Starfisher Video Collection

As for the food, we ordered the Fruit Salad and the Spinach/Mushrooms/Cheese pancake to go with some hot chocolate. The hot chocolate comes in a DIY set so to say, as they serve you a mug with hot vanilla-infused milk together with a tray of chocolate pieces (either plain milk/white/pure), some mini marshmallows and a dollop of whipped cream, which we could appreciate. Sipping on our hot choc, we were wondering how the pancakes would be. The pancake-prices range from 7 to 14,25 EUR, which yes, is sorta expensive for a singular piece of food, so we were really curious to see whether this would be justified...

It was. These were no ordinary pancakes. These were huge, golden brown, crispy, buttery, generously filled and just very tasty. (The savoury one even came with a small salad, served in an ice cream cup!) Despite their size, we managed to finish our plate, we paid and left the place feeling warm and content.

Directions:

Faux Leather Backpack (eBay)

Purchased this little guy in April and have been using it ever since. Despite its small appearance, I manage to fit in all my everyday essentials. I love the classic look of it and many others do too, as I've received quite a few compliments on this bag. One time, as I was walking through the city center, a woman even started walking so close behind me that I started getting a little paranoid. So unsure of her intentions I kept looking behind me, which startled her a little and eventually she explained that she was trying to read the brand tag of my bag because she liked it so much!

Bunny Ear Headband (NewLook)

This cute headband never fails to brighten an outfit, especially when it's your boring work uniform. It also helps with keeping greasy hair away from you face .

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

I've read Fangirl by the same author some time ago, fell in love with the writing and wanted to check out her other books, hoping they'd be just as good. Oh boy, did Eleanor & Park deliver. The story follows two high school misfits from the 80s; Eleanor, a girl with fiery red hair, bigger than average build and Park, a half-Korean boy who has to deal with two clashing cultures. You relive what it feels like to fall and be in love for the first time as the two slowly, but steadily grow towards eachother, developing this tender but overwhelmingly strong relationship. Although it's a teenage love story, the book also gracefully deals with more heavy topics such as domestic abuse, poverty and emotional instability.

Compact Umbrella (H&M)

What made me buy this umbrella was its size. Normal fold in umbrellas would usually be slightly too tall to fit in the small backpack mentioned above, so when I saw this one during a random shopping trip I immediately added one to my shopping cart. The print is lovely and the umbrella is still big enough to keep you dry. However it does have a few issues with strong wind, but then again what ordinary umbrella doesn't?

Stationery (HEMA)

Although I still think this country has a lack of nice stationery shops, the HEMA sure stepped up their stationery game the couple of years and I have gained a few very functional additions to my collection. Their sticky bookmarks are great for revising and sectioning of notebooks, I use them all the time. As for their highlighters, apart from being ridiculously affordable (12p for 2,-!) I love how many colours there are and the thinner line they generate compared to your classic chubby highlighter. The canvas pencil case is large enough to fit in everything I want, withouth becoming bulky. And the neutral colour is perfect for any sort of customisation.

Sunnies (eBay)

These sunglasses were an impulse buy, but ended up serving me so so well. The clubmaster style flatters my face and these glasses actually fit on my barely existing nose bridge (#asianpplproblems). Also, they costed me 2,- (incl. shipping).

Daim Chocolate Bar (IKEA)

The IKEA is probably one of my favourite places in the world. The fact that they have Daim is just an added bonus. I'm not a huge chocolate lover, but there's just something about this bar man. The chocolate is smooth and rich and the almond in the crunchy caramel sets this chocolate bar apart from the other ones on the market. Definitely try one, if you never have!

Koala Slippers (Primark)

Starter: Minestrone soup

Soup is a great starter for these dark & cold days, since it's filling, delicious and warms you up. It's sure to put you in a better mood! (Recipe underneath is based off of x)

Ingredients (2 portions):

½ an onion

1 clove of garlic OR a pinch of garlic powder

1 bell pepper

½ a courgette

250g kidney beans

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 handful (small) pasta

olive oil

vegetable stock

Italian herbs

pepper

Steps:

Chop the onion, bell pepper and courgette in small pieces. Pour some olive oil in a deep pan and start frying the onion and crushed garlic. After a minute or two, add in the chopped courgette and the bell pepper. Stir fry the veggies for a couple of minutes before adding in the kidney beans, tomato paste and pasta. Season with Italian herbs and add the vegetable stock. Let it come to a boil and then simmer for about 30 minutes, while occasionally stirring. Finish off with some freshly ground pepper (and garlic powder). Enjoy your ultra fragrant comfort soup!

main: shakshuka w/ cheese quesadillas

Shakshuka is an Arabic dish of poached eggs on top of a sauce of tomato & onion, spiced with chili. We believe this is usually served with flatbread, but we thought cheese quesadillas would pair well too. We also added the left over bell pepper and courgette from the soup to the shakshuka.

