Belly Up to the Bar With Bendy and Her Friendies!!! Button Pics & New Thread Started!

[oybolshoi]

Since I seem to have scared everyone away again ... a few more pictures from the Flower & Garden Festival.

 

[oybolshoi]

La la la lal laalalalalala ....

You wanna know what we had for dinner last night? I hope to upload pictures tomorrow and start posting to the blog this weekend. I'm traveling next week for the bank and will be involved in some training (I tremble for the poor people who have to rely on my supposed expertise ... )

Anyway ...

Course I: Pan Roasted Jumbo Sea Scallop with Yukon Gold Potato and Asparagus Strudel, Fava Bean Smoked Bacon Relish and Sun Choke Soubise.

Course II: Braised Rabbit Risotto with English Pea Emulsion, Crispy Pea Tendril-Spring Radish Salad, and White Truffle Oil.

Course III: Pan Roasted Hudson Valley Foie Gras with Almond and Mascarpone Toasted Brioche and Strawberry Gastrique.

Course IV: Grilled Rack of Spring Lamb with Salemville Amish Blue Cheese and Morel Mushroom Fritter, Sauteed Local Spinach and Forest Mushroom Sauce

Course V: Warmed Brioche Bread Pudding with Bourbon Currant Sauce and Vanilla Whipped Cream.

Two wines were served ... a white and a red ... unlimited pours.

Great evening, lovely food. We would have easily been charged $150 per person at Disney for something comparable during F&W. Knowing that these kinds of events are taking place in STL made Stinktown a little less stinky today. We've already decided that Disney can take their food and wine pricing this fall and stick it where the sun don't shine.

 

[travelmel]

We've already decided that Disney can take their food and wine pricing this fall and stick it where the sun don't shine.

That's the spirit!

 

[luvillians]

My wonderful husband just told me he booked a day trip to Napa for my 40th! next week! We are going to Bottega - Michael Chiaello (Napa Style) place and a couple GREAT wine tastings! Should I post pics or not. I am only asking to make sure people even care!

Brenda! Great Easter pics! Thanks for the photos!

Are you kidding?? Abso-freakin-lutely!!!!!

 

[luvillians]

Fromagier D'Affinois

I'll take one wedge for every day of the year ... in perpetuity

The other cheeses ... from left ear to right ear and finishing in the middle of Mickey's head:

Humboldt Fog
Herve Mons Spring Milk Ossau-Iraty
Manchego

Cheese me!

YUMMMMM.......

 

[travelmel]

Cream Cheese Biscuits for the crab eggs benedict ....-like I tell my DH everytime we see something yummy on tv "I'll eat dat"


Steamed asparagoose-How do you make it look so pretty? Mine is always over-cooked. *sigh

The wacky parental unit ...

Look! Grimace is smiling ... for real! -That's why she looked different to me! I thought it was cause I hadn't seen her for awhile.

Has anyone here read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies???



I just found out about this book today and it looks like a riot ... just wondered if any of you fine, literate, humor-filled friendies had read it before I order it from Amazon.

OME I SWEAR AT THIS VERY MOMENT (LIKE STILL RIGHT NOW) My DH is making me listen to a song called "RE Your Brains" too funny!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjMiDZIY1bM

And... then told me his BFF is reading that book.



"I guess we'll table this for now"
-Jonathan Coulton re: your brains

 

[kabuki]

Of course you should post them! On this thread the more food and boozie pictures we can share the better!

Your hubby is a sweetheart! Happy birthday!!!

Thanks Brenda! He is wonderful and I will post. Have to say .. Thanks for starting this .. I love the people here!

uh. yess... we care. have fun and post away!

YEA! THANKS! I WILL!

Has anyone here read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies???



I just found out about this book today and it looks like a riot ... just wondered if any of you fine, literate, humor-filled friendies had read it before I order it from Amazon.

NO! But I want to!

La la la lal laalalalalala ....

You wanna know what we had for dinner last night? I hope to upload pictures tomorrow and start posting to the blog this weekend. I'm traveling next week for the bank and will be involved in some training (I tremble for the poor people who have to rely on my supposed expertise ... )

Anyway ...

Course I: Pan Roasted Jumbo Sea Scallop with Yukon Gold Potato and Asparagus Strudel, Fava Bean Smoked Bacon Relish and Sun Choke Soubise.

Course II: Braised Rabbit Risotto with English Pea Emulsion, Crispy Pea Tendril-Spring Radish Salad, and White Truffle Oil.

