Stockholders Restaurant, Weymouth, MA

Yesterday was Paul's birthday, so the girls and I wanted to take him out to dinner.  We weren't wanting to go into Boston or go anywhere that would require a drive of more than 15 minutes, so we kept our restaurant search local.  Luckily, there was a restaurant right down the street that we had heard some great feedback on, and, since it was a steakhouse, it was a perfect fit for Paul's birthday dinner, as he loves a good steak.  So off we went to Stockholders Restaurant.

We had 6:00 pm reservations, and we arrived at the restaurant promptly at 6:00.  We were seated right away, as there were still many tables available.  Our table was right in front of a large fish tank, which Ellie and Maggie were enthralled with, as it is stocked with the same variety of fish that are in Finding Nemo.

Our server came over promptly and took our drink orders and told us about the specials for the night.  After we perused the menu, she came back to take our orders.  Maggie ordered her usual pasta and marinara sauce from the children's menu, which surprisingly also came with french fries.  Ellie ordered her new favorite menu item, a Cesar Salad with steak.  Paul chose the 14 ounce as poivre New York sirloin with embedded peppercorns while I went with the pan seared scallops over a creamy lobster risotto.

After ordering we were presented with a basket of bread and crackers, along with olive oil for dipping, and cowboy caviar, which is a kind of black eyed pea salad.  The bread was a little stale, but the cowboy caviar was a nice, unique touch with the crackers. 

Our entrees arrived promptly.  Maggie's pasta was perfectly fine, but what can you do to pasta?  The french fries were very tasty.  I don't know if they were hand cut, but I hope they were, as Maggie's dish cost $9.95!  As do all the children's menu items.  A little pricey for a kid's menu, considering the range of choices aren't any different than what you would get at a casual family restaurant.

The salad portion of Ellie's meal was also perfectly fine, but the steak on top must just be the kitchen leftovers, as it was grisly and tough.  Almost inedible.

However, Paul did enjoy his steak.  It was tender and well cooked (medium).  He did state, however, that he wished he had ordered it with the optional presentation of peppercorn sauce instead of peppercorn encrusted, as the pepper taste kind of overwhelmed the dish.

My scallops were very good.  They were cooked perfectly and had a very nice sear to them.  The accompanying risotto, taste wise, was also good, however, as I pointed out to Paul, it isn't a risotto.  It was clumpy and sticky and did not flow on the plate.  I would have billed it as a cheesy lobster rice, and not risotto.  A little false advertising.

We did not order dessert, as I had earlier in the day dropped of a cake at the restaurant which they were kind enough to serve to us after our meal was done.

Service was pleasant, although quite slow, which was surprising as about halfway through our meal, the restaurant filled up and there was quite a large crowd waiting for tables.  Once we were served our meals, it was a long time before the server reappeared to check on us.  When we finished our meals, it was a good 10 - 15 minutes before our plates were cleared and another 10 minutes before the cake was presented.

All in all, our night a Stockholders was fine, but nothing ultra special.  I would consider giving it another try in the future.

One Family's Disney Vacation: Day 3 -- Blizzard Beach

Our third day in exciting Orlando, Florida brought us to the moment that one member of our party was most excited about. I won't tell you who, but I'll give you a hint.  In our family of four, this person is the only one who doesn't wear a two piece bathing suit.  Welcome to Blizzard Beach!

this

The park looks like a frosty ski resort—complete with a functioning chair lift. It's an action-packed water wonderland with exciting waterslides and attractions for the whole family.

We arrived at the water park before it opened, and waited with the other water lovers for the rope drop.  Once that happened, we hightailed it over to the wave pool to stake out our primo seats under the shade of the palm trees.  After settling in and lathering up with some sunblock, we headed over to the chair lift to ride to the top of the "mountain" for our first waterslide ride, Teamboat Springs. This is a family raft ride down a winding river. Big kids, teens and adults can all ride together in a large raft that holds 4 to 6 people.  

Even early in the day, the wait for this ride was starting to back up, and it was already pretty hot.  Thank goodness for the misting stations along the cue for the ride!  

The whole family enjoyed this ride, and as a parent it was great to have a slide we could all participate in together.  I loved watching the girls faces as we rode down the slide and splashed down at the bottom.  The girls declared this attraction a hit!

Next, Paul really wanted to go to the Summit Plummet.  This premier waterslide attraction for big kids, teens and adults is not for the faint of heart. At a "chilling" 120 feet high, this sky-scraping ski jump of a thrill ride down the slopes of Mount Gushmore is one of the world's tallest and fastest free-fall body slide.  However, neither of the girls was down for that slide, so while he was off to defy death, the girls and I headed over to Runoff Rapids.

Runoff Rapids are three different inner tube waterslides. Each flume is different; the center slide is fully enclosed and accommodates one rider at a time. The two outer slides can accommodate rafts that hold up to 2 people.  On our first attempt, we grabbed one double tube and one single tube.  The girls rode in the double tube and I got the single.  When we got to the bottom of the slide, the girls wanted to do it again, and knowing that the wait for Paul at Summit Plummet would be long, we headed back up the stairs for a second ride.  This time Ellie took the single tube and Maggie and I doubled up.

