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.

The Restaurant 03894, Wolfeboro, New Hampshire

When I last left you, I was waxing poetic (well, maybe not that poetic) about Paul's and my recent mini-vacation in the lakes region of New Hampshire.  Since the Bed and Breakfast we were staying at didn't have dinner service on Tuesday nights, we needed to find a place to eat that evening.  After perusing the web for some good looking local spots, Paul spotted The Restaurant 03849 in Wolfeboro, about 20 minutes from our B&B.  Upon checking out the menu and spotting some interesting sounding vegetarian options, it was a thumbs up for me!

We got there about 6pm on a Tuesday evening.  The Restaurant is located on the main strip of Wolfeboro, and at that time the town was relatively quiet.  We were seated right away.  I really liked the cozy atmosphere of the restaurant.  It is small, but not crowded feeling, with a small outdoor patio you can eat in as well. 

Our server introduced herself and we gave our drink orders.  She returned promptly with our drinks and went over that nights specials with us.  I ordered the roasted tomato-dill soup to start (which was the soup of the day) and the roasted avacado for my entree (a roasted avocado stuffed with quinoa, oranges, spiced almonds and balsamic reduction).  Paul started with the basked of hand cut fries, and ordered the shrimp and scallop etouffee for his main course.


The soup was very good.  Light, with the dill giving it a flavor different from most tomato soups you get.  The fries were excellent.  Very well seasoned and not too greasy.  It was a large basket; easily enough for three people, but Paul was able to polish them off no problem (of course, he also skipped lunch that day!).


Our entrees then arrived.  The roasted avocado was excellent!  The orange with the balsamic reduction gave the creamy avocado a nice contrast in flavor I enjoyed very much.  It was so much better that the lone pasta dish you usually have to order as a vegetarian.  The side salad that it came with was a little over dressed for my taste, though.  Paul said his etouffee was very good, with a nice amount of heat; enough to give some flavor without overpowering the pallet. 


I wasn't planning on ordering any dessert, but, since it was my birthday, and coconut is my new favorite flavor, I ordered a slice of their coconut cake.  It was described as a coconut cake with coconut frosting and toasted coconut on the sides. This was the most disappointing part of the meal.  I could not taste any coconut in the cake at all, except for the toasted coconut on the outside of the cake.  It tasted like a basic vanilla cake which they had just removed from the refrigerator.  It reminded me of those Pepperidge Farms cakes you get in the freezer section of the grocery store.  A disappointing end to an otherwise good experience.


All in all, I do recommend you check out The Restaurant if you find yourself in the area.  The eclectic menu will satisfy many tastes, and the meals were very good.  Maybe just skip dessert!

A Peaceful, Easy Feeling

Paul and I and the girls just moved back to Boston in January after living the past four years in Minnesota.  As we had no family there, we had no opportunity to spend any time together as just a husband and wife; it was family time all the time.  When we moved back we made it a point to try to find a time to have a mini vacation for just the two of us, now that we had family close by who were willing to watch Ellie and Maggie for us.  That opportunity presented itself very quickly on our arrival home when we saw a great Living Social deal for two nights at The Wakefield Inn in Wakefield, New Hampshire.  The Living Social package included two nights lodging, a cooking class and gourmet dinner, two hour long massages, a bottle of champagne, and a picnic lunch.

We arrived at the Inn the afternoon of our scheduled cooking class that evening.  We were met by Janel, the owner of the Inn, as well as the chef!  She gave us a brief tour and then we settled  into our room, The Frost Room.  It was a very comfortable and sweet room.  Paul and I promptly fell asleep, waking just in time for our cooking class at 5pm.

There were 4 other people in the class, all whom had also participated in the Living Social deal.  The class was lively and fun.  I especially enjoyed learning how to make pasta by hand; I enjoyed it so much in fact I have ordered a pasta roller attachment for my KitchenAid stand mixer to make my own pasta at home with the girls!  After the class the 6 of us sat down to eat the meal we had helped prepare.  Janel told us that she tries to use only locally sourced and organic foods as much as possible.  She has her own chickens in the back of the Inn for her eggs, and she also has her own vegetable garden.  Delicious food and wonderful company made for a pleasant evening.

We awoke the next day to a lovely breakfast prepared by Janel, and had our in room massages later that morning.  After that, Paul spent the majority of that beautiful day sitting and reading on the quiet, peaceful front porch of the inn.  I drove into nearby Wolfeboro to explore some of the shops there.  When I got back Paul was still sitting on the porch, feeling extremely content and relaxed.  We spent the rest of the afternoon doing nothing, which is exactly what we wanted to do!

