Happy anniversary, DJ & Jon!!
Barb, my mom and dad gave us an espresso machine for our wedding, and it makes me so damn happy that I can make myself a strong cafe con leche every morning.
In college, my three best gf's lived above a mom n'pop donut shop, and many was the night we would end the festivities with warm, just-out-of-the-oven donuts at 5 a.m.
When I lived in London, I would have to walk to class right by a fancy patisserie, and you could smell their pain au chocolates baking a few blocks away. It was AWFUL, because I was hideously broke, and couldn't afford them. And the window display -- GOD. These little gem-like tarts and puffs and eclairs that were just gorgeous.
There was, however, a wee Indian store 1/2 a block down the way, and they sold humbler creme filled donuts, which were a revelation to my American tongue, as they used MUCH less sugar, and the creme was so fresh and rich (and possibly not made with, you know, LARD.) They also sold two samosas for 50p, which I lived on, along with fried potatoes with creme fraiche, pretty much that whole semester.
I lived in London for 4 months in 93 (room and tuition paid, but nothing else) on $750. And I smoked. I didn't eat much and mostly got any drinks through low-cut tops. I had fun, but I lost 25 pounds that semester, between all the walking and not eating.