My Cookbooks

I want to talk about my cookbooks. I said before that I was gifted these Disney Parks cookbooks last year, and that the recipes I’ve made so far have been pretty good. I’ll try to post pictures when we make something from them, if it ends up looking pretty.

Directions are easy to follow if you’re “okay” at cooking. The blue/white book has a little blurb written about each recipe, which is cute, and the recipes are organized by park. The red one is organized by type of food (salads, pastas, meat, etc), which I think makes more sense for the home kitchen cook. Here’s the thing, though. As soon as I perused each book, I became very frustrated at the number of repeat recipes. For example, I adore the soups and salads served in the Storyteller’s Café (in fact, I try to visit Storyteller’s twice when I go to DLR so I can get both soups and salads), but I don’t need the recipes in EACH book. I mean, it’s Disney, so I expect a lot. Come on, don’t repeat recipes. I was…disappointed. I was thrilled to get them as gifts, however, and I’ve made a bunch of the recipes successfully. They’re fun to use and a neat way to bring a little Disney to your day…I’d probably just buy one, though.

ANYWAY…

Caitlin made food! If you know her, this is kind of a big deal. This one’s Chicken Asiago Pasta from the Cooking with Mickey book. It says it’s from Disney’s All Star Sports Resort. She’s made this meal a few times and it’s always tasty.

Food Friday!

Here is some Disney food:

Perfection aka Mickey Waffles

Maddie's lunch aka Turkey Leg

Caaaandy Coooorn!

AND one from the house :)

25 days! Disney with KIDS

I’m going to Disneyland in 25 days, wahoo! Every trip is special, but this one especially so because I’ve been (generously) invited to go along with my Aunt Kim’s family. It’s been about four years since they’ve last been to the ‘Land, and they have three young children (boy, girl, boy), so I know this is going to be a completely different trip for me – Disney with kids? What is this madness? Haha!

The good/great stuff: this family lo-o-oves Disney! On my previous trips I could always count on getting a few texts from my aunt every day, wondering what we were up to, just because she was excited for me and wanted to hear all about it. We have a shared love for Whitewater Snacks. She knows what’s what and doesn’t have crazy unrealistic expectations. (That is my mantra for every trip: Realistic Expectations. Realistic Expectations, people. If you come prepared with these, you will not be disappointed.) She’s practical and a planner but she also likes to budget for special treats and experiences while on vacation - hey, just like me! She and my uncle have been waiting a long time for just the right time to take this trip, and I’m just so glad they asked me to join them. It’s almost a full circle kind of thing, because when my mom and dad took me on my first Disney trip to Walt Disney World when I was four, my Aunt Kim came with us. Aww.

Caribbean Beach Resort, 1990, yeah!

My mom is the same age as I am now in this picture, but lets try not to think about that right now, mm?

Liberty Square - jeez, I was just there last May & I'm remembering how massive WDW is!

What I’m “nervous” about is OMG Disney with kids! I know, I know, Disneyland was pretty much built FOR kids, but they don’t have any money and ever since I stopped being one I’ve only traveled with adults. I absolutely know my carefully cultivated systems, past plans and personal preferences will be going right out the plane window on the way down, if not on the minivan ride to the airport. Kids is different, y’all! I’m a preschool teacher, so I’m probably more prepared than some to deal with some potential crankiness at the Happiest Place on Earth. I know it will happen, just like I know they’ll have the time of their lives. (Like I said, Realistic Expectations.) Also, it's sometimes more complicated going with a bigger group of people, but the rewards are worth it, because it's also cool. My plan for this trip is to just go with the flow! I’ve already been to DL this year and done sweet grownup things; I’ll be there to help the vacation go smoothly, while of course having fun with everyone times a zillion.

What I’m excited about is OMG Disney with KIDS! I’m bringing my princess crown! (Okay, I’ve actually brought my princess crown all the other times I’ve gone to the DLR, too. Hey, it’s my life.) Kids are allowed to wear costumes! It’s going to be totally different and FUN! Seeing everything in the parks through their eyes is going to be really special. Even the countdown and preparation has been a change – the kids made a paper chain counting down the days, and each day they cut one off. What hijinks!

Makenna - this was back in August, lookit all those rings!

I actually bought this piece of luggage at TJ Maxx the other day (at a reasonable price, for luggage) because even though I’m going to be 30 someday, for this trip I AM LIKE A KID, okay? I want them to respect how awesome my suitcase is. I’d like for all the other kids at the airport to be jealous, and for me to be all, “Just think, kiddos, when you grow up and don’t have any kids or a boyfriend, you can buy whatever the heck you want and go to Disneyland all the time! Life is amazing!”

yep, there are happy flowers, the cupcakes have Mickey sprinkles & the balloons are smiling.

