In addition to the big box stores, I made several stops at the Marqt markets.  They are all over Amsterdam and I would liken them to either Fresh Market from back in Indiana.  First, I will say the Marqt was much more expensive than Albert Heijn.  I did, however, really love wandering around and looking.  Like at Fresh Market, they had a ton of little samples out; bread, cheese, meats, etc.  One of my favorite meals I made in Amsterdam was fish and veggies. I always bought the fish from the Marqt.  I also found the employees at the Marqt a bit more willing to help me find things.

Here’s my research data on local market:

• 4 apple varieties
• No pre-packaged bread. Everything was pretty baked and sliced.
• 8 milk varieties
• 4 aisles

Finally, one thing I wanted to work on in Amsterdam was cooking again.  In London, I didn’t really cook much and I didn’t really like it much for a couple reasons; first, I really like cooking, so I genuinely missed cooking, second, dinner has always been family time, which I also missed our time together at the dinner table in London, and third, we generally eat better when I cook, so I can’t say we had many good meals in London.  I am very proud to report that I knocked it out of the park in Amsterdam.  I cooked Monday through Friday and we had Friday Night Pizza Nights.  I made a weekly meal plan on the whiteboard, Jim and I coordinated dinner times with work, and we were able to actually have dinner together most weekday nights in Amsterdam. I think that had a lot to do with how “at home” we felt.

Here are a few pictures from the Marqt.

^I had to include a picture of the cheese. So much amazing cheese!