Course III: Pan Roasted Hudson Valley Foie Gras with Almond and Mascarpone Toasted Brioche and Strawberry Gastrique.

Course IV: Grilled Rack of Spring Lamb with Salemville Amish Blue Cheese and Morel Mushroom Fritter, Sauteed Local Spinach and Forest Mushroom Sauce

Course V: Warmed Brioche Bread Pudding with Bourbon Currant Sauce and Vanilla Whipped Cream.

Two wines were served ... a white and a red ... unlimited pours.

Great evening, lovely food. We would have easily been charged $150 per person at Disney for something comparable during F&W. Knowing that these kinds of events are taking place in STL made Stinktown a little less stinky today. We've already decided that Disney can take their food and wine pricing this fall and stick it where the sun don't shine.

Can't wait for more!

Are you kidding?? Abso-freakin-lutely!!!!!

Thank you! The big Day is Wednesday! So I will post those and then we are off to the Disneyland Food and Wine Friday and will have those! Can I just say that this is a great place to be and thanks! Everyone is wonderful and it's a great time!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Wow! Easter in Stinktown looks yummy! Especially all that cheese!

Kabuki- PLEASE share your Napa pics. And happy 40th!

 

[TDC Nala]

Everything Michael Chiarello made on TV looked unbefreakinbelievable.

I am going to New York overnight to see "Hair." No food though. I am living on the Au Bon Pain gift cards my boss gave me and the free wine and cheese at the hotel.

Am going to Disneyland for the food & wine there on April 30. Only signed up for one event though. They are getting just as ridiculous as WDW with the pricing and offerings. And my timing sucks, the good events are midweek or in June.

 

[PNO4TE]

You wanna know what we had for dinner last night?

Sounds scrumptious! Can't wait for the photos.

We've already decided that Disney can take their food and wine pricing this fall and stick it where the sun don't shine.

Bob and I had already decided to skip it this year. I think between our meals at some of our favorite spots and F&W booth noshing we will be more than fine.

Plus, we decided if we save a little money on the October trip we might see our way clear to take the girls to V&A for Christmas.

 

[PNO4TE]

Thank you! The big Day is Wednesday! So I will post those and then we are off to the Disneyland Food and Wine Friday and will have those!

Happy Birthday on Wednesday. And I am sorry you will have such a lousy celebration of it...

 

[ChelleinNC]

A funny thing happened at the St. Louis Bread company when we stopped there Saturday for bread. We like the French country loaf for soft, spreadable cheeses but they only had the largest size available; after a moment's discussion about how we could use the leftover bread we'd undoubtedly have, I asked the young man behind the counter for the large, French loaf, thinly sliced please.

He said, "You want the miche?"

I felt my brow furrow and I shook my head. "No, I want the French country loaf."

And to help him out out, I pointed directly at the bread I was referring to.

He turned to me and said, "That's the miche."

"Then why does the sign say that it's French Country?"

"Because it's a miche."

He then took the bread, dropped it in the slicer, and rang up the order. I turned to Jay and asked him for help. "What the hell is a miche???"

Jay was smirking as he is wont to do when I'm unintentionally making a doofus of myself, which happens a lot. "Miche is the largest size they make; loaf is the normal size."



Now I was really puzzled. "But loaf means a shaped mass of bread baked in one piece ... how can I be wrong?"

"You're not."



So, long story short we didn't serve a loaf of bread we offered up a miche of baked yeasty goodness.

Our table of yummies, including a honeybaked ham and Grimmie's famous deviled eggs.

YUM!

My wonderful husband just told me he booked a day trip to Napa for my 40th! next week! We are going to Bottega - Michael Chiaello (Napa Style) place and a couple GREAT wine tastings! Should I post pics or not. I am only asking to make sure people even care!

1. Of course we want pics & reviews!
2. What a good husband
3. Happy Birthday

DH has his 40th next Friday and obviously I'm not as good a wife as your DH is a husband. I have no idea what to do for him I've talked about throwing a party for months, but he doesn't seem to want that and he's been completely useless for ideas of what he does want

 

[oybolshoi]

Everything Michael Chiarello made on TV looked unbefreakinbelievable.

I am going to New York overnight to see "Hair." No food though. I am living on the Au Bon Pain gift cards my boss gave me and the free wine and cheese at the hotel.

Am going to Disneyland for the food & wine there on April 30. Only signed up for one event though. They are getting just as ridiculous as WDW with the pricing and offerings. And my timing sucks, the good events are midweek or in June.

Have a good trip ... feel free to share any pictures you may have once you get back.

When I read through the DL list of events this I thought they were starting to mimic the WDW events a lot this year. I wonder if that has anything to do with the so-called operational merge that's been taking place at Disney.

Personally I think the idea is silly ... why they would want one person to oversee operations at DL and WDW when the two resorts are so different and so far apart is beyond me. I like the fact that they are both unique destinations in and of themselves ... I don't want them to be mirror images of each other. Oh well ... what do I know?

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

Cream Cheese Biscuits for the crab eggs benedict ....

These biscuits are so good...

These sound really good...can you share the recipe?

The infamous birthday cake ... dig the intensive decorations!

Did they even break a sweat putting this together?

I can see why you were disappointed, but it still looks okay...just not gourmet. Definitely not what I would have expected given their description. I think us foodies just have really high standards and are terribly hard to impress. Most of my extended family would have thought that cake was the cats meow. If you put anything too fancy in front of them, their faces start to wrinkle up like you just served them Kibbles and Bits.

Since I seem to have scared everyone away again ... a few more pictures from the Flower & Garden Festival.

Brenda, you never scare anybody away (even if you can hear crickets chirping here once in a while). So I have to ask, does Plankton do rides?

La la la lal laalalalalala ....

You wanna know what we had for dinner last night? I hope to upload pictures tomorrow and start posting to the blog this weekend. I'm traveling next week for the bank and will be involved in some training (I tremble for the poor people who have to rely on my supposed expertise ... )

Anyway ...

Course I: Pan Roasted Jumbo Sea Scallop with Yukon Gold Potato and Asparagus Strudel, Fava Bean Smoked Bacon Relish and Sun Choke Soubise.

Course II: Braised Rabbit Risotto with English Pea Emulsion, Crispy Pea Tendril-Spring Radish Salad, and White Truffle Oil.

Course III: Pan Roasted Hudson Valley Foie Gras with Almond and Mascarpone Toasted Brioche and Strawberry Gastrique.

Course IV: Grilled Rack of Spring Lamb with Salemville Amish Blue Cheese and Morel Mushroom Fritter, Sauteed Local Spinach and Forest Mushroom Sauce

Course V: Warmed Brioche Bread Pudding with Bourbon Currant Sauce and Vanilla Whipped Cream.

Two wines were served ... a white and a red ... unlimited pours.

Great evening, lovely food. We would have easily been charged $150 per person at Disney for something comparable during F&W. Knowing that these kinds of events are taking place in STL made Stinktown a little less stinky today. We've already decided that Disney can take their food and wine pricing this fall and stick it where the sun don't shine.

Photos please! (I'll be eyeballing your blog for them). I'm impatient, what can I say? Sounds like an excellent dinner and not your average ho-hum offerings either! We essentially live in bumpkinville, so we have to drive a half hour to Atlantic City for any good food. Stinktown doesn't sound too bad after all.

I was hoping to have some Biltmore foodie pics to share now, but we cancelled our trip due to incredibly crappy rain, both for the drive and at our destination this past week. Probably won't go now until late summer or Fall.

 

[ChelleinNC]

I needed to refill my coffee before I could finish my replies

The infamous birthday cake ... dig the intensive decorations!

Did they even break a sweat putting this together?

Here's the cake after Jay and I "rescued" it:

The wacky parental unit ...

Look! Grimace is smiling ... for real!

Food looks wonderful, even the cake (after doctoring ) Grimace not only smiled, she was wearing a Disney shirt

Since I seem to have scared everyone away again ... a few more pictures from the Flower & Garden Festival.

You think it's that easy to scare us away?
Really cool pics! Amazing what they can do with flowers

La la la lal laalalalalala ....

You wanna know what we had for dinner last night? I hope to upload pictures tomorrow and start posting to the blog this weekend. I'm traveling next week for the bank and will be involved in some training (I tremble for the poor people who have to rely on my supposed expertise ... )

Anyway ...

Course I: Pan Roasted Jumbo Sea Scallop with Yukon Gold Potato and Asparagus Strudel, Fava Bean Smoked Bacon Relish and Sun Choke Soubise.

Course II: Braised Rabbit Risotto with English Pea Emulsion, Crispy Pea Tendril-Spring Radish Salad, and White Truffle Oil.