We decided to head back to our spot at the wave pool, and on our way there we found Paul, who had just finished his slide. Another big hit!  Ellie wanted to go do Runoff Rapids again, so she and Paul headed there while Maggie and I went to the wave pool.

After playing in the pool for a while, and grabbing a frozen lemonade, Ellie and Paul returned from their slide and we all decided to relax in Cross Country Creek. This is Blizzard Beaches' lazy river attraction where you grab an inner tube raft, put your feet up and chill out in this gently meandering stream that flows around the perimeter of Disney's Blizzard Beach Water Park. Pass through polar caves—large cave-like tunnels—and under gentle, misty waterfalls as your raft drifts aimlessly along. This would have been a very nice experience, if not for the plethora of people who insisted on pushing their way through the people who were just calmly riding in their tubes.  Rudeness abounded on this attraction.

After that, we headed back to the wave pool.  As I am not the biggest fan of water parks I decided to head back to the resort to relax a little before our night out at Disney's Boardwalk and our dinner at Kouzzina by Cat Cora.  Paul and the girls stayed for another couple of hours of waterslide fun!

One Family's Disney Vacation: Day 2 -- Animal Kingdom

Our first full day in the Disney World resorts brought us to our first official theme park Animal Kingdom!

We woke up early that morning and dined on a breakfast of cold cereal in our hotel room.  After dressing and catching the shuttle bus we arrived at our destination.  Ellie and Maggie we so excited to be there.

One of the attractions that the girls had been anticipating ever since we started planning our vacation was the newest roller coaster at Animal Kingdom: Expedition Everest.  We had purchased Birnbaum Guides Walt Disney World for Kids for them to use to see all Disney had to offer, and to find rides and attractions they may want to explore on our trip, and Expedition Everest made it to the very top of the list for them.

We were thinking that we may need to get a Fastpass for this ride, as we had heard that the wait can get pretty long, but we were at the park so early that the wait in the stand-by line said it was only 15 minutes, so we went for it.  The 15 minute wait time I think comprised about 13 minutes of walking through the cue area and only about 2 minutes of actual standing and waiting for our turn on the ride.

Once we got to the front of the ride, Paul and I were concerned that one (or both) of the girls would change their minds about attempting the ride, but that was not the case.  They bravely climbed into the car, and off we went.

We are next to ride Expedition Everest!

Any concerns Paul and I had about the girls liking the ride were put to rest when after it was over, they immediately proclaimed it "awesome" and insisted we do it again.  So, we got right back in line for round two!

After Expedition Everest, we next tackled another popular ride at Animal Kingdom, the Kali River Rapids.  That was also a very fun ride with a relatively short wait.  Maggie was the one in our raft that ended up getting the brunt of the splashing.  She loved it, though.

We then grabbed Fastpasses to the Kilimanjaro Safari ride and checked out the Maharajah Jungle Trek, a self-guided walking tour of native Asian wildlife.  The girls loved seeing the silver back gorillas on this tour!

A sleeping gorilla.

After that, it was time for us to use our Fastpasses for the Kilimanjaro Safari. This ride provides the chance to see African animals including giraffes, black rhinos and lions, as they roam the 100-acre savanna in the park.  This was great!  We saw so many wonderful animals and being able to see them in an open air truck really made you feel like you were in the African grasslands.

After that, it was time for our lunch at Tusker House (review to come), with which we received priority seating for the Finding Nemo: The Musical show.  We had time before we needed to be at the show, so we stopped by the Tree of Life to catch the It's Tough to be a Bug movie.  This 3-D attraction ended up being a favorite of both the adults and kids.  The 3-D effects were done very well, as were the "interactive" effects of the film.  A must see!

Our family fooling around while checking out the Tree of Life on our way to It's Tough to be a Bug.

Then we headed over to Finding Nemo: The Musical -- and not a moment too soon.  We were getting to the hottest part of the day; the perfect time to sit and relax for about 30 minutes in a nice air-conditioned theater.  The premium seats were excellent, and we sat right next to the stage, which enabled us to see much of the action up close.  The production was wonderful, and the girls found the show both entertaining and magical.

After the show, we headed over to try out the DINOSAUR ride, a thrilling adventure aboard a time rover that transports Guests to the age of dinosaurs on a daring quest to bring back a living piece of history. This ride was very loud, dark, and rough, and when it was over, Maggie declared her dislike of it.  In fact, I think she kept her eyes closed and covered her ears for the entire ride.  Ellie, however loved it, and while she and Paul got back in line to ride it again, Maggie and I partook of some of the carnival games in Dinoland USA while waiting for them to finish.

After that we headed to dinner at Yak and Yeti (review to come).  When dinner was done, the park had already closed for the evening, so we went to catch the shuttle bus back to our resort.

Our first theme park was done, and all-in-all, it ended up being a very successful, fun day.  Coming up...

Blizzard Beach!

