk, remember to keep whisking, you don't want lumps! Whisk until it thickens.
5. Take the pan off the heat and add the cheese, whisk until it's all melted. Remember to taste for seasonings- need to add anything else?
**Note that this will form a skin, so keep on very low heat and give it a stir every now and then until you're ready to eat.**

It's aliveeeeee

Cheeseeee

More cheeseeee

Obviously more cheese

DONE!

I arranged these delicious nuggets of mouth gold on a big platter with the cheese in the middle so everyone had easy access. Pleasing to the eye as well as to myself and the roommates... there were four left when we were done, they didn't stand a chance. All in all, I'd say that they were pretty darn delicious and even though I felt like I had pretzels coming out my ears, if there were more, I would have felt the need to eat them and be even more stuffed. The addiction is all too real, now I can see how these bites are the gateway pretzel because now I want to make more all the time. Will I need bigger pants? Yes. 

Like a lot of recipes this can be adapted for regular large pretzels, pretzel buns, and even a dessert option! Don't put salt on them before cooking, take them out of the oven, brush with melted butter, and toss them in cinnamon sugar... you're welcome.

Anywayyy, enjoy!

Meaghan

Scones

Not too long ago I took my mother and grandmother to tea. Going to tea is always fun and exciting, but there are two things I look forward to the most- the lavender lemonade and the SCONES. On this particular day, honey lavender was the flavor of the day. Jackpot. Served warm with sides of tart homemade lemon curd and delicious Devon cream... can't get any better!

Even though it's summer and it's as humid as ever... and we are only in June *eye roll*, I got hit with a hankering for scones. I was on a mission. First, what kind of flavors am I wanting? Second, will anyone judge me if I go into the store looking like a sweaty Betty? Well, I'm thinking lemon and raspberry and of course they will, anyone with eyes will judge! In an attempt to look like a human, I showered and was on my way. Quick trip to the store and I'm in the kitchen ready to rock! Let's get into it, shall we?

-500 grams plain flour
-3 tbs granulated sugar
-2 tsp baking powder
-Pinch of salt
-1 lemon
-1 egg
-110 grams cold butter (keep in fridge until the last minute)
-300 ml whole milk
-1 cup raspberries

1. Preheat your oven to 400F.
2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
3. Add the zest of one lemon.
4. Cube the cold butter and toss into the dry mixture. Time to play with your food and quickly, but efficiently, break the butter up until the mixture has a lumpy sand-like consistency.
5. Make a well in the center of the of the dry mixture and pour the milk in.
6. Slowly mix in the milk until the dough just comes together.
7. Rip the raspberries in half and toss into the dough.
8. Gently toss the dough to combine a bit more, be careful, don't crush them too much.
9. Flour your counter top and dump the dough carefully onto the surface.
10. You don't want to work it too much or make it too warm so just kind of shape it into a square with your hands and and give it a couple passes with a floured rolling pin.
11. With a sharp knife, cut nine squares and place them on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
12. Beat your egg and brush onto the scones. If you want to give it a little something extra, you can sprinkle a little sugar on the top as well.
13. When the oven comes to temperature pop those babies in for 15-20 minutes until they are golden brown.
14. BONUS TIME: I thought maybe they needed a little something extra sooooo lemon glaze it is! Just take four heaping tablespoons of powdered sugar and the juice of that lemon you zested earlier and stir! Drizzle the glaze over the top when the scones are cooling and devour.

Warm out of the oven with lots of butter hit the spot for sure. They had a good crunch on the outside yet the inside was dense but fluffy, not too sweet, full of flavor, it was nirvana. 

This is opening my eyes to many more flavor pairings- fruits, chocolates, savory goodies, you name it! I'm quite confident that I'm giving those scones I had at tea a run for their money.

Definitely try these, they are really easy, simple, but impressive!

Meaghan

Panda Panda Panda

I'm sorry if you get the song stuck in your head from reading the title, but I couldn't help myself!

