Disneyland 2024 – What we ate Day 4

by penji1

On day 4, we headed back into Disneyland early and ran around Tommorroland walking right on to rides before it got really crowded. At one point I realized I was starving and the closest thing to eat was a Green Apple Churro with Caramel Dipping Sauce so we bought one. Turns out it was the churro girl’s first sale of the day so she gave us a button and had us sign her book! Ha ha! Gotta love Disneyland! The churro by itself was so sour! You had to eat it with the sauce. Even then we couldn’t eat the whole thing between us but we can say we had the first churro of the day! Cort grabbed some real breakfast from Galactic Grill but I was too slow to get a picture, apparently she was hungry. 🙂

We had lunch at Bengal Barbecue, one of our all time favorite places to eat.

It never disappoints! I can’t remember the names of the things we ordered but everything there is always good! This is one of the places we always eat at then we go to Disney.

We decided to head back to the hotel for a rest but first Courtney ran to New Orleans Square to get beignets and I headed to headed to Rancho Del Zocalo to get Churro Loops with Caramel Dipping Sauce.

The beignets were not great, one was lemon and and one was strawberry. The strawberry wasn’t very not good but the lemon one was a little better.

The churro loops were really good!

After a rest, we headed over to California Adventures for the Oogie Boogie Bash. We ran around going on rides while everyone else was trick or treating or watching the parade. We did Trick or Treat a bit so we could see Hades (one of Cor’ts favs) and also Oogie Boogie.

We ate dinner at Aunt Cass Cafe. We got the Turkey Pest Club and it was one of the best things we ate at Disneyland on this trip. Highly recommend!

OK, there’s day 4, only one day left.

Disneyland 2024 – What we ate Day 3

by penji1

On day 3, we headed in to Disney California Adventures. We almost always eat breakfast at the Coffee Cart which is right across from The Little Mermaid ride. Courtney always gets this massive breakfast burrito and I always get a chocolate croissant. We tried the Peanut Butter Cold Brew which Cort didn’t really care for but I think drank most of it so pretty good.

We rode all the rides then stopped to get some treats on our way out for a break. The big bar in the middle is a Rice Krispie Smore’s Bar and it was delicious. The two Mickey’s are cake pops, the one on the right a dark chocolate one which was super chocolatley and yummy and the orange Mickey is a vanilla cake pop which Cort said was great. Highly recommend checking out Trolley Treats.

We were feeling a little hot and tired so headed back to the hotel for a rest. When we went back in, California Adventures was crazy crowded. We decided to call it a day and head back to our air conditioned room.

I grabbed this Caprese Sandwich from The Earl of Sandwich in Downtown Disney which is one of the best Caprese Sandwiches I have ever had! and Cort grabbed a smoothie from Jamba Juice in DD and we headed back to our room for some air conditioning and a rest.

And so ends Day 3, Day 4 coming at you later!

Disneyland 2024 – What we ate Day 2

by penji1

Day 2 was our first official day in Disneyland so we started off with breakfast at one of our favorite places to eat, Jolly Holiday Bakery. We got two breakfast croissants, one bacon, egg, and cheese and the other a chocolate croissant. We shared and had a half each. They were delicious. Also an Iced Caramel Macchiato which was super yummy.

For lunch we hit up Edelweiss for the viral Garlic Cheesy Brat which totally live up to the hype, it was delicious and I don’t evn really like brats!

Courtney went over to the Galactic Grill and grabbed some fries and a Blue Raspberry Slush with a Mickey shaped Light Up Glow Cube to go with the brat. The slushy was especially good because it was pretty warm that day.

She also got this Darth By Chocolate for dessert. It was ok, not great but not terrible either. It was basically chocolate pudding with crumbled up Oreo Cookies. It did have cute edible decorations. Here’s a closer look at those.

These were little chocolates so of course quite tasty.

For dinner we went back to Jolly Holiday.

Courtney had a Boo-Gogi Beef Sandwich with Cheese Corn Soup and said both were quite yummy.

I was feeling like I needed some greens in my diet at this point so had a Cranberry Pecan Salad which was delightful, would def get again.

To round out our first day at Disney, we decided we needed some ice cream so we hit up one of our favorite places, the Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor.

(Apologies for the terrible picture.) I had this glorious Rest in Chocolate Sundae which was to die for, if you are a chocoholic.

Cort had the Chocolate Chip Cookie Sundae and said it was also very tasty.

Courtney couldn’t resist this Mickey’s Ice Cream Truck which I have to say is pretty cute!

All in all, a great food day at Disneyland!

So there’s day 2 done. Stay tuned for day 3 coming soon!

Disneyland 2024 – What we ate Day 1

by penji1

My daughter Courtney and I love Disneyland and every few years or so we try to get there. We went last week and had a blast! We came home exhausted. I thought I’d share some of the food we ate while there.

Technically we did not eat anything from the picture above but it is all made out of food so I’m including it. We stayed at the Grand Californian and they have big displays like the one pictured above for the various holidays and they are all made out of food!

Amazing, right? So fun and so cute. And all made out of food!

We headed for Downtown Disney for some lunch. Courtney wanted to go to a dumpling place called Din Tai Fung so that’s where we ate lunch.

We had dumplings which were delicious!

And noodles which were my favorite.

And more dumplings which I didn’t try because Cort said they were spicy and I don’t do spicy but she said they were great.