Course III: Pan Roasted Hudson Valley Foie Gras with Almond and Mascarpone Toasted Brioche and Strawberry Gastrique.

Course IV: Grilled Rack of Spring Lamb with Salemville Amish Blue Cheese and Morel Mushroom Fritter, Sauteed Local Spinach and Forest Mushroom Sauce

Course V: Warmed Brioche Bread Pudding with Bourbon Currant Sauce and Vanilla Whipped Cream.

Two wines were served ... a white and a red ... unlimited pours.

Great evening, lovely food. We would have easily been charged $150 per person at Disney for something comparable during F&W. Knowing that these kinds of events are taking place in STL made Stinktown a little less stinky today. We've already decided that Disney can take their food and wine pricing this fall and stick it where the sun don't shine.

You had me at scallop

 

[oybolshoi]

Just got back from my workout class ... boy do I smell not good.

Allison ... Plankton does in fact do rides and I'll scare up some pictures of him doing just that. He's coming back to WDW this fall with us for a reunion of sorts so I anticipate that he will get into all kinds of trouble.

And I think you're right ... us foodies (I guess that's what we are) expect too much. Jay told me to lower my standards and I guess he's right!

Sorry to hear you had to cancel your trip ... I was looking forward to some Biltmore pics - would love to get there some day. And before I forget ... those biscuits came from Dean and Deluca so I don't have a recipe. Now that I think about it we did precious little real cooking this Easter.

I'm getting ready to upload my pics soon and then hopefully will get working on it later today after we run all our errands. It's supposed to be a rainy day so there won't be any time for outdoor work.

Chelle ... I've still got one last batch of pictures from the Flower & Garden festival - some really cool shots of the Chinese zodiac from the China pavillion.

Nice to hear from everyone this morning!

 

[sunny04]

Brenda - I would LOVE for you to post recipes for those cream cheese biscuits and the amaretto fruit dip. Those sound yummy and easy enough for me to make. Your holiday meals always look so great.

 

[oybolshoi]

Brenda - I would LOVE for you to post recipes for those cream cheese biscuits and the amaretto fruit dip. Those sound yummy and easy enough for me to make. Your holiday meals always look so great.

If you go back to the very first post in this thread under the dessert heading you'll find a link to the amaretto cream cheese dip ... that's where I link to all the recipes and pictures that people post so that it's easy for all of us to find.

Sadly, on the biscuits I didn't make them ... I ordered them from dean and deluca as part of their crab eggs benedict. For about $65 they send six monster crab cakes and a dozen cream cheese biscuits along with a jar of hollandaise sauce. All you have to supply are the eggs for poaching!

 

[oybolshoi]

**I know I said earlier I was going to post this on the blog, but I decided that since it's not really a restaurant review that I'm just going to post it here. I'll leave the really lengthy / big stuff for the blog.**

So, you may be wondering how I even found out about this series of dinners that's being hosted by Oceano Bistro over the next twelve months considering that Jay and I have never eaten there. I recently discovered an on-line website devoted to local restaurants, festivals, boozes, and all the things the Jay and I love. They have a calendar of events and just happened to post a link Wednesday morning that caught my eye ... a click, a gasp, and a thin ribbon of drool later I was emailing the hubba from my desk at work.

"There's a five-course dinner tomorrow night that features the chef from Harvest ... the dude is serving foie gras for the third course. I think it's a moral imperative that we attend if we can still get in ... what do you think?"

Jay's response was typically to the point: "We gotta eat."

I wasn't able to call the restaurant until about 3PM on Wednesday afternoon but luck was with us and we were able to nab a reservation. They didn't even require a credit card to hold our spots, which was refreshing. I have a feeling that will change as the series progresses because it looked like there were about a dozen no-shows Thursday night ... and that's too bad because those folks missed a great dinner.

The guest chef series is actually a group of charity dinners that features an executive chef from a local upscale restaurant once a month - proceeds from the dinner go to the chef's charity of choice. Our chef, Steve Gontram, from Harvest Restaurant (it's awesome - go there if you're ever in Stinktown) chose The Smile Train as his charity - this group is the world's leading cleft lip and cleft palate foundation.

Chef Steve created the menu for the evening and oversaw preparation and presentation, but he very generously took pains to point out that it was the Executive Chef and staff at Oceano Bistro who cooked everything for us. And they did a wonderful job! Jay and I are looking forward to trying more of these dinners throughout the year as time and money permits.

