Day 6 - "Free Day"

Our 6th day in Disney was sooooo relaxing. We had seen/done everything we really wanted to experience at all the parks, so we spent a lazy morning at the hotel before heading off in search of a tasty lunch at Coral Reef in Epcot.

The decor in the place was really cool - a whole wall of the dining room is a huge aquarium complete with sharks, manta rays and sea turtles!





















We were definitely distracted by the awesome fish while we ate...them...hmmm. We couldn't decide what to try for the appetizers so we got the Appetizer for Two, that way we could try everything! It had crab cakes with tropical fruit salad and tequila aioli, grilled shrimp with cucumber salad, BBQ beef tenderloin skewers, plus two tiny cups of creamy lobster soup, which Aaron sipped oh-so-elegantly.














While waiting for our entrees, we were visited by a gigantic sea turtle:











For our entrees I tried the Lobster Ravioli and Aaron went for the Seared Rainbow Trout - yum!











We topped off the meal with fabulous desserts: Almond Gelato and a very grownup chocolate dessert - Baileys & Jack Daniel's Mousse!














We spent the rest of the day shopping, laughing ourselves sick at my lack of expertise or even just passable skill on the mini-golf course and then saw Cirque du Soleil - it was a fantastic day and we ended it with what was arguably the best meal of our entire trip at Jiko, an African fusion restaurant in The Animal Kingdom Lodge.

For an appetizer I tried the Taste of Africa, which included four dips with housemade naan bread with other assorted breads. Aaron tried the Wild Boar Tenderloin appetizer and it was so delicious - had a slight venison taste and was so tender! We also go the bread with tamarind butter...which I couldn't seem to stop eating and am desperate to try to re-create the next time I make Indian food.





















Our appetites were definitely whetted by the appetizers - everything was so delicious, including the South African hard cider we tried. For entrees I decided to eat duck for the first time and ordered the Seared Barbarie Duck Breast over a potato and spinace masala, chanterelle mushrooms, bruleed figs and a port emulsion sauce. Being as the only fig I've ever had until this was inside a Newton, these were incredible! I am a fig convert for sure! The duck breast was cooked perfectly medium rare and had such an incredible flavor...I had to force myself to slow down and savor every single bite.











Aaron became addicted to lamb dishes on this trip and when he saw lamb on Jiko's menu he had to try it. He ordered the Roasted Lamb Loin with heirloom tomato-chickpea salad, bacon vinaigrette and Kottumbari relish. It was tender and cooked perfectly - he loved every single bite...and I have to commend him, he absolutely HATES Fig Newtons (also the only kind of figs he's eaten) and was pessimistic about the fig, but he tried a bite of mine and was pleasantly surprised at the light and not overly-sweet flavor. Maybe we'll have to try fresh figs at home one of these days...











We were excited to try our desserts and weren't disappointed! Aaron had the Cape Malva Pudding - warm Cape Dutch cake with vanilla custard, mango and apricot sorbet. I went for the Cheesecake and Blueberries. It combined two of my favorite flavors: lemon and blueberries...yum! Creamy cheesecake made with lemon curd, dressed with blueberry coulis, blueberry compote and topped with a "bee sting". I asked our waitress and she explained it as a poppyseed honey crisp...outstanding!

Day 5 - Hollywood Studios

Our fifth day at Disney consisted of lunch at Epcot and then dinner at Hollywood Studios (previously called MGM). We didn't see/ride as much at Hollywood because its such a small park and there were sooooo many people, so the waits were really long.

However, Aaron talked me into riding the Tower of Terror and I have to say...it was the single most terrifying experience of my life...and when you consider all the times I've broken/sprained/mangled my body over these past 27 years...that's saying something! To be fair, it was definitely partially my fault for thinking I could handle it...even though I know I hate the sensation of falling and am terrified of elevators. It feeds into my claustrophobia...but I figured one big drop - whatever. I can handle any coaster out there and have done free-fall style swing rides, so who cares?

WRONG.

If we had purchased the horrifying photo taken of us on the ride it would have shown that I basically ripped out a patch of my husband's leg hair (I was gripping that with one hand while my other hand had a deathgrip on my seatbelt), nearly threw up on the small child seated in front of me (I had to literally swallow it down) and had my leg up and braced against the seatback in front of me in a desperate attempt to stop falling! Oh and I half-cried the whole time.

No more Tower of Terror for me.

Thankfully the delicious French lunch I ate stayed in my stomach!

So onto the food...we ate lunch at this great French restaurant over at Epcot...mostly because we couldn't find another restaurant we wanted to try at Hollywood other than where we were eating for dinner...and we had seen the restaurant earlier in our trip and wanted to try French food. Needless to say we weren't disappointed!











I was on the hunt for amazing cheese, so I had to order the "Assiette de fromages de France" (assorted cheese plate) and Aaron has never had Escargot, so he tried it...and loved it! I was in cheese heaven with an incredible goat cheese and brie...and two other cheeses I completely forget the names of...oh well, the goat cheese and brie were the best!
























We both ordered the same main course - "Plat de cote de boeuf au cabernet avec pates" (beef short ribs braised in Cabernet with pasta, pearl onions and mushrooms). It was incredible - the meat just melted in my mouth!











Before we ordered dessert, we got a visit from a furry little friend...














