Halloween Musings

Food and Wine Experiment - 

As y'all know, the C household has been experimenting the past few Sundays with dishes from last year's Epcot Food and Wine Festival. This past Sunday the experiment was a potato and leek waffle with braised beef which hails from the Belgium booth. Now, as with any sort of food experiment, I always seem to get only a few things right. We don't have a waffle maker so instead I made pancakes (womp womp). They were....OK...the best part about this dish was the beef. We made ours in the crock pot as opposed to a Dutch Oven which the recipe calls for. My pictures of the actual food are not that great but I can assure you that it tasted better than it looked. What can I say, I am simply not a food blogger!

At least my table setting looked chic! The place mats and napkins were a gift from my SIL a few years back, the plates are Crate and Barrel and the goblets are from the Target dollar bin!

Very good, but not very photogenic!

Spooky Chic -

I promised pictures of the house lit up in all of it's Halloween glory...here they are! -

Tealights fa' days!

High Fashion Black Cat - 

This year for Halloween The Mister and I are attending our first adult Halloween party since Cy was born. I decided on being a high fashion black cat as I bought black cat tights a while back (knowing I would need them eventually) that I wanted to bust out of the wardrobe. Here's a sneaky peak! -

#BlackCatsAreMagical

Epcot Food & Wine {Small Foods} Sunday Dinner

Today kicked off The Mister's and my Epcot Food & Wine Festival throwback. The theme of the day was "small foods."

We had -

Corn dog nuggets  - CDNs are not specifically sold at the festival...HOWEVER, every time we go to Orlando it's a tradition of ours to hit up the local A&W (something we don't have here) for corn dog nuggets with cheese. A personal favorite of mine. You can find the recipe here and we used a Velveeta block of cheese.

Grass fed sliders with Monterey Jack cheese and sweet & hot pickles - from the Florida Local booth at the Food & Wine festival.

Grilled sirloin with chimmichurri sauce and bonita (sweet potato) puree which is from the Argentina booth at the Food & Wine Festival.

You can find the whole recipe here.

Here's a picture of the whole setup including the fall beer flight we included in the menu - 

Beers | 1. Woodstock Inn Brewry - Autumn Ale Brew |  2. Uinta Brewing Co. - Harvest Punk'n Ale | 3. Peak Organic Brewing Co, - Hope Harvest Oktober Fest | 4. Two Road Brewing Co. - RoadsMarys Baby

We also enjoyed some wine spritzers made with Barefoot Crisp White Wine and topped with some cranberry juice.

Musings

eBay - 

I finally posted some more items in my eBay store! I am not sure how to include a direct link to my store but if you go to the search bar, and type in my user name - jlb1187 - you should be able to find what you are looking for. And keep checking back because I will be adding more and more items over the next few weeks!

$1 Finds -

If there is one thing I love, it's getting things for a dollar. If there is another thing I love it's getting holiday themed things for a dollar! So, you can imagine my excitement when in the last two weeks I had great dollar bin finds at Tarjay and A.C. Moore -

#Tarjay

#ACMoore

Stay Tuned - 

The Mister has a busy few weeks coming up at work. Once it for him slows down a bit, we have decided that every Sunday in October we will be devoting to cooking a meal from last year's Epcot Food and Wine Festival. Since we went in October last year, we found it fitting to reminisce a bit and take the opportunity to cook some good eats! So stay tuned for all the yummy food pictures and recipes. 

Greece! Grilled and marinated calamari, htipiti, eggplant dip, olives and pita bread and griddled Greek cheese with pistachios & honey. And to drink - Ouzo

Musings

If you love yourself a good food Instagram picture, I suggest you follow Aziz Ansari's Instagram account...The pictures are divine and it actually makes me want to cook! Hear that Mister? I was perusing his account the other day and came across this picture -

The dish is called "Eggs in Purgatory." It seems like a pretty easy recipe so I am going to try it one day soon. And if I never post about it again, you will know why! :)

I am writing this just minutes after I posted this selfie on FB and Insta...

Ever since I started this foray into blogging at the beginning of the year, my social media presence has been amplified. And apparently that means more selfies. So I apologize to anyone getting sick of them...I am getting sick of myself too..and I promise this will be the last one for a while...What is it about a good selfie?!?!