So, let's get it on with it, shall we?

We arrived at the restaurant a little early since we knew that parking was going to be an issue. Once we checked in with the staff we headed for the bar and each ordered a Manhattan. We were seated about twenty minutes later and while it looked like we were going to share with another couple, no one ever showed so we ended up with our own private table for the evening.

Jay and I weren't sure if wine pairings were being included with the dinner or not because there was no mention of alcohol on the website, but once we were seated the staff began pouring a white wine that we both really liked as soon as we tried it: 2005 Viognier from Whitman Cellars. I liked that they are apparently located in Walla Walla Valley; say that three times fast after downing a cocktail and half a bottle of wine on an empty stomach! This wine had a lot of fruity aromas ... pear, lemon, maybe grapefruit and it had a light, balanced taste. Not at all acidic or bitter, it was very smooth and paired wonderfully with our first course:

Pan Roasted Jumbo Sea Scallop with Yukon Gold Potato and Asparagus Strudel, Fava Bean-Smoked Bacon Relish, and Sun Choke Soubise.

Yummy!

This dish smelled wonderful ... and it tasted pretty good, too! The scallop was perfect ... silky and smooth and sweet, it melted in my mouth just like buttah. The potato and asparagoose strudel was good - flaky pastry, mashed taters, and generous asparagoose spears - but it actually struck me as a little bland, like it needed some seasoning. Jay reminded me that I should probably have been soaking up some of that soubise with the strudel, but there wasn't a whole lot of it on the plate. What there was tasted pretty good and I really liked it with the chewy bacon bits and firm fava beans (no Hannibal Lecter impersonations this time!) but I still think it needed a little something to move it from good to fantastic.

At this point we received more white wine (unlimited pours, you can't beat that!) and a red wine, too. The red wine was a Pinot Noir from Rvtz Cellars. I am not known for red wine fondness ... it gives me baaaad headaches, but this seemed like a lighter, more fruity pinot noir and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I didn't think it worked all that well with our second course but it was still tasty and nice to mix and match the wines to see which we liked best with each course.

So, what was the second offering?

Braised Rabbit Risotto with English Pea Emulsion, Crispy Pea Tendril-Spring Radish Salad, and White Truffle Oil.

It's violently green...

Visually this dish had no comparison throughout the rest of the evening ... it was so green that it hurt my eyes. And the repeated use of the word pea gave me the urge to use the bathroom. I'm still undecided about this dish ... the risotto was good but cooked unevenly and there were times when I took a bite and found al dente risotto, which is a real turn off for me. I do think this was a very smart way to serve rabbit, which isn't something that one often sees on a restaurant menu in Stinktown. The meat was shredded and mixed in with the risotto, masking the rather gamey flavor that rabbit can sometimes have. Jay really liked this course and ended up eating about half of mine because I just didn't care for it as much as he did. Besides, I was priming my tastebuds for the third course:

Pan Roasted Hudson Valley Foie Gras served with an Almond and Mascarpone Toasted Brioche and Strawberry Gastrique.

Foie Gras #1

Foie Gras #2

Although it didn't compare with the foie gras we've had at V&A, this was a very good alternative. Heh, who would ever have thought that we couldn't obtain foie gras at a 5-star gourmet restaurant in WDW but would be served the delicacy at a seafood restaurant in Stinktown? Is the world turned upside-down, or what?

Anyway, this had a light, buttery texture that tasted great with the strawberry gastrique which we think was actually balsamic. I wasn't sold on the mascarpone and brioche with this dish only because they added nothing to the foie gras - on their own they would probably be quite good, but I don't think the cheese was sweetened so there was no offset to the saltiness of the foie gras and the acidity of the berries and the balsamic. That did not stop me from practically licking my plate clean, however.

Time for "dinner" with course four: Grilled Rack of Spring Lamb with Salemville Amish Blue Cheese and Morel Mushroom Fritter, Sauteed Local Spinach, and Forest Mushroom Sauce.

I will call you lamb.

These chops have been frenched!!!

Lamb is not my meat of choice, but I did eat one entire chop before handing this off to the hubby. It had a good flavor, but was a bit more pink than I would have liked and I also thought it was a little on the fatty side. As you might guess, there was just too much mushroomieness to this dish for me. I even tried the fritter ,which I thought was a clever idea until I saw an ugly 'shroom eyeballing me from within the fritter's cornmealie-cheesie guts.