I was in the mood for chocolate, so I tried this absolutely incredible chocolate cake...whose french name is completely escaping me...but Aaron went with the "Crepe a la pomme et cannelle, glace vanille, caramel jus de pommes", which is a crepe filled with cinnamon, apple, vanilla ice cream and apple caramel sauce. Both were delicious and our stomachs were groaning by the time we made it out of the restaurant and back on the boat headed over to Hollywood Studios!





















After I recovered from the "incident" at the Tower of Terror, we had a great day! We ended it with a late dinner at the much-lauded Hollywood Brown Derby restaurant with incredible 5-star American cuisine. It is a meal we still talk about!

For appetizers I tried their Creamy Mushroom Soup and Aaron had the Tuna Tartare. He maintains that the Tartare was one of the most incredible and perfectly balanced dishes he's ever eaten!





















The appetizers were so delicious and beautifully presented, we couldn't wait to get our entrees! I had the Sterling Silver Pork Chop topped with smoked gouda and apricot preserve served over napa cabbage, bacon and potato hash with an apple cider jus. Aaron went for the braised Lamb Shank served over a creamy cheesy polenta. Delicious!
























After that incredible meal it was so hard to choose desserts - all of the desserts looked so tempting. We wanted to try something "different" so I went for the Grapefruit Cake, which is apparently one of their signature desserts and consisted of light layers of yellow cake with a fresh grapefruit cream cheese frosting. Aaron had their "Chocolate Three Ways", which turned out to be a dark almond buttermilk cake layered with milk chocolate truffle cream and a white chocolate chambord. Wow.





















Thank you Brown Derby for an amazing meal!

Honeymoon Foodie Journey - Day 2

Monday was our first full day at Disney and let me just say that for an entire week we only ate breakfast once. And only because we had to check out of our room at 11 am and get to the airport on our last day...every single other day we would go to bed saying "yeah if we feel like it when we wake up we'll grab breakfast", then zzzZZZzzz and we'd wake up late morning and say "screw it, lets just relax and focus on getting to our lunch reservations on time!"

Oh well. We did get one amazing Iron Chef worthy breakfast...stay tuned...

Monday we decided to do Animal Kingdom and had a wonderful time. We were able to see and do everything we wanted from shows to rides (after they "un-stuck" the roller coaster car on one - yikes!) to parades. Animal Kingdom closes earlier than any of the other parks (at 5pm), so we ate lunch there and ended up in Downtown Disney for dinner eating at Planet Hollywood. I didn't take any photos of our food at PH - mostly because it was basic (still delicious!) American fare...however, the decor was...well...entertaining?

Lunch was so delicious - we went to "Yak & Yeti" for some Asian cuisine. Check out the decor!
























Onto the food...we went for the Dim Sum Basket for 2 as an appetizer, hoping for steamed dumpling goodness...we weren't disappointed!














Next up, entrees! Aaron went for a Seafood Curry and I had to try the Crispy Mahi Mahi served with Jasmine rice and a Cantonese sweet & sour sauce - yum!





















Now I know there is no possible way for me to build up my dessert the way it deserves. It was by far the best thing I've ever eaten in the dessert category...EVER. Mango Pie. I had no idea it even existed. Since then I've been on the hunt for a recipe and can't quite fine the right one. I did find out that I can order a whole mango pie from the restaurant to be delivered to my door for $12...hint hint hint (Christmas is coming, right?) It turned my favorite fruit into this gorgeous light, creamy, sweet and tart filling balanced with a buttery shortbread cookie crust. Sweet lord, it was amazing!











Aaron went with the trio of sorbets and was righteously disgusted when his raspberry sorbet was dusted with flaked coconut...ugh! The way to ruin any food is to add shredded or flaked coconut - yuck! Thankfully it was easily brushed off.














So for our dinner at Planet Hollywood, the most noteworthy detail was the overly-creepy "display" hanging directly over our table:
















So glad I could end this post by sharing with you the image that alternately made us laugh and recoil the rest of the night!

Is This A Food Blog?

No, this isn't my food blog, but the following post does focus a lot on food! To catch everyone up, I am now a happily married woman of almost 3 weeks. We spent our honeymoon in DisneyWorld and had an absolute blast! Both being food-lovers, a lot of our joy focused on being able to try food from all over the world that we would never have been able to try anywhere close to our home. So below is my attempt to share this food journey...

Night One - We arrived in Disney in the late afternoon and tried the restaurant in the resort where we were staying: Boatwrights. It had incredible cajun-infused food and being as that is one of Aaron's favorite "food regions", he was anxious to try it.














When we booked our honeymoon we wanted it to be all-inclusive, so we got a dining plan that included everything we could possibly want! It was incredible - so for our appetizers I tried the Crawfish Bites and Aaron went for the Gumbo...delicious! I loved the rémoulade sauce served with my crawfish.














Aaron went with Blackened Fish Fillet with a Grilled Grit Cake and Stewed Green Tomatoes...yum! I had to go with the Fillet Medallions served with White Macaroni & Cheese with a Red Wine Demi-Glace. Incredible!














Dessert? Ummmm yes please! Aaron went with the Lemon Pound Cake and I had to try the Bread Pudding with Rum Raisin Ice Cream.

Can we just say its a good thing we were walking for MILES every day while eating like this? Otherwise we wouldn't have been able to fit into the airplane seats on the way home!

This is the first in a series of food/honeymoon posts. I don't want to post everything at once because well...two meals a day...6 days...yeah, that would be an insanely long post! So for today that's it! We kicked off our honeymoon Cajun-style!