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

Photo credit

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.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today I'm thankful for my readers and all the amazing blogger friends I've met over the past 3 years. I'm thankful for my family, friends, loving husband and bulldog, Lola. We are spending the day with family and enjoying a nice thanksgiving feast.

Have a happy Thanksgiving and enjoy the holiday weekend!

Also a quick reminder that our Nordstrom giveaway ends tomorrow so make sure you've entered to win this huge gift card just in time for the holidays. Good luck!

$325 Nordstrom Gift Card Giveaway

Beers Worth Trying

I posted recently about some seasonal pumpkin beers I've tried recently. I know not everyone loves beer but K and I like trying different beers every weekend. I don't like heavy or dark beers so most of them are light and refreshing. This year I've also been on a major cider kick so here are some of my favorite beers and ciders that I've tried this year and loved:

 

Key West Southernmost Wheat

 

Sea Dog Blueberry Wheat Ale



Angry Orchard Summer Honey Hard Cider

 

Magic Hat Stealin' Time

 

Forbidden Traveler Apple Ale

Florida Lager

Stella Artois Cidre

Shock Top Twisted Pretzel Wheat

Hop Nosh IPA

 What are your favorite beers or ciders so I can try them out?

Easy Pumpkin Soup

Soup season is upon us and one of my favorites since childhood has been pumpkin or butternut squash soup. I randomly bought a whole pumpkin so I was able to a make a few recipes with it including the Turkey and Pumpkin Chili recipe I posted a couple weeks ago. Pumpkin soup is really easy to whip together and only requires a few basic and inexpensive ingredients.

Ingredients

4 cups chicken stock
1/2 Medium white onion
2 tbsp minced garlic
4 cups fresh cubed pumpkin
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
Ground black pepper, to taste
2 tsp curry powder (optional)
1 tsp ground nutmeg
Bacon crumbles, optional

What To Do:

Bring chicken stock, 1/2 inch cubed pumpkin, chopped onion, and garlic to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes uncovered or until pumpkin is cooked through fully. Use a blender or food processor to puree the soup carefully. Return puree soup to pot on medium heat and add whipping cream, black pepper, curry powder, and nutmeg. Bring to a boil and then simmer uncovered for 15-20 minutes. Garnish with bacon crumbles, peppercorns or fresh parsley.

Enjoy!

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