Showing posts with label Epcot. Show all posts

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?

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. 

Weekend with the Parents


This weekend was pretty busy with my parents in town and we also had our first taste of Fall weather which was perfect for some outdoor fun. On Friday night, K and I wanted to take my parents to somewhere new and different for them so we chose Izziban Korean BBQ and Sushi restaurant. They have a cold bar with different salads, seafood and sushi and then you pick different meats to cook on the grill in the middle of your table. It was a nice time catching up with them and we left overly satisfied and ready to crash.

 
On Saturday the four of us headed to Epcot's Food & Wine Festival. Unfortunately the lines were insanely long for most of the good food and drinks so we opted for the shorter lines and had some drinks in Norway, Canada and Africa.


We saw the Reflections of China movie which my parents really liked.


 And then listened to a really good band in the UK that played songs from Oasis and several other bands.



Since my mom's side of the family is Canadian, they enjoyed exploring Canada and of course had a drink there. If you follow me on Instagram (emilyalisonb), you might have seen my photo from the telephone booth in Canada. I guess they're not just a British thing!


Then we went to the Eat to Beat concert featuring Starship which was perfect for my parents since their music is from the 70's and 80's.



  Finally we settled for some dinner at Chefs de France which was amazing! We had some escargot as an appetizer and shared a bottle of red wine over our meals.



On Sunday, we headed to Wekiva Island. After my mom saw the pictures of our recent trip there with Kate and her husband, she wanted to go check it out for herself. We also took Lola along this time since we figured out it was a dog-friendly place. It was a nice Sunday afternoon relaxing by the river.






Joining the lovely Biana for her Weekending linkup.

Weekending: Charity, Live Music & Good Friends

Morning loves! Hope everyone enjoyed the weekend! 

On Friday Kerri and I went to a charity event to support sexual assault victims in Central Florida. But first, we stopped for a cold one at The Brass Tap to cap off the busy work week and let the rainstorm pass. 


We then headed over to the Mennello Museum of American Art for a night of live music, silent auctions, good wine, and some amazing live art. 



This artist was amazing and I wish I could remember his name but he does an awesome performance while painting to the music of the artist he creates.


On Saturday a group of us headed to Epcot to celebrate a friend's 34th birthday and to see Jon Secada live in concert.


The Flower and Garden Festival was also going on so there were lots of pretty Disney character displays. 





And Jon Secada rocked the house!


The day was capped off with some grub in Mexico and viewing of some of the pretty flower displays as well as a walk through of the butterfly garden. 


What a fun weekend with great friends! Now back to the grind...

Happy Monday!

Joining the lovely Biana for her Weekending linkup.