Then we had more dumpling for dessert and these were so good too! So I would totally recommend Din Tai Fung! The food was delicious, our waiter was awesome, all around a great place to eat!

We headed back to the hotel and while we were walking through the lobby, we saw that the famous Grand Californian cookie cart was out so we headed over and had a look.

Courtney got the “Old Hag Krispy” and said it was delicious.

I got the “Caramel Apple Cookie” and while it was beautiful to look at, it did not taste very good. The green cookie part was extremely sour so you had to have some caramel from the middle of the cookie to make it edible. Like I said, it was beautiful to look at but kind of meh to eat.

We finished our day at the Craftman’s Grill in the Grand Californian. We ordered this Caprese Pizza for dinner and it was delicious!

OK, so there’s day 1. Stay tuned for Day 2 coming soon!

Satiny Chocolate Glaze

by penji1

I made this yellow buttery bundt cake for a neighbor friend and found this yummy glaze to top it with and wanted to share because it was delicious! And easy too.

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

3 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Combine chocolate chips, butter, and corn syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until melted and smooth. Add vanilla. Pour over cake. (It would also be a great topping for donuts.)

recipe from Allrecipes

Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad

by penji1

Another yummy Summer salad recipe! In addition to yummy, it was easy to make and didn’t take much time either.

DRESSING

1 cup mayonnaise (I felt like there was too much mayo so next time I’ll use less)

1/3 cup sour cream

1 clove garlic, pressed

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

SALAD

1 pound Penne pasta, cooked

6 Romaine lettuce leaves, torn into bite size pieces

1 1/2 – 2 cups grape tomatoes, cut in half

4 green onions, chopped

1 large can chicken, drained and broken up with a fork

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1 In a small bowl, stir together dressing ingredients.

2 Toss half the dressing with the pasta and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

3 Mix in remaining ingredients including remaining dressing.

recipe from Spicy Southern Kitchen

Caesar Salad with Pasta

by penji1

Two of my favorite things in one dish – Caesar Salad and Pasta! I will definitely be making this one again. And again. And Again.

1 pound fusilli corkscrew pasta

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese, divided

1/4 cup lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

2 cloves garlic, minced

salt and pepper

2 Romaine hearts

1 Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and allow to cool.

2 In a blender or food processor, combine mayo, 1/2 cup Parmesan, lemon juice, olive oil, mustard, Worcestershire, garlic, salt and pepper. Process until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to use.

3 Cut or tear lettuce into bite size pieces. Place in large bowl. Toss cooled pasta with lettuce. Pour dressing over salad and top with remaining Parmesan.

recipe from Taste and Tell

Harvest Cobb Salad

by penji1

I know this looks like any old salad but it was really good and really easy to make. I will for sure make it again.

SALAD

4 slices cooked bacon, crumbled

2 hard boiled eggs, chopped

6 cups chopped Romaine lettuce

1 – 2 apples, diced

1 pear, diced

1/2 cup pecan halves

1/3 cup dried cranberries

1/3 cup crumbled goat cheese (no one likes goat cheese here so I left this out)

DRESSING

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup milk

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

1 For the salad, layer all salad ingredients in a large bowl, starting with the lettuce at the bottom.

2 For the dressing, whisk together all dressing ingredients in a small bowl.

recipe from Damn Delicious

“When You Reach Me” Charcuterie Board

by penji1

I hosted Book Group at my house the other night and we always have a treat after discussing the book so I decided to make a charcuterie board with some of the food that was mentioned in the book that we read which was “When You Reach Me” by Rebecca Stead. It was a really good book and we had a great discussion about it. I tweeked some of the food from the book to liven it up a bit. So, here we go!

Lay’s Potato Chips

Fritos

Cheese Doodles – which I don’t thing they make anymore, at least I couldn’t find them so I got Cheese Puffs instead

Oreos

Hershey’s Kisses

Animal Cookies – I went with the frosted ones instead of the plain so there would be some more color in the board

Almonds – I found some Snickerdoodle flavored ones

Cheerioes – I bought some Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cheerioes and made these Chocolate Cheerios Peanut Butter Cereal Bars instead of giving everyone a bowl of Cheerios recipe here

Lemonade

I think charcuterie boards are so fun to make and to eat!

Chocolate Cheerios Peanut Butter Cereal Bars

by penji1

I hosted Book Group at my house last night. We read the book “When You Reach Me” by Rebecca Stead which I really liked. I decided to do a little charcuterie board with some of the food mentioned in the book for our treat. (More on that tomorrow.) Cheerios were mentioned so I gave this easy treat a try and they were a hit. I didn’t have high hopes for them but they were really good.

5 cups chocolate Cheerios cereal (the store I went to didn’t have chocolate Cheerios so I got Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cheerios and they worked great)

3/4 cup raisins (I despise raisins so I left them out)

3/4 cup salted peanuts

1 cup corn syrup

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

1 Spray 9 x 13″ pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl, stir together Cheerios, raisins, and peanuts. Set aside.

2 In a sauce pan, combined corn syrup and sugars. Heat to boiling over medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter.

3 Pour peanut butter mixture over cereal mixture and stir until thoroughly coasted. Spread evenly in pan.

4 In a small microwavable bowl, microwave chips on high for 1 minute, stirring every 30 seconds, until melted and smooth. Pour chocolate into a small plastic bag, snip off a corner, and drizzle over treats. Put in fridge for 15 minutes or until chocolate is set.

recipe from Cheerios