No, this post isn't about how to decipher what Desiigner is trying to say, it's to talk about one of my favorite items off the Panda Express menu- chow mien! So the other day I was hit hard with a craving, as per usual, for Panda Express chow mien but didn't feel like going to the mall and having the judging eyes of the food court seeing this girl buy mounds of chow mien for later enjoyment... not that I do that or anything. So I did what I do best and found a bunch of recipes to piece together to end up with what I thought was best. Ladies and gentlemen... I think I've found the closest I could get to the authentic Panda Express taste! Andddd this is what makes me excited, doesn't take much.

Noodles
-1 lb. lo mien noodles (you can use spaghetti if you can't find lo mien- this makes me sound like Ina Garten, I know.)
-1/2 head of cabbage cut into one inch wide strips
-1 stock celery thinly sliced
-2 cloves of garlic finely minced
-1/2 inch ginger root finely minced
-1 medium sweet onion thinly sliced

Sauce
-1/2 cup soy sauce
-1/4 tsp sesame oil
-1 tbs hoisin sauce
-2 tbs oyster sauce
-2 tbs rice wine vinegar
-1/4 cup sugar

1. Mix all of the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
2. Cook your choice of noodles until they are almost done, we will finish the cooking later on, drain, and put aside.
3. In a large sauté pan or a wok on medium high heat, heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil.
4. First toss in the garlic and ginger, stir for a few seconds, but don't let it burn!
5. Next toss in the sliced onion and sauté to soften.
6. After a few minutes, toss in the celery and cabbage to sauté. You can leave these as long as you'd like or as little as you like depending on how crunchy you want everything.
7. When the veggies are at your desired doneness, toss the noodles into the pan with the vegetables and cook everything for a further 2-3 minutes to finish the cooking of the noodles and to marry the flavors.
8. Add half of the sauce to start with, toss, and add more if desired. (This is where I went wrong. I went whole hog and threw it all in and it was swimming in sauce. No big deal, it was still really good, but I would have preferred a little less. I obviously ate it anyway...)
9. Give it a final toss, remove from the heat, plate, and get right in there and eat!

Now you can go ahead and add whatever you want to this for extras or take everything out and just have some noodles- the world is your pickle!

So how does it taste? How does it compare to the real thing? Did I eat the entire pound of noodles right then and there? Well. Sorry to disappoint, but I didn't eat the entire pot. Howeverrrrrr, if I could have... I would have. I wouldn't say this is an exact duplicate, but it was pretty darn close. I didn't hate it, let's just say that. Good thing I didn't eat it all at once because it's been a couple days and I'm still eating it and it tastes even better as it sits, even when cold! I'm definitely the type to have cold Chinese for breakfast so it doesn't bother me one bit. The veggies stay surprisingly crunchy and the sauce just marinates everything even more, it's amazing!

Give it a try, I promise you won't be disappointed!

Meaghan

English Muffins

Yes, I know, I could go to the store and for under a dollar I could buy a pack of six perfectly fine English muffins, but what's the fun in that?! I've been wanting to try to make English muffins for a while but have always had a fear of working with yeast for some reason. I just don't want to kill it! But I felt like today was the day. I've been up forever because of a certain kitten keeping me up all night, have already been grocery shopping, AND planted some flowers and herbs, all before 9am! Might as well keep the productivity going.

I have been doing research for days, as per usual, and decided on a simple recipe to start out with. I'm a big fan of English muffins, so I'm hoping it's not a fail. Fingers crossed.

First mix:
-1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
-1/4 cup all purpose flour
-1/2 cup warm water (around 100-110 degrees Fahrenheit)

Second mix:
-2 tsp vegetable oil
-1 tsp salt
-1 egg white
-1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
-1/4 cup warm water (around 100-110 degrees Fahrenheit)