And then there was dessert ... Warmed Brioche Bread Pudding with Bourbon Currant Sauce and Vanilla Whipped Cream.

Thank you sir, may we have another?

Do you have any scotch or port to wash this down?

Incredible! Just the right mix of warm, soft bread and buttery bourbon sauce. It really could only have been better with a dessert drink, but sadly by the time our serving team came back around Jay and I just ordered cappuccinos instead. But no complaints - the caps were really good and not only hit the spot, but served to wake us both up since we had a 40-mile drive to get back home. And since Jay picked me up from work, we had to go get my car first and then we both had to drive home ... it made for a long night but it was totally worth it!

Overall this was a lovely event - the restaurant staff was personable and efficient and very excited to discuss the menu with us; the restaurant owner was there and he stopped at each table at least twice during the evening to thank us all for coming and to ask for feedback. The guest chef also made the rounds at least twice and signed our menu for us as well as encouraging Jay and I to spend our anniversary celebrating at his restaurant after we mentioned how much we've enjoyed dining there previously. For $65 per person this meal was priced and portioned just right - we actually thought it was very generous, especially with unlimited wine.

Not only do Jay and I plan to pick up another couple of dinners in this series, but we've already told some of our friends about it. We hope that they'll join us as time permits for them and we fully expect to continue to be impressed with future meals.

Thanks for letting me share!

 

[Tatania]

That depends on the single person - I own 400 points and will be going to a lot of places other than Walt Disney World this year - have already been to New Zealand, Australia, and Las Vegas and am hitting New York this weekend, and in July. (visits to WDW will be decreased since the removal of the Adventurers Club which was mostly the reason I went to WDW. Using points to go to Disneyland this year and might use them to go somewhere with ABD next year)

Approximately how much are maintenance fees per year and do they inrease over the years? Does one generally spend a week in1 place when booking a time share or can, let's say, book 3 days in Sydney & 3 days in Brisbane?

Fromagier D'Affinois

I'll take one wedge for every day of the year ... in perpetuity

The other cheeses ... from left ear to right ear and finishing in the middle of Mickey's head:

Humboldt Fog
Herve Mons Spring Milk Ossau-Iraty
Manchego

Cheese me!

Crackers for your cheese?

Or perhaps you'd prefer bread?

Jay was smirking as he is wont to do when I'm unintentionally making a doofus of myself, which happens a lot. "Miche is the largest size they make; loaf is the normal size."



Now I was really puzzled. "But loaf means a shaped mass of bread baked in one piece ... how can I be wrong?"

"You're not."



So, long story short we didn't serve a loaf of bread we offered up a miche of baked yeasty goodness.

What a yummy looking soft cheese. That on top of fresh bread must be heavenly. I had never heard of the word Miche either, but I checked online and it does seem to refer to loaf size as in: Available in Baguette, Loaf, XL Loaf & Miche. Who knew?

It also looks from the pictures of the "Guest Chef" series that this is very good value for the money. The portions look large and the scallops and lamb look perfectly done. I haven't had rabbit in ages as I'm squeamish about preparing it (it just looks too much like a skinned cat), but the chef did a good job of disguising the meat.

My wonderful husband just told me he booked a day trip to Napa for my 40th! next week! We are going to Bottega - Michael Chiaello (Napa Style) place and a couple GREAT wine tastings! Should I post pics or not. I am only asking to make sure people even care!

And who says romance is dead? What a thoughtful and lovely thing for DH to do on your birthday. I sometimes think men forget that no matter how long you've been together, you want to feel that you're worth making that little extra effort for.

Bob and I had already decided to skip it this year. I think between our meals at some of our favorite spots and F&W booth noshing we will be more than fine.

I was just discussing this with my sister and I have a feeling we will be sticking to the F&W booth noshing and whatever free events are around. I don't think thee will be a lot because we're there during the first days of the festival and will probably be sticking with our original dates. I wanted to wait and see if free dining would be extended and possibly shift our trip to mid-October but DS is using Airmiles & wants to book the flight ASAP because so few seats are set aside for Airmile users. After reading Bendy's hilarious review about the $75 dried salmon lunch, neither of us felt it's worth spending that kind of money for food classes that we can get locally for a fraction of that price. BTW, snack credits are good for the food booths again this year. I am getting tickets for MNSSHP and am really looking forward to that.
How crowded is it during F & W in Epcot? Are weekends crazy?