Did anyone fall for any April Fools jokes the other day? I certainly did...One of the Disney Facebook pages I follow, Disney Dining, posted an article that was titled "Le Cellier Steakhouse to Undergo Major Refurbishment." And then they had a picture of the Outback Steakhouse logo..For the whole day on April 1 I was devastated! Just a background of this - Le Cellier is the best steakhouse on Disney property in the CANADA pavilion in Epcot. Of course I didn't take the time to read the actual article. If I did, I would have remembered that Outback is Australian based. It wasn't until I was just about to tell The Mister about it later in the day that I realized it was an April Fools article. Jokes on me I suppose..But I am making sure I make an ADR at Le Cellier next time I head to 'The World..just in case they do replace it with an Outback one day!!

Defending Disney

I found this lovely article today titled "13 Reasons Not to Go to Disney." Of course I clicked on it immediately...read every reason and disagreed with every one. (Duh, what kind of Mousejunkie would I be if I agreed with it?) And now, here I am blogging about it. I have heard some of these a million times from people that don't like Disney. Now, don't get me wrong...lack of planning will make someone fall victim to every single one of these points. You can't just "go" to Disney. You have to plan for this type of trip. So, I am here to tell you why you shouldn't believe a word this article says and to pass along some planning tips along the way.

13. The tickets are insanely expensive

If you think going to an amusement park and paying $60 a person is steep, wait until you pay the price of admission for Disney. You’ll be looking at well above $100 per person, depending on the type of tickets you get and the time of the year.

Rebuttal - Yes, the tickets are expensive. And there are not many discounts (save for AAA and work related discounts) that you can get on a Disney ticket. However, the parks and resorts are immaculately clean and kept up. (Fun Fact - There is a trash can every 30 steps because when Walt was doing research for the parks he observed that people would walk approximately 30 steps before throwing trash on the ground) Not to mention that the high ticket prices keep the riff raff out. And Disney has some of the best customer service in the world. I am willing to pay a premium for that.

12. There is constant construction

You might see this as a positive, but Disney is always under construction. If you see a ride that looks way cool but it’s not complete, that means the kiddos will be bugging you to death to go back so you can endure even more Disney in the near future. Joy.

Rebuttal - I am one of those people that sees this as a positive. This is what makes Disney magical. They are constantly evolving with the times. Every time you visit there is something new to see and do. This was Walt's vision...something that will grow with families. 

11. The crowds are insane

So you’re going to go to Disney when it’s vacation time, but so is everyone else who happens to have time off work and school at the same time. Unless you can go during the off-season, you’re going to be enjoying the park with thousands and thousands of strangers.

Rebuttal - He who goes to Disney during the busy times is the insane one. Now, this may not be for everyone, but I have no problem taking kids out of school for a Disney trip. Like we established before, this is an expensive trip. It's well worth your hard earned dollars to go during a slow time. You WILL NOT I repeat WILL NOT have as good of a time if you go during a busy time. You will fall victim to a MM (Magical Meltdown). 

10. The princesses are snobby

If your kids (or you, for some sick reason) really want to meet the princesses, you have to stand in a long line for more time than even the hottest rides. Once you get up there, you get the crap shoot as far as which princesses are there. To top it off, most of them think they’re pretty hot stuff because nobody told them they aren't real princesses.

Disclaimer - I know Alice is not a *technically* a princess

Rebuttal - With the exception of Elsa and Anna from Frozen who are very popular right now, you can see most of the other princesses during character dining experiences. Again, this is where planning comes in. You have to make dining reservations 180 days in advance. Some reservations are so hard to get that if you call even a half hour after 7am exactly 180 days in advance, you may not get the reservation. The early bird gets the worm when it comes to ADRs (advanced dining reservations.) Anyone waiting in like to see a character (unless said character is not part of a dining experience) is an amateur. Not to mention that through the new FastPass+ system, you can get FastPasses for meeting characters...duh.

9. The lines are insane
With the big crowds come big lines. The better the ride, the longer the line. Want to go on Space Mountain? Be prepared to wait well over an hour. The most insulting part is the ride is over in 5 minutes, making you question how worth it the wait really was.

Rebuttal - Yes, when you go to Disney, you have to expect to wait in some lines...as with any theme park. Again, going during the busy season will not help. And FastPasses are your friend. 

8. Seeing your favorite character means more lines

You don’t have to wait in crazy lines just to see the princesses. Disney has decided to not let the characters really roam free in the park. Instead, there are designated areas where you can wait to meet various characters. The newer the character, the longer the line can be, with the hot new ones commanding a 4 hour-plus wait.