That evening we went into Wolfeboro to have dinner at The Restaurant.  We enjoyed our dinner there very  much (more on that in a later post!).

The next morning, after yet another tasty breakfast, we packed up and checked out, making sure to let Janel's assistant, Gretchen, know how much we enjoyed the Inn, and were happy to have such a quiet, comfortable place to relax together.  Gretchen gave us our picnic lunch for the road, as well as some "parting gifts."

The Wakefield Inn was just what the doctor ordered.  They have many packages available on their website that include cooking classes, as well as knitting and quilting packages, and romance and relaxation packages.  If you are looking for a wonderful, relaxing, friendly, warm place to spend some time in the Lake Region of New Hampshire, The Wakefield Inn gets two thumbs up from us!

Creamiest Lime Cream Meringue Pie

So I wanted to make something on my next baking episode with Paul in mind.  I usually bake thinking about what the girls would like, or what I would like, and usually ignore Paul.  Poor husbands...always ignored.

While Paul is not the biggest sweets person, he does like pie, and citrus, so I decided to tackle Dorie Greenspan's Creamiest Lime Cream Meringue Pie.  Let me tell you, the custard from this pie came out amazing!  Creamy and tangy, with just the right amount of sweetness.  Unfortunately, the rest of the pie I messed up on.  I under baked my crust so it just tasted of raw dough, and my meringue came out so "weepy" that it dripped all over my refrigerator requiring me to do a total fridge clean out!  The pie ended up in the trash.  Poor Paul!

The next time I make this pie, I think I will use the graham cracker crust and no meringue, just a whipped cream topping.  And, that custard is really just so delicious, I will for sure make that part again!

Creamiest Lime Cream Meringue Pie from Dorie Greenspan’s “Baking: From My Home to Yours”

Makes 8 servings

For the Filling:

1 cup sugar
Grated zest of 3 limes
4 large eggs, preferably at room temp
3/4 cup fresh lime juice (from about 6 limes)
A 1-inch chunk of fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 1/2 sticks (10 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon size pieces, at room temperature

1 9-inch Graham Cracker Crust, or basic pie crust (I used a pre-made crust purchased at Whole Foods.)

Meringue:

4 large egg whites, at room temperature
½ cup sugar

Have an instant-read thermometer, a strainer and a blender (first choice) or food processor at hand.

Bring a few inches of water to a simmer in a saucepan.

Put the sugar and zest into a heatproof bowl that can be set over the pan of simmering water. Off the heat, rub the sugar and zest between your fingertips for a few minutes, until the sugar is moist and the fragrance of lime is strong.

Whisk in the eggs, then whisk in the juice, ginger and cornstarch.

Set the bowl over the pan and start stirring with the whisk as soon as the mixture feels tepid to the touch. Cook the lime cream until it reaches 180 degrees F. As you whisk- you must whisk constantly to keep the eggs from scrambling – you’ll see that the cream will start out light and foamy, then the bubbles will get bigger, and then, as it gets closer to 180 degrees F, it will start to thicken and the whisk will leave tracks. Don’t stop whisking or checking the temperature. Depending on how much heat you’re giving the cream, getting to temp can take as long as 10 minutes.

As soon as it reaches 180 degrees F, remove the cream from the heat and strain the cream into the container of the blender (or food processor); discard the rest.

Let it cool until it reaches 140 degrees F, about 10 minutes.

Turn the blender to high speed (or turn on the processor) and add the butter a few pieces at a time. Scrape down the sides of the container as needed as you incorporate the butter. After all the butter is in, continue to blend the cream for another 3 minutes. If you find the machine is getting really hot, work in 1-minute intervals, giving the machine a little rest in between beats.

Pour the cream into a container, press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface and refrigerate the cream for at least 4 hours, or overnight.

To Finish the Pie with the Meringue: Preheat the broiler. Whisk the cream to loosen it and spoon it into the pie shell. Place the pie plate on a baking sheet.

Working in a clean dry mixer bowl with the clean whisk attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, whip the egg whites at medium speed until opaque. With the mixer running , add the sugar in a slow stream and continue to beat until the whites are glossy and form firm peaks.

Spread the meringue over the lime filling, swirling it if you’d like. Make sure the meringue comes all the way to the edges of the crust, because it will shrink when it bakes.

Run the pie under the broiler until the meringue is golden and the tips are dark brown (Or, if you’ve got a blowtorch, use it to brown the meringue.) Remove the pie from the oven and let it cool for about 15 minutes, then refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving.