Florence: Galleria dell’Accademia, All’Antico Vinaio, and Piazza della Repubblica

Mom and me with Michelangelo's David

Mom and me with Michelangelo’s David

Day Three was a Sunday – the first Sunday of November, sooo all the museums were free! After a bit of discussing, Koen, Tamar, my mom and I decided on Galleria dell’Accademia, most famous for housing Michelangelo’s David. We left early in the morning and luckily the line wasn’t too bad!

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Florence: Uffizi Gallery

Starting the day off great! Fresh ciabatta with grilled tomatoes, eggs sunny side up, and pancetta!

Starting the day off great! Fresh ciabatta with grilled tomatoes, eggs sunny side up, and pancetta!

Day Two was my first day waking up in Florence. Koen and I woke up to an empty apartment (my parents left to meet Grayson, Tamar, and Edward at the airport), so we decided to spoil ourselves with brunch. Luckily right across the street is a supermarket, so we bought a few Italian staples like ciabatta and pancetta and other breakfast essentials. I don’t think I mentioned it in my last post, but the weather was in the high 60s, low 70s the whole time so we ate every meal outside on the terrace!

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Christmas 2014

Christmas

Christmas really is the most wonderful time of the year! This year Sofie hosted Christmas dinner in Breda. We ate gourmet – which is tiny pieces of meat, fish, and vegetables, that you prepare yourself on grillpans and mini-woks that are setup on the table. After dinner we ate delicious cheese served with my nut and seed bread, followed by Sofie’s dessert of meringue with mango-mojito sauce!

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Nut and Seed Bread Hapje / Christmas Eve 2014

Christmas Eve

For the third year in a row Koen and I celebrated Christmas Eve at the De Feijter home. Everyone – all the parents and children – create and bring delicious food to share while catching up and playing games. In 2012 Koen and I made mini tomate aux crevettes with grapefruit, 2013 we made meatballs, and now for 2014 we took it to the next level with: parma ham wrapped smoked duck and Belgian endive on top of nut and seed bread with quince peer jelly. Koen smoked the duck and made the quince pear jelly and I made the nut and seed bread! Mmm mmm mmm. The nut and seed bread recipe comes from My New Roots and I’ve already made it again because it was so delicious!

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Sinterklaas 2014

Sinterklaas

Sinterklaas is a special holiday celebrated in the beginning of December in the Netherlands and Belgium. I love drawing a name and writing poems and creating the “surprise”, or handmade gift that embodies some attribute of the person. It makes it that much more special than just giving a gift because of the time and effort spent.

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Georgia

Sitting on the porch with my dad

Sitting on the porch with my dad

After a busy 9 days in New York City, Koen and I went down to Georgia for a week to visit with family. There’s really no place like home. We enjoyed a relaxing week eating well and enjoying time with family – including meeting my nephew Edward for the first time! I’m so thankful Koen and I were able to see everyone! We had a big low country boil to celebrate Grayson and I being home at the same time. It mostly turned into a baby holding party 🙂

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Sofie’s Birthday Party

The birthday girl, me, and Barbara

The birthday girl, me, and Barbara

My parents happened to be in town for Sofie’s birthday. Also in the Netherlands was Koen’s cousin Andrea and her boyfriend Ethan from Canada – so my parents didn’t have to worry about people speaking English. I always love getting together for family birthdays because it gives me the chance to catch up and see everyone! We celebrated at Sofie’s apartment in Breda and enjoyed delicious cakes and frietjes!

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Easter 2014 in Antwerp, Belgium

Brunch at our place!

Brunch at our place!

This year Koen and I volunteered to host Easter brunch at our apartment in Antwerp. It was a lot of fun coming up with a menu and plan for the afternoon. We knew we wanted to buy lots of different breads and spreads as well as pastries, both savory and sweet. Of course we placed our order at Lints, our favorite bakery. Because the weather was nice and sunny, we also were in the mood for fruit! So we served watermelon, mango, pineapple, raspberries, and passion fruit alongside homemade kiwi juice (we used the leftovers to make a delicious smoothie the next day). After our huge brunch we went for a walk around the city, walking along the Scheldt River and through the historic district, stopping for a drink in front of City Hall and the famous Brabo fountain.

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