Rebuttal - See # 10

7. Rides are shut down all the time

Disney is careful about maintaining rides and keeping them safe, but the flip side is that your favorite ride might not even be open the whole time you’re at the park. Some rides seem to be especially prone to breaking, or always shut down when there’s even the slightest hint of rain. Of course this means you can go back again and hope the ride is open, or you could just go to the beach.

Rebuttal - Disney is constantly evolving and making their current rides better and safer. With that, there are refurbishments. It's just the nature of the beast. You can find a list of refurbs here. 

6. The food is insanely expensive

You know it’s bad when movie theater concessions look like a bargain in comparison. Have you ever paid $8 for a hot dog? At Disneyland you can have that privilege.

Food and Wine Festival - Greece! Grilled and marinated calamari, htipiti, eggplant dip, olives and pita bread and griddled Greek cheese with pistachios & honey. And to drink - Ouzo

Rebuttal - Yes, food at Disney is expensive, I will not argue that. But, this is the precise reason why the best time to go to Disney is during the Epcot Food and Wine Festival. This is also the exact reason why I am not a fan of the dining plan (that's a whole 'nother blog) AND why you need to rent a car even though Disney has transportation. If you eat all your meals on property, you will go broke. I go to WDW for the food. So to me, the price is worth the divine food. The best way to eat at Disney - Go during the Food and Wine Festival, make 2-3 dining reservations (180 days in advance) and rent a car so you can go off site for some meals.

5. The mouse ears and other hats are embarrassing.

Even though it’s a tradition, the little mouse ears sold at the park are embarrassing, not only to wear but to also see others wearing. Of course, if you don’t want to wear those you can put on a Goofy or Peter Pan hat like you’re a hyperactive 5 year-old.

Rebuttal - Well, those of you that have hung around my blog and Facebook know that I do not find wearing Disney apparel at Disney or not at Disney embarrassing. Evidence - 

And there is certainly more where that came from...

4. The nightly parades shut everything down
Just try to get to the other side of the park for that one last ride during the nightly parades, the ones that are the same thing over and over. You can’t, so hope you like being stuck in Fantasy Land, because you’re not going anywhere else until the procession ends.

Rebuttal - This one is kind of true. Magic Kingdom is the only park with an electrical parade though (not sure about Disneyland). And, WDW has two other parks to enjoy during this time. (AK closes at 5 or 6 every day) Or, you can plan around this and end up in a "land" that has the rides you want to ride while everyone else is watching the parade. (Have I mentioned how important planning is to a Disney Vacation?)

3. The souvenir shops are designed to make you take out a second mortgage

See that cute little Mickey knickknack, the one that would look just perfect on your mantle next to your Tinker Bell spoon collection? That’ll be $80. Any decent shirts are about the same price. If you don’t watch it, you’ll blow through your savings in no time.

Rebuttal -  Every souvenir shop every where is expensive. There are tons of fun ideas on Pinterest that require hitting up the dollar store before you leave to stock up on Disney themed stuff so your kids won't keep asking for things. Children should just be appreciative that they are there. If they keep asking for things after being told no maybe your parenting is to blame and not Disney. #sorrynotsorry

2. The Jungle Cruise skippers' jokes are abysmal

Ah the Jungle Cruise ride, where you go around in a boat and see robot animals. It’s a boring, horribly outdated ride. Instead of updating it, Disney has decided to hire all of the failed stand up comedians in the area to be the boats’ skippers, and you are their captive audience.

Rebuttal - This one may actually be true. I have actually never been on the Jungle Cruise! And what can I say, sometimes Disney can be cheesy..And I love every second of it.

1. You hate Disney

Nothing is worse than being completely surrounded by the thing you despise. If you hate Disney, even a little, then going there is hell. They serve Mickey-shaped pancakes, everything is cute and covered in Disney branding, even the wine bottles, making it so you can’t just enjoy a good drink without the Mouse getting his hands into it.

Rebuttal - Seeing as how my cat's name is Minnie Mouse and I look at houses for sale in the Orlando area every day (Celebration, FL to be exact. But again, that is a whole 'nother blog post) there is no hating Disney that goes on in the C house. But, if in fact you are not a fan of The Mouse you may not like a Disney vacation. I assure you though, if you vacation with me and/or have me plan your Disney vacation for you...you will be a Mousejunkie in no time!

*Not a face of someone that hates Disney.