HELPFUL/INTERESTING PLANS FOR DISNEY WITH KIDS:
Because kids don't have money and can't buy whatever they want, they inevitably ask for many things. While that's totally cool (I mean, we are on vacation!), they just can't have everything, so my aunt has already purchased a few souvenir-y things that she can "gift" them every day of the trip. It'll be new to them and they'll enjoy the toy/doll/light spinner/whatever equally as if it cost three times as much. And while I'm fairly sure the parents are going to be good-natured and doting with the snack-buying (I mean, we ARE on vacation!), you just can't buy everything, so we're bringing assorted snacks with us and basically giving the kids choices for every day. I think it's gonna be pretty good.

What I haven’t done before that I probably will do on this trip: visit Pixie Hollow and the Fairies, ride the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, eat at the two character meals I’ve never tried before (Goofy’s Kitchen and Ariel’s Grotto), meet Rapunzel, go through Tarzan’s Treehouse, watch the entire Jedi Training Academy show, visit the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail, Mickey’s Toontown Morning Madness, see the Playhouse Disney show, spend more than like 20 minutes on Tom Sawyer’s Island (sorry, “Pirate’s Lair”), and spend more than like 20 minutes at Flik’s Fun Fair. New things = super exciting!

Things I hope I do NOT do: hit anyone with a stroller, get sick on Star Tours, get sick on the carousel, go to Innoventions.

What I’m FREAKING OUT about: going on the Little Mermaid ride with Makenna. Tee hee!

The parks, they are a-changin'

Recently noticed how many photos I have of the many construction walls around the ever-changing DLR. Oh man, remember when almost all of Paradise Pier was ALL construction? Annoying as they may sometimes be, you've gotta give it to Disney for making them as interesting as possible - which, let's be honest, isn't very interesting, but they give it their level best, and there's some fun to be had anyways. Or maybe they're just somewhat entertaining for us, because we're very, very silly, most of the time.

Baby Wyatt & Aunt Kim - of course I didn't take this pic but I thought it was cool!

ba-da-da-dum-dum-da-dum-dum-dum-dum! (that's Under the Sea, btw)



8/10 - a real favorite of mine, just havin' fun with the walls on the seemingly ENDLESS walk to Paradise Pier



this was in the Esplanade, when they were installing the compass rose, I think. Erin + 2 Mickeys :)

these were in front of the new Paradise Pier restaurants & Goofy's Sky School, taken last year

this one too

we can't resist a fart joke around here

I just took this because I was hungry & I LOVE anything Poppins - 8/11

old-timey themed around the future Buena Vista Street

Donald was (unsuccessfully) hiding THIS!

cool-looking attraction posters around the front of DCA - we could NOT stop having fun with this one. "Please...don't go on the ride. It's...scary? I don't know, but we're all wearing black & we have no faces."

lookit this behbeh!

Baby, I don't know who you are or who did this to you, but good luck trying to live up to the awesomeness of this moment right here.

(don't know who to credit this to, but congratulations, whoever you are!)

Disney Things that are in the kitchen right now

I thought I might do something like a “Food Friday,” where I post something, y'know...food-related on Fridays…it’s pretty self-explanatory I think. So here are the Disney Things in the kitchen right now:

Wonderland Tea

They’ve been selling this at the parks for a while now – it makes a great gift, especially the smaller versions that come in tins because hey, you get a sweet tin! I got this variety pack (that's 12 boxes) from disneystore.com (I love how they’ve started selling park merchandise!) and I think it may last me forever. The Mad Tea Party Blend (of course) is my favorite of what I've tried so far - black tea, with sort of a peachy flavor on top.

Cinderella Waffle Iron

Tasty, tasty Happily Ever After

I don’t remember how I found out this existed, I just heard that it did and knew it had to be mine. In all fairness, our more traditionally-patterned waffle iron no longer worked, so we needed a new one anyway. I had heard that you could find this in stores like TJ Maxx or Ross, but after several fruitless and impatient trips I just decided to take the easy way and go eBay. It didn’t cost much more than a regular piece would, and I use it a lot!

My cookbooks! My sisters got these for me last Christmas, after our trip together. Perfect gift for me! I’ve used both; later I’ll do a more in-depth post reviewing each book and the recipes I’ve tried. Short report: what I’ve made that I’ve actually had in the parks tastes pretty accurate, and the other stuff we’ve made was pretty yummy too.

just sharing a snack with a friend

Food is a fun, inexpensive way to keep the Magic at home with you. My favorite souvenirs for people are usually edible, because most people probably: 1) don’t want to decorate their home with too much Disney kitsch, 2) appreciate something you really can't buy anywhere else, 3) aren’t really in to pins and 4) like food.