1. Combine all the ingredients in the first mix and let sit for 10-15 minutes to make sure the yeast is active. You'll most likely not need to do this step in this day and age, but I'm old school. You'll notice it starts to foam, bubble, and smell a little like beer. It will be one of the best smells you'll ever smell- trust. 
2. Once you know the yeast is active, dump the rest of the ingredients in there and mix to combine, no need to kneed the dough at this point, just combine. 
3. Once combined, let the dough rise in a draft free warm place for 2 hours. I put mine in my oven with the oven light on- make sure you do NOT turn your oven on.
4. When your dough has risen, remove from the bowl onto a very lightly floured surface. Knead for about a minute just to round the dough up into a ball.
5. At this point, cut the ball in half, then each half into thirds to make 6 pieces total. 
6. Take each piece and roll on the counter gripping lightly with your thumb and pinky finger into a seamless ball- try not to add too much flour, you want the dough to be on the sticker side. Repeat on each piece until done.
7. Prep a tray with a light layer of cornmeal.
8. Gently place each ball onto the cornmeal, coat both sides. 
9. Put the tray into the oven- still not turned on, with the oven light on to rise for another half hour.
10. When the balls have risen, place a large sauté pan on medium heat with a couple tablespoons of butter. 
11. Once the butter has melted, carefully place each dough ball into the pan for about 6-7 minutes on each side. 
12. Place on a paper towel to soak up the extra butter when done.
13. Wait until the muffins are completely cooled to devour and you're done!

**Side note... don't be an savage and use a knife, fork split these babies!

Mixture one

It's ALIVEEEEE

Time to rise

What a cute distraction

The rise

The seamless ball

Fork splitting is the only splitting

This is my jam right here

I love this recipe- it's super easy, it does take some time, but you won't mind. Plus, you can tell people you made them yourself! You can use English muffins for everything! Fan of English muffin pizzas? Breakfast sandwiches? Simple toasted with jam? Eggs Benedict?! Seriously, endless possibilities. 

Makes me think of a Sunday night when you know you've had too much of a Sunday roast and you're not completely hungry for dinner- English muffin, toasted and slathered with butter and a glass of cold milk it is!

Enjoy!

Meaghan

Amsterdam!

For the longest time I have been wanting to go to Amsterdam, not because it's wild and crazy (anyone who knows me knows that's not why), but mostly because of waffles and the Anne Frank House. I'm lame, I know. So some months back during one of my daily deal searches I found quite the deal. Just a few days, that's all I needed... and I was going to get it gosh darnit! So just like that, I booked the trip and let the count down begin.

So this morning, I think? Possibly yesterday morning, my days are all messed up since I'm writing most of this as it happens. We made the trek to Boston to catch our flight to zee Amsterdam yaa. This was also my first trip flying with WOW air, should be interesting right? Wasn't too bad, although I was definitely spoiled with Iceland Air last year, thankfully, Netflix downloads saved my life. I'm almost through The Crown and what's with Prince Phillip, amirite? Straight off the overnight flight that I didn't sleep a wink on, I headed straight to the bathroom. Delirious from being up quite early, the flight, and not sleeping I walked straight in.... to the men's room. Mortified by the nice man at the urinal kindly telling me "no ma'am, this is the men's room", I woke up real quick and ran out and across the hall to the woman's room. I was the laughing stock until Amsterdam. Anywayyyy, we had a layover in Iceland and this automatically got me craving those hot dogs. And wouldn't you know it... they had hotdogs in the airport!!! So you know I got one of those babies. My body was so confused it wasn't sure if it was dinner time, breakfast time, hotdog time? Should I be sleeping? The answer to all of these is yes in case you were wondering. Side note, if you're going to iceland... please get at least one of these hot dogs for the love of all that is holy. Almost worth the 5 1/2 flight to grab some hot dogs... almost.

Once I got my hot dog fix I was ready to roll for the last few hours of the journey to the land of wooden shoes, red lights, windmills, and bikes! 

Finally landing in Amsterdam and looking for our Uber for 15 minutes, we were off to the city! Fun fact- the Uber driver told us it maybe snows 3 days a year in Amsterdam... coming from a place that had maybe 3 feet of snow when I left, doesn't sound horrible. 

I must give myself props, the hotel I chose is the most adorable hotel ever, very hipster/mid century/dream house. It's the Hoxton Amsterdam and you should definitely stay here. It's right on the canal in the Nine Streets and it's just perfect location, not in the center of town, but town was literally one, maybe two blocks over, and the staff was awesome and the bed. Ohhhhh my goodness, the bed. Perfection.