Musings + #OOTN

You'll have to forgive me for my lack of blogging the past few days. I am still recovering from my sickness and things have been crazy around here!

The Mister and I had a date night last night at Foxwoods. It was so much fun! We did a little bit of walking around the shops as well as some gambling. And by gambling, I mean putting a fiver in the slot machine at the bar and drinking for free. We also had some cocktails and sushi. It was glorious not having to rush to eat because a certain 19 month old was getting antsy.

There was also a candy store at Foxwoods with all kinds of cool stuff. A lot of their "novelties" had the word "lick" on them. So I assume when Miley is at Foxwoods in a few weeks that she will be heading to that store to pick up some wares...You heard it here first! Also, they had bacon flavored toothpaste that I am regretting not buying...

#BaconLover

And here are the deets about my #OOTN last night - 

Shirt | Forever 21 | Glasses | Wet Seal | Jeans | JCPenny | Shoes | Cohoes

I posted this last night on Facebook, but I got this shirt for two reasons - 1. Because my brother really is a Brooklyn hipster and 2. Because Cy loves him some Elmo! 

Right turn alert - There is this new reality show on USA called Chrisley Knows Best. It is my new favorite show of the week. It follows a wealthy Atlanta family's life. Two parents and their 5 kids. I will spare you and not try to explain the show to you in words. Here is the preview - 

It's such a good show. And I aspire one day for The Mister and I to be parents like The Chrisley's. Aka - wealthy, southern and sassy! :) I also have a fascination with Atlanta. It's obviously started with The Housewives (thanks Bravo!) but continued because of all the House Hunters episodes and other Atlanta based reality shows. It just seems like such a cool place to live. 

xoxo

Disney Eats {Food and Wine Festival}

My entire day is usually dictated around what I am going to eat next. I am constantly thinking about my next meal and what it is going to be. Since I don't really excel at cooking, eating out is one of my favorite hobbies. What's that Patti Stanger? (#BravoReference) You don't think eating out IS a hobby? Well, I beg to differ.

Now, as someone who likes to eat and who LOVES anything Disney, finding out about Epcot's International Food and Wine Festival was a big deal. The first time I visited, was for our honeymoon, and let me tell you...drinking and eating as much as you can while being at Disney is probably the coolest thing ever. Okay..this may not sound cool to some of you...but in my opinion, if you call yourself a foodie, but think Disney World is for kids, then you aren't really a foodie... #sorrynotsorry

WDW has some of the best cuisine in the world in general (which would be an entirely different blog post) but adding in The Food and Wine Festival makes it ten times better.

The way Disney describes Epcot's Food and Wine Festival --

Each fall, as the seasons transform, so too does Epcot—where dozens of unique flavors and fun experiences unfold across the park. Some favorite festival highlights include:

• Nearly 30 international food and beverage marketplaces
• Signature dining experiences with world-renown chefs
• Exciting culinary demonstrations and beverage seminars
• The Eat to the Beat concert series, with nightly performances from popular hit-makers

The Festival is the same idea as eating around the world in Epcot...but on steroids. There are 11 permanent countries represented in The World Showcase in Epcot. During The Food and Wine Festival there are close to 30 countries represented. They also have dessert booths, beer booths, and a vegetarian booth. 

When we went to Disney in October, The Mister and I were ecstatic to get to spend two full days at The Festival (which is included in your ticket to Epcot, you just have to pay for you tasting dishes, a la cart). Boyz II Men were also performing during the time we were there. It was a great show and all for "free" aka the price of your park ticket. The Mister and my dad also attended a culinary seminar that was hosted by the head chef at Chez Pascal in Providence, Matthew Gennuso.

Disney is known for "the vacation experience" so The Food and Wine Festival is presented meticulously and the menu's for each booth are divine. For example here is the menu for the Argentina  - 

• Beef Empanada - $4.25 
• Grilled Beef Skewer with Chimichurri Sauce and Boniato Purée - $5.25
• Pascual Toso Sparkling Brut – $2.50
• Terrazas Reserva Malbec – $3.75
• Terrazas Reserva Torrontes – $3.75
• Kaiken Cabernet Sauvignon – $3.00

Every country has a few meal choices and a few drink choices. And each one is better than the last! 

To find out more info about Epcot's International Food and Wine Festival go here.

The Festival has different starting and ending dates every year. Generally, it starts the last weekend in September and goes until the first/second weekend of November.

xoxo