Other Disney Things in the kitchen: a few mugs (my favorite one is Mary Poppins-themed), my Little Mermaid travel cup (you know, for iced tea, like the kind they sell at Starbucks except it has a DCA logo on it), gingerbread cookie mix + Mickey cookie cutter and a postcard on the fridge I sent home in August.

A Preschool Halloween

Total costume count: one Iron Man, three Tinkerbelles, two Rapunzels, one Mr. Incredible, one Belle and one decidedly Johnny Depp-looking Pirate.


Also, this:

Cate: "Erin, if you're Minnie Mouse, why aren't you wearing a dress? Because she wears a dress."
Me: "I know, but I didn't have the right dress to wear today."
Cate: "What about your dress with the butterflies? It's pretty."
Me: "I like that dress, too, but it isn't red like Minnie's."
Cate: "Well, you could just pretend it was red."


...Well, I suppose that's true. I just don't understand costumes I guess. Haha, my job is fun.

Costume Day tomorrow + Maddie's dreams come true

Ah, the joys of working with preschoolers. These kids find Mickey in their cereal, soap bubbles and scribbles. They want me to tell them about Tinkerbell’s house and Ariel’s tail. They listen wide-eyed when I sing the Mickey Mouse Club theme and jump in to spell along with me. Disney’s got their numbers. Last year for Halloween we had five princesses and/or fairies and at least one Iron Man. This year I expect about the same (with at least two Rapunzels), and I can’t wait! I wore my Minnie Mouse ears last year, but I’m thinking this year I’ll wear a princess crown to fit in.

Anyway…

We gave the kids supplies to make silly monsters, and then we wrote stories about them. I got a kick out of this one. Only little boys in this family, but obviously he’s seen Tangled.

Well, except for the race car part. I'm sure Flynn would be interested, though.

I just keep thinking about this and laughing. "He's good for the princess." :) We had a silly monster named Rapunzel, and a Snow White as well.

***

From preschoolers to the baby in our family - my baby sister went to Animal Kingdom last week! SO happy/excited for her. Lion King is her favorite Disney movie, and animals are her passion. She's wanted to go to this park for a l-o-n-g time! I got to visit Animal Kingdom in May, so I can properly contain my jealousy (I’ll write about my whirlwind TWO-day WDW trip some other time).

She said she almost cried when she saw the tree!

I've always wanted to meet these guys. Jealous!

Maddie's favorite

Safari!

That's right - I *am* the Pumpkin King!

Happy Halloween! We (my sister and I) made our pumpkins somewhat earlyish this year, so the art you see in the following pictures looks significantly better than what is currently sitting on the front porch. Thanks to our lovely PNW rain our Pumpkin Team will be lucky to make it through tomorrow…and I’m not looking forward to the cleanup! They were really fun (and easy!) to make, though – and I don’t consider myself an advanced pumpkin carver.

My pumpkins – recognize these guys?

Jack & Mike



Pumpkin King (inspired by Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion Holiday pumpkins)



(inspiration)

I hand drew Mr. Pumpkin King (and I am not an artiste) and went on an internet search for the others. The Jack template was pretty easy to find, but for Mike I had to just print out a picture and improvise.

Just another way to bring the Disney magic home!

First Post!

Hello internet Disneyphiles, friends/family, and anyone else who maybe mistakenly stumbled here! I’ve never had a blog before, but earlier today while I was sitting in bed feeling bad for myself (I’m sick, as I will probably mention more than once and for that I’m sorry) I thought, “You know what? I’ve got a lot of Disney Things to say; maybe that could be an interesting diversion for some people out there.” I started thinking about what Disney-related topics I might blog about, and I couldn’t stop the flow of ideas. So, in my over-the-counter medication and humidifier-induced haze, I present the Disney Things blog. Just about every “Disney Person” I’ve met or talked to has always been super sweet and enthusiastic, so I thought I’d give this a go, for all of you. ;) I've made several Disney trips over the past few years, but I'm not sure when the next one will be, so perhaps this will help my need for a "Disney fix" every now and then. Sometimes it really is the Disney Things that make life a little more fun!

Disney Things I Plan to Blog About: trips, planning, food, books, movies, music, podcasts, recipes, merchandise, miscellany (basically anything + everything)



Me! Summer 2010...I think.




Sisters Trip, Dec 2010