These first couple days were all a blur so I'll just post a few pictures : )

Money Shot.

Waffles and hazelnut gelato.

Dam Square

Photo booth in the hotel

After being up for a very very long time I settled into bed after an amazingly hot shower with impeccable water pressure to rinse the travel off. This bed is seriously so amazing. 

*Note to self- find out what kind of beds Hoxton uses and buy one immediately. 

The next day was an early rise for us, I had booked a tour to go out and explore the windmill village of Zaanse Schans and little trip to see cheese making, wooden shoe making, waffle making at the Marken in Volendam. All the makings really. While poking around, we found the MOST delicious poffertjes, these little pancakes about the size of a half dollar. SO AMAZING. The traditional way of eating them is smothered in butter and powdered sugar (I feel like this should be the traditional way to eat everything in life) so instead of being a fat kid and having more than one serving, I got half traditional and I told her to slather the other half with nutella, one of my favorite food groups. I can't even describe how good these were. I may have to have more before I leave... maybe a couple times. This mini version of a pancake has that signature crispy edges made with golden butter and a pillowy center that will make your head spin. They were gone in about a minute, but worth the choking hazard for sure.

First stop- windmills! After being shown how these specific windmills work to saw large logs of wood, we made our way back to the starting point along the line of windmills stopping at a few little stores with antiques and sweets- the best kind of stores obviously. These shops were full of nesting dolls, china, little toys, traditional candies, and waffles, and everything I could ever want! And there they were... big wooden shoes! One big shoe you could stand in and then a smaller set for your feet to go into, still big though. I obviously had to take a million pictures and then I saw it, a wooden shoe store. Wooden shoes everywhere, it was so much for my eyes to take in! And I couldn't help but see one special clog in a glass case shining like nothing else- the clog, covered in swarovski crystals, was I'm sure enough to make Cinderella jealous. Her dainty little feet would fall out of these things anyway. They probably belonged to her little Dutch friend Gerda, who just so happens to have had a little run in with the snow queen in the quest to find Kai. But that's another story all together, Cindy wouldn't want you to hear it, she thinks her story is way better, obviously.  

The next stop was a wooden shoe factory, I can't get enough of these wooden shoes! We were shown how just a simple little block of wood can be turned into a shoe. The process only took a couple of minutes actually, it's crazy how fast it is with just a couple of machines, especially because they were over 80 years old. My dad would have been in heaven as he is into woodworking, he would have wanted to play with the machines all day and take them home- not sure how customs would handle that, or my mother for that matter. While at the factory I had the chance to try on some shoes and it was like a wave of nostalgia instantly came over me. I love Heidi, and the Shirley Temple version has always been my favorite. My favorite part in the movie is the dream sequence she has with all the kids dancing in their wooden shoes. So what did I do? Danced in my little wooden shoes of course. I'd love to have a pair, but I don't think I would have much use for them or a place to show them off, so I got some slippers that look like wooden shoes! I think my roommate will appreciate that at 6am on a Saturday. 

Next was cheese and waffles, just a few of my favorite things. We stopped by a cheese factory to see a demonstration of how the specific types of Gouda were made, taste the product, and see some of the original equipment that was used in cheese making. The smell of that cheese will be stuck in my nose for quite some time I imagine, I'm not complaining. After that, we were onto waffles! We all loaded into a small basement of a shop to see a demonstration of how the traditional stroopwafle was made and also taste... it wasn't horrible either. These are very thin round waffles that are somehow cut in half, basted with caramel, and sandwiched back together. We were shows the original equipment used and even caught a glimpse of the original recipe used. I smell some recipe testing in my future.

Getting back into Amsterdam we made our way back to the hotel for a bit of a recharge before getting some dinner. Stopping to a few stores and possibly getting a doughnut... possibly. Yes I got a doughnut, happy now? Pre dinner doughnuts are never a bad idea, especially when on vacation!

