Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop: Jolly Holiday Bakery

Welcome back to another Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop hosted by the jolly Deb at Focused On The Magic!  My Disneyland trip was coming to a close, but not before I headed over to the fairly-new Jolly Holiday Bakery!

I LOVE Mary Poppins and I LOVE baked goods and I had one in particular I had to try.

When I got to the front of the line, in addition to ordering that very particular baked good, I also wanted to try the Practically Perfect Punch.  The cast member suggested I try a free sample first because some guests find it too sweet.  Of course I said yes!


The punch was practically perfect to me!  Not too sweet.  But since the free sample provided me with all the taste I needed, I didn't buy a whole cup.  I DID, however, buy this delicious Mickey cookie tart:



Guys, you know how when you're not hungry at all (and kind of full), you can't fully enjoy the food you're eating, although if you WERE hungry you'd know it would be delicious?  That was NOT the case here.  It was STILL DELICIOUS.  That is saying something.  And I still had one more snack to try before the day was out.  But you'll see that next week.


Now hop on to the next stops!

Focused on the Magic

Friday, November 22, 2013

Favorite Food Friday: Food and Wine Australia


Welcome back to another Favorite Food Friday hosted by the demure Disney Day by Day!

Ah the Australia booth.  The ONE mistake in my otherwise perfect 2012 Food and Wine tour.  Let me walk you through this horrible tragedy.

The booth has these beautiful tiles of Australian animals.  They were so lovely.    The grilled lamb chop with mint pesto and potato "crunchies" (read: chips) was fine.  I'm not a mint fan but the mint was very mild.

  

We also got the famous shrimp on the barbie.  But I was SO distracted with photos that I didn't get to taste it!  I didn't realize this until later and was DEVASTATED.  It is the ONLY dish I wanted to try that I missed.

The lamington was fine.  Unremarkable but I was happy I got to try such a typical Australian dessert.



Close up of the pretty tiles:

Now hop on to the next stops!

DisneyDayByDay


And don' t forget to link up!







Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop: Disneyland's Small World!

Welcome back to another welcoming Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop 
hosted by Deb at Focused on the Magic!  

At LONG last, I finally got to experience the Disneyland version of Small World.  Third time's the charm I guess!  It's mostly the same except for the beginning, which starts outdoors (love that perfect Cali weather), and the Mary Blair-ed Disney characters that are sprinkled throughout the ride.








Now hop on to the next stops!

Focused on the Magic

Friday, November 15, 2013

Favorite Food Friday: Food and Wine Greece

Welcome back to another Favorite Food Friday hosted by the deluxe Disney Day by Day!

I missed the link up last week but still have a post so if you'd like to see my thoughts on the Scandinavia booth, click here!

Okay guys, we have to talk about the Greece booth.  I was SO excited to try the griddled cheese with honey and pistachio, I could barely contain myself.  First we have the chicken souvlaki with tzatziki sauce and the spanakopita (I skipped the greek salad which looked pretty basic to me and that suspicion was confirmed by my companions).


It's hard to displease me with Greek food.  But the cheese. 

O.

M.

G.

It was in a three-way tie for first place of all the food I ate at the festival - and I tried about 90% of the offered dishes.  Frankly, the experience was so elevating I'm not sure I can discuss it further.


 

Now hop on to the next stops!

DisneyDayByDay


And don' t forget to link up!





Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop! Caffeinated

Welcome back to another Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop hosted by the decaffeinated Deb at the flavorful Focused on the Magic!

Although I had stayed at the Disneyland Hotel before, I never noticed this little coffee shop before.  I think perhaps it was hidden by construction?  It's not much to look at but it's clean and a nice way to grab a quick breakfast and caffeine fix on the way to the parks:








Focused on the Magic


Friday, November 8, 2013

Favorite Food Friday: Food and Wine Scandinavia

Welcome back to another Favorite Food Friday hosted by the decadent Disney Day by Day!

The Scandinavian booth at the 2012 Food and Wine festival was great for adventurous eaters such as myself.  I enjoyed the cured salmon and shrimp salad.  Even the herring was okay.  The cracker was....boring, but authentic. 


The rice pudding wasn't really rice pudding - it was more whipped cream -esque.  But I don't love rice pudding anyway so this was just fine with me.  Strawberries and cream?  With some rice in there?  Okay!

The meatballs with lingonberries were fine.  I could have gone for more.  I like trying new flavors so this was a fun dish to experiment with.



Now hop on to the next stops!

DisneyDayByDay


And don' t forget to link up!





Thursday, November 7, 2013

Fastpass to History! Vintage Disney Photos

I'm linking up with the fulsome Frontierland Station for their Fastpass to History Blog Hop.

I came across some old Disney photos recently.  The first one is dated March 1989 and the other two were with the first one so I think they're all from the same trip.  

We have here a view of the Seven Seas Lagoon from the Polynesian, where we always stayed.  I am sorry I don't know how to rotate it.  I tried a bunch of different ways.




Next I *think* this is from Discovery Island?



Finally, a shot of the jumping water fountains from the Imagination Pavilion, back in it's glory days. 



Now link up and hop on to the next stops!


Welcome to Fastpass To History, your ticket to Disney history! Each week this blog hop will quickly provide access to a variety of Disney history facts, photographs, and more - giving them a Fastpass to history.
How it works: We will post an interesting piece of Disney history. You do the same on your blog. Then add the inlinkz code (found at the bottom of each week's post by Frontierland Station) to your post. Next, use the link below to add your post to the blog hop.
Once you've joined the blog hop, be sure to share it on Facebook and twitter. Also, be sure to check out the other posts in the blog hop and leave comments. Thanks for linking up!




Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop! Disneyland Earl of Sandwich

Welcome back to another Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop hosted by Deb at Focused on the Magic!

Although I've done fairly well trying stuff at Earl of Sandwich in New York (which doesn't offer this treat - I know, crazy right?), I hardly ever make it to the one at downtown Disney in Orlando.  

Since DTD is much more easily accessible in Anaheim (actually you can't really avoid it!), I decided my Disneyland trip was the perfect time to finally get the legendary brownie frosting sandwich


Although the frosting sandwich was listed on the large menu on the wall, I didn't see any pre-made, so I asked a girl behind the counter.  She ended up making one of each for me fresh!  This one was probably my favorite: a chewy chocolate chip brownie with vanilla frosting.  But honestly, the chocolate frosting and peanut butter filled ones were good too! Now how to petition EoS to get them on the menu in New York.....


Focused on the Magic