One Family's Disney Vacation: The Beginning

As I mentioned in my previous post, we just returned from a week long stay at Walt Disney World in Florida.  It really was a great trip!  We are so glad we did it and think we timed it just right for our family.  Ellie and Maggie are 8 and 7 years old, respectively, and were the perfect age for a trip of this sort.  Young enough to still want to hang out with their parents, but old enough to have good stamina and patience for a busy, go-go-go type of trip Disney can be.

Our trip started with a 4:00 am taxi pick up at our house to take us to Logan Airport.  After a quick breeze through security (I mean really; who else is flying at that hour?) we grabbed breakfast at the airport before our separate flights.  Due to the fact that we wanted to use frequent flier miles, Paul and Ellie took one flight and Maggie and I were on another. 

America runs on Dunkin!

Maggie and I arrived in Orlando first.  We headed over to the area of the airport that housed the Disney Magical Express bus service that would take us to our resort.  This was a great addition to our trip.  Since we were staying at a Disney resort, it saved us the extra expense of renting a car, and also since we used their bus service, we did not need to pick up our bags at the airport; Disney took care of that and delivered them to our hotel room.  I loved this perk!!!

After a short wait in the cue, Maggie and I boarded our bus and off we went to our hotel.  We were staying in the Wilderness Lodge.  What a great resort!  It is a favorite of families traveling to Disney World and it is easy to see why.  The grand lobby is quite a site to see and the amenities and activities are great for the kids! 

View of the lobby of the Wilderness Lodge

After another short wait in line to check-in (we had done online check-in a couple of days prior to our leaving, which really cut down on our wait time) Maggie and I went to check out our room.  There was nothing too special about the room.  Very standard hotel room, but since we would be spending minimal time there, it was perfectly fine.

Paul and Ellie arrived at the resort a couple of hours after Maggie and I did, and after a quick lunch in the hotel's casual restaurant, the Whispering Canyon Café, Paul went up to the room to relax while the girls and I did a little tour of the resort.

Maggie and Ellie on our tour of the resort grounds.

 

Later that afternoon we took the boat from the resort over to Fort Wilderness to partake in a long standing Disney tradition, the Hoop Dee Doo Review dinner show.  It is a classic show, filled with one liners, puns, and silly jokes, but entertaining non the less.  We dined on fried chicken, BBQ  ribs, corn, baked beans, corn bread and strawberry shortcake (and one vegetarian meal for me!).  Nothing to write home about, but you aren't there for the food, really. 

 Lots of vittles to eat.

 By the time the dinner and show were over, we were all starting to feel the effects of our early wake up call that day, so we headed back to the hotel to relax and hit the sheets early.  We wanted to make sure we got all the sleep we needed for the next day.  Our first full day in Disney World and our first theme park adventure.  

Stay tuned!!!

A Little Disney Magic

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but I do have a good excuse.  We just returned from a week long stay at Walt Disney World!  It was a vacation two years in the making and we are so glad we went.  The whole family had a wonderful time.

I will be posting more about our vacation, so stay tuned!

I Could Never Work at Dunkin Donuts!

I started playing this game online on Facebook.  It is kind of addicting, especially since it gives you the chance to win a $10 gift card to Dunkin Donuts.  Let me tell you, while we did love living in Minnesota, one of the many drawbacks was there are no Dunkin Donuts there.  I don't know how I survived the four years!

Anyway, have some fun with this game and maybe you can win a gift card!

Brownie Newtons

So, I was looking through my cabinets the other day and found a forgotten container of dried figs I had purchased about a month ago.  Now, I could go the obvious route and make a homemade fig jam or fig newton bar, but why be obvious?  And, since I was in a chocolate kind of mood, my creation became:

Brownie Newtons!

Chocolate and Fig?  Maybe it sounds a little strange, but make this recipe and you will find out very quickly strange can be delicious!

Brownie Newtons (adapted from "The Bon Appetit Cookbook" by Barbara Fairchild)


For the filling

• 1 1/2 cups finely chopped dried stemmed figs
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/8 teaspoon allspice
• pinch of salt

For the brownies

• 3 1/2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 2/3 cup sifted all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 extra large eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup plus 6 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the filling
Combine the figs, water, sugar, lemon juice, allspice, and salt in a heavy large saucepan.  Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer until the figs are tender and all the liquid is absorbed, stirring occasionally, about 8  minutes.  Remove from the heat and cool completely.


For the brownies
Line a 9x9x2 inch baking pan with aluminum foil. Butter foil and dust with flour.


Melt chocolate and butter in a heavy small saucepan over very low heat, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and cool completely.


Preheat over to 325 degrees.  Sift flour and salt into a small bowl.  Whisk eggs, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl to blend.  Whisk in melted chocolate.  Fold in flour mixture. Spread 1 1/4 cups of brownie batter in prepared pan.  Scatter the fig mixture over the top.  Spoon the rest of the brownie batter over the figs and gently smooth. (Batter may not cover all the figs).  Cover pan tightly with foil.


Bake the brownies for 15 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake until a tester inserted into the center comes out with some moist crumbs still attached, about 30 minutes longer.  Transfer to rack and cool 5 hours.