Ending the day with a nice big burger, what an American I am. Less than a minute walk on over to The Butcher and grabbed a benedict burger, that is a play on eggs benny, and a chocolate milkshake. All I could picture was that scene in The Little Rascals of the kid screaming "hey baby, you got a burger to go with that shake?" Well I did have a burger with that shake and it was delicious indeed! 

  

My favorite kind of bath.

The day and night got to us I think because next thing I know it was 10am and I didn't know what day it was or where I was... I might have been tired? Since breakfast was kind of out of the question, we headed towards the city center to a pizza/pasta place we spotted the day before. Since I missed breakfast I thought, what's the next best thing at a pasta bar? Carbonara! Carbonara is one of my favorites so when I saw it on the menu I knew I had to have it. After being stuffed with delicious food it was time for a little shopping and some more little fun things around town. We went to the Body Worlds exhibit which really opens your eyes on the human body. Real bodies and organs are used in the displays that teach you all about what you are made of! Then some hanging around the room until the plans for the night- pub crawl. But of course before getting back to the room, I had to get ice cream. This time the poison was Ferrero Rocher with tons of warm Nutella on top- Nutella is everywhere here, I love it!

After a little rest session in the room we were off to the first stop of the pub crawl, had some dinner, and started the night! The plan was to hit 6 places in the 5 or 6 hours we were out. To kick things off, I think they planned on killing me because it was unlimited shots for the first half hour- this nice British man kept coming around and pouring shots so I obviously couldn't be a rude American. Bottoms up. While on the crawl we had the opportunity to meet a lot of different people, in particular, we were attached to an Australian couple who's names I surely remember now after forgetting the first time and never living it down- hi Mitch and Shannon! The adorable British shot pourer man also stayed close throughout the evening- hi Nick! I'm sure they won't ever see this, but I still want it to be known that I remembered their names for the record! The entire night, we had people pretty confused about where we were from. Since I'm not from New York or Los Angeles, I must be from Canada right? Trying to explain Maine to people in other countries never goes well. So I was a Canadian for the night according to our new friends and thanks to watching Anne of Green Gables countless times, my Canadian accent wasn't that bad : )

While on this pub crawl we were guided through the red light district, which I have to admit, didn't think was as legit as I've always heard it described. You always hear about it and all these certain things about it, but I always thought it was a little exaggerated. I was wrong. It's completely just right there for you to see. The streets were lined with dozens of red tinted windows with nearly naked girls trying to get you into their tiny rooms consisting of a sink and a makeshift bed. Just waiting for someone to come and knock on their doors and close the curtains. I saw a man coming out of one trying desperately not to make eye contact with this large group of obnoxious drunk people, I'm sure he was having a lovely time trying to get away from the crowd. 

Strange how it was only around 2am, the streets and the square were surprisingly empty for a city like Amsterdam! The night finally came to an end when we were done being Canadians and back to being Americans, we were informed that we were the third and fourth Americans to finish this particular pub crawl! Apparently we just go too hard in the beginning and burn out too fast... typical. But we were the smart ones and paced ourselves and we made it to the end! We got back to the room around 230 maybe, but didn't get to bed until almost 5am... the morning would come fast, my body still doesn't know what's going on with this time difference thing. Nothing was planned for the next morning so the alarm was set for 930 to get a good jump on the day exploring, at least a few hours of sleep were had.

Goals. Everyone's got them.

Fresh off 4 hours of sleep for our last full day in Amsterdam we were ravenous for pancakes. If throwing on my coat from the previous night that smelt of stale cigarettes and Jager wasn't sobering enough, the weather sure was. Cold and rainy was the forecast all day. So we set off in the rain, found some delicious pancakes and chocolate milk, the cure to everything. Got some more shopping done before making our way over to the city center again to catch a hop on/hop off boat around the city. A few stops in we got off to do some more shopping and decided it was time for some lunch. A pizza place just happened to catch the attention of two famished overtired girls. Pizza it was! This was so delicious and cheesy it had me convinced that this is the real reason why Amsterdam is called the city of sin. After eating an entire pizza myself, I rolled myself to the boat stop to catch it to the next stop... one of the main reasons for this trip, the Anne Frank House. I wasn't sure how we were going to do as I didn't book tickets ahead of time and all I have read was how long and crazy the lines were. We got off the boat and the line was bananas but this was really important to me so we stuck it out and the line actually moved at a steady pace and only ended up waiting about an hour. **NOTE: If you are planning on going to the Anne Frank House, tickets are sold online for time slots and go on sale two months prior to your visit date. These usually sell out quite quickly, so be warned.