Ingredients (makes 2+ portions):

Shakshuka (based off of x)

½ an onion

1 bell pepper

½ a courgette

2 tbsp tomato puree

400g diced tomato

4 eggs

olive oil

chili powder

paprika powder

salt

pepper

sugar (optional)

grated cheese (optional)

feta (optional)

Cheese Quesadillas

8 tortillas

grated cheese

feta, crumbled

pepper

Steps:

Heat some olive oil in a frying pan and start by frying the chopped onion. Add the courgette and bell pepper. Stiry fry for a bit. Add the tomato puree and diced tomato. Cook until the sauce starts to reduce, then season with a bit of salt, pepper, paprika & chili. All according to your own taste. If the sauce tastes slightly too tangy, add some sugar. Make holes in the sauce where you want to crack your eggs. This is so the eggs get properly cooked. After you've cracked the eggs on top of your sauce, cover the pan with a lid and cook on low fire for about 10-15 minutes depending on how you like your eggs. Top it off with some feta and/or grated cheese.

While the eggs were cooking, we started with the cheese quesadillas. Heat another frying pan and assemble the quesadilla as such: one tortilla, layer of grated cheese and crumbled feta, another tortilla on top. Bake the quesadillas until golden brown on both sides. You can use a lid to promote the melting of the cheese. Repeat this process. Cut the quesadillas in slices and serve with the shakshuka. Enjoy this odd, but good food pair!

Things you need for this project:

Porcelain pens in various colours, sharpie pens work as well we’ve heard!

Ceramic mug/plate/bowl/anything you fancy really

Oven

Paper & Pencil (optional)

Step 1: Make sure your ceramic item is clean & dry. Start by sketching out some ideas on a piece of paper. When you have your idea, figure out what composition would be best for on your ceramic item. We opted for a "Donut Worry!" design, because we love puns and tend to worry about things a lot.

Step 2: Draw your design onto your ceramic item. Now, there are two ways to go about this step. A) You're brave and artistically gifted, so you directly freehand that design on there with the porcelain/sharpie pens. B) You're not so brave (like us!) and draw in the outlines of your design with pencil first. By the way, drawing on rounded surfaces is trickier than we thought...

Step 3: When you're completely satisfied with your design, it's time to bake your creation. Follow the instructions on your porcelain pens. Ours said to bake it at 160 °C for 25 minutes. If you're using sharpies I'd bake them a little longer, 30 minutes, at the same temperature, 160 °C. Check if things are going well during the baking, but don't open the oven door to ensure a constant temperature! After 25-30 minutes have passed, turn off your oven and let your ceramic item cool off inside the oven for about an hour or two and then you're done!

Impressions:

Going in, you first enter this pre-room where you’re greeted by the young café owner, who checks your reservation. She then asks you to disinfect your hands and goes through a few basic rules like, please don’t feed the cats, don’t pick them up and don’t use flash photography. After that, you’re free to move to the actual café and find yourself a space to settle in. The space has a cosy living room feel to it due to the unique wooden chairs, lined with fluffy cloths, the homely couches, cute plants and many cat hiding places.

The café is home to seven (at the time of the visit, but now eight) cats, which were all adopted from animal shelters. Watch the video to meet the cats! (Except for one, because she was sleeping somewhere up high where tiny me couldn’t reach…)

On the menu, various cakes and drinks are listed, but simple breakfast and lunch foods are also served. Prices range from 2-3 euros for drinks and 3-4 euros for food items. We opted for a salted caramel brownie + fresh mint tea (Bo’s choice) & carrot cheesecake + homemade ice tea (my pick). The drinks were refreshing, perfect for the oddly warm fall afternoon. I was unfamiliar with the carrot cake + cheesecake combo, but I loved it and would definitely recommend! The brownie was very flavourful, but maybe a tad bit too decadent. This is purely based by the fact that Bo, usually a fast eater, really needed to take his time to finish it. Oh and the cats tend to be very curious about your food too.

Besides eating good food, you’re free to walk around and pet/admire the cats or even play with them if they’re up for it. During the 16:45 – 18:45 time slot most cats were peacefully napping in the beginning, but became more active towards the end. So, it really depends throughout the day! Have some more cat photos:

Final verdict:

It’s great. Cats, cakes, various nice drinks, what’s not to love. Definitely take a look when you have the chance!

Directions:

Marco Polostraat 211 1057 WK Amsterdam http://kattencafekopjes.nl/ Opening hours: Wed – Sun: 10:00 – 19:00

Ingredients: 3tbsp of vegetable oil 3tbsp milk 1 egg 4tbsp sugar 5tbsp self-rising flour 3tbsp nutella