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Making Our Way Around Epcot's Food & Wine Festival


I've been living in Florida for 13 years and this was the first year I made it to Epcot's Food & Wine Festival and we had a blast. My only complaint is that it gets very crowded but otherwise the food and drink samples are excellent and worth every calorie.


The Food & Wine Festival was a huge part of why we purchased annual passes in the first place. Sadly our passes just expired over Thanksgiving weekend but we definitely made good use of them over the year especially at Epcot since it's more adult-friendly and our favorite park because of the amazing food and drink options. Unfortunately I didn't get to try every marketplace at the festival but everything we did try was nothing short of amazing.


The Ocean Spray cranberry grower's display as you walk into the world showcase shares the history of cranberries, how they are grown and harvested and why cranberries are excellent for a healthy lifestyle. Not the most interesting showcase but nevertheless it shared some interesting facts.





We had some wine and an assorted cheese platter at the Wine & Cheese Studios. I forgot to snap a photo but the trio artisan cheese platter included:
- Karst cave-aged cheese served with honey
- La Bonne Vie goat cheese served with Craisin bread
- Rogue Creamer Oregan Blue Cheese with berry port compote


Greece:
Food: Chicken gyro with tzatziki sauce
Drink: Domaine Sigalas Assyrtiko Athiri




Brazil
Drink: Kaiser Brewery Xinghu Black Beer
Food: Escondidinho de carne (layered meat pie with mashed yucca)


Craft Beer:
Flight #2: Craft Beer Lovers
- 3 Daughter St Pete Beach Blonde Ale
- Florida Beer Company Passport
- Funky Buddha Vanilla Espresso Porter
- Shipyard Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout


Eat To The Beat Concert:
The performers change from week to week (2015 schedule) but we happened to catch Starship in concert back in October and they were amazing live. There are usually three show times per day and the concerts only last 35 minutes so it's not a long show and you can move on to exploring the rest of Epcot.



UK:
Drink: Snakebite (equal parts larger and cider).
You can get this all year long at the Rose & Crown Pub.




New Zealand:
Food: Lamb meatball with spicy tomato chutney
Drink: Kim Crawford Pinot Gris

Photo credit


Farm Fresh:
Drink: Florida Orange Groves, Key limen wine
Food: Loaded mac 'n' cheese topped with Nueske's pepper bacon, cheddar cheddar cheese, peppers and green onions.





Africa:
Food: Buttered chicken with micro cilantro and naan bread
Drink: Indaba Chenin Blanc




For anyone that has visited the Food & Wine Festival at Epcot, what's your favorite food or drink to sample?

Thanksgiving Long Weekend Fun

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving last week with family/friends or however you spent it. The 4-day weekend was the perfect break for me from work and blogging to relax and recharge before the holidays ensue.

I started off the long weekend with a quick happy hour on Wednesday after work with coworkers before getting into the Thanksgiving festivities. Cask & Larder has excellent happy hour specials on small bites and drinks for anyone in the Central Florida area btw.


On Thursday morning we drove 2 hours with Lola as the backseat passenger to have Thanksgiving dinner with my in-laws and extended family at my SIL's house.


I can't believe I've never tried pecan pie before this Thanksgiving. Probably because I'm too turkey stuffed but I'm definitely choosing it over pumpkin pie in the future.

After dinner we met up with some friends to watch the UCF vs USF game. Of course UCF lost but it was a fun night out with friends nevertheless and we got to see some of K's high school/college friends.


On Friday we had breakfast with the in-laws and made our journey back home to Orlando. We had some amazing lunch and craft beer at Gnarly Barley before hitting some Black Friday sales.



I scored some warm clothes (the booties being my fave. They're sold out now but these are similar and I have them in gray), a 2016 planner, 3-wick candles from Bath & Body Works, and this Rebecca Minkoff ring which is gorgeous.



Friday night was spent relaxing with a glass of wine while watching The Vacation at home which was quite funny. Perfectly relaxing night after our road travels.


Our Disney annual passes expired yesterday so we made plans to go to Magic Kingdom on Saturday for one last hurrah and to check out the Christmas decorations.




We happened to catch a Disney parade on Main Street then went on several rides and finally browsed through some Christmas shops so I could pick out one last decoration for our tree. I think we made great use of our annual passes with Epcot being our favorite.



After Magic Kingdom we had all intentions of heading over to Hollywood Studios to check out the Osborne's Family Lights Show but after taking several wrong shuttles/trams, we decided to call it a night and head to Yard House on I-Drive for some dinner and drinks.


It was a busy and fun-filled long weekend but thankfully I got to catch up on lots of sleep so I'm ready to take on this week and I'm even more excited for some upcoming holiday parties in the next few weeks. This is my favorite time of year afterall.

Joining the lovely Biana for her Weekending linkup.


Disney Blogger Fun

Good morning pretties! Hope everyone enjoyed the weekend.

Can I begin by saying how devastating the news on Friday was about the turn of events in Paris and the amount of people that suffered. I just can't believe these things keep happening. They definitely need lots of prayers right now. I had a drink in Epcot's France pavilion for them this weekend and said a prayer.


This weekend was the perfect mix of catching up on some sleep and having fun out and about with friends. K and I had a low key Friday night after a busy week. We went to Ale House for some dinner and a quick drink before spending the rest of the night relaxing at home.


Saturday was a fun filled day at Epcot for the International Food & Wine Festival.  I met up with Pamela and Kerri to explore some food and wine booths and we had a surprise visit from Kristen who also happened to be at Disney with her hubs. It was so fun running into her and meeting in real life. 






Sunday was all about relaxing and getting things organized for this week. 

How was your weekend?

Joining the lovely Biana for her Weekending linkup. 

Weeked Happenings


Since I was under the weather last week, this weekend was the perfect break to feel healthy again.

On Friday evening we took Lola to a doggie event hosted by her trainer from when she was a puppy. We wanted to show our faces and let Lola socialize with some other dogs for a bit.



We then met up with some friends for an impromptu dinner at Maxine's on Shine downtown. We love this place because it's dog-friendly and serves an mean brunch with live music. The bruschetta we shared as an appetizer was amazing but our dinner entrees weren't anything to rave about. We still love the relaxed, eclectic atmosphere and the owner Maxine even stopped by our table to chat for a bit.



On Saturday I spent a couple hours at the hairdresser getting highlights done. As they say beauty is pain and upkeeping my blonde highlights is definitely the most painful part of my beauty routine but thankfully I love my hairdresser and we usually spend the whole time chatting and catching up.


 On Saturday evening K and I headed to Disney's Hollywood Studios to walk around and check out a couple shows. Our season passes are expiring in November so I'm trying to hit all the parks when we have a free day here and there.





We didn't go on any rides, just browsed several shops and saw the Muppet Vision 3D show. Finally we stopped off at the Hollywood Brown Derby Lounge for some martinis and a meat & cheese plate followed by dessert. Everything was excellent!


 Sunday was all about relaxing and get my usual house cleaning, laundry, cooking and blogging done. Perfectly productive with some lazy to feel refreshed for this new week. I also finished my last online photography class module on Sunday night so now I just need to sit the exam to hopefully get certified! I've been good about doing the classes but have had little time to practice so that's my next challenge.

How was your weekend?