Once we got into the house there were no pictures allowed so that was a bummer, but I made mental pictures. We worked our way up through the building seeing the offices and the warehouse. When we came to the bookcase I got chills, I will never get over the feeling of knowing that I'm standing somewhere where these people have stood throughout history. Although I got chills knowing this, I also got really sad. It's so unsettling knowing that this is where families were hiding out for all the time and how they had to live life. Behind the bookcase, through the very narrow hallways, and up the very steep stairways were the rooms inhabited by Anne, her family, the the Van Pels, and Mr. Pfeffer. No real furniture was left in the rooms but there were pieces of preserved wall paper, pictures, books, and other pieces we could get close to, but not touch. You read about it in books and watch movies about it, but you never really know how small the spaces are until you are there and each room had photographs of how they were originally set up while Anne was living there. We weren't allowed to go up into the very top where Peter and Anne would hang out when able, but we got to stand at the bottom of the stairs and see the reflection of the well placed mirrors. Working our way down back to the bottom of the house there were exhibits of pictures, short informational movies, interview clips, and actual diary pages available for viewing. Her writing was so nice, puts the handwriting of teenagers today to shame... no heart dotted i's in this journal. 

Again, it was sad, but so amazing. I'm so glad I had the opportunity to visit this piece of history. If you are ever in Amsterdam this is a must do!!

Making our way back to the hotel we decided to grab a quick bite to eat and get a couple last minute gifts before leaving the trip home in the morning. 

Now I'm laying in this cloud bed writing this and wishing I could take this bedroom back home with it, it's perfect and I just want everythingggg. Let this be another reminder to myself- research where these beds come from! 

View from the front of the Anne Frank House 

The day has come to leave this beautiful city. Early wake up, grabbed a quick breakfast, and headed out to the airport for the long travel home. By the way, finding an Uber from your hotel is much easier than finding it at a huge airport...

Anywayyyy, once finally on the plane I found my seat which may have been the smallest seat known to man that I had to practically butter myself up to fit into. That was fun, not. Thankfully the flight to Iceland is only a couple hours from Amsterdam. After prying myself from the seat with a huge imaginary shoe horn, we finally made our way through passport control and onto the gate. Almost home!

while at the gate, we weren't directly at the plane so we were bussed from the gate. While on this mini road trip across the airport I noticed a particularly irritating group of 20 somethings... you know the type. In my mind I was just thinking the whole time... please don't sit next to me, please don't sit next to me, please don't sit next to me. Got to my seat, another exit row, but this time with a normal sized seat so it was all good, no butter buns for this girl! While getting all comfy in my seat I heard it... the brood of hooligans from the bus... sitting right next to me, in back of me, and all  around me. This five and a half hour flight will be interesting. It started right away with them playing musical chairs and then it really got going. Until you hear the rising voices with that thick Boston accent in a contained airplane full of annoyed people, you don't know the meaning of uncomfortable. During the safety announcements they were getting louder and louder and the people were growing more and more annoyed of course. THANKFULLY a couple hours into the flight, most of them fell asleep so it was finally peaceful enough to throw on some Netflix and enjoy the last few hours of the flight.

We finally landed in Boston, where the temperature was surprisingly very warm, I felt like I was wearing one too many layers. A quick couple hours in a car and I was finally on the steps of my house! It had been such a long day but it felt soooo nice being home again! 

Tossing my bags into my room for another day, I raided the fridge and caught up with the roommate who I hadn't seen for what feels like forever- good to be home : )

*Post edit- it's now 330am the next morning and jet lag bites the big one. I'm so glad I got to go on this trip and so glad I get to cross another destination off my bucket list. Where to next?!

Meaghan