Saturday, April 19, 2008:
Yes, that's right. After all that wine from last night, I didn't have a hangover. Maybe the trick is to drink the really expensive stuff. Heh.
As usual, Catherine was dead to the world asleep when I got up somewhat later than normal and headed to
Disneyland. I sent a text message to our other friend that I would be getting breakfast at River Belle Terrace.
I'm afraid that I had the World's Worst Breakfast there. I'm disappointed, because I have always found the quality of Disneyland food to be fairly good. But I think I made the wrong choice. I ordered the "Mark Twain", which consisted of scrambled eggs, a choice of bacon or sausage links, breakfast potatoes and a biscuit.
Mark Twain
I don't know if congealed is the correct word to describe it, but it came very close. I ate this because I was hungry, and perhaps the best part of it was the biscuit. This meal sat in my tummy like a rock afterwards. I should have ordered the Mickey Mouse pancake. Oh well, live and learn.
Since I had not ridden Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, we headed there. My friend didn't care to ride, so she headed to the exit area to wait for me. The line actually didn't seem that long. I had probably made it 3/4 of the way when I heard an announcement over the loud speaker:
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are sorry to announce that we have stopped running the trains. We will not be running them for a while, so please turn around and walk back towards the entrance. We are sorry for the inconvenience."
Sorry folks, turn around and get the @#$@Q#$@ out of line! Ok, I followed directions. But there were a lot of dopey people still in line who were idiots who stood there. I told them that they just announced the ride was closed and that we all needed to exit the way we came in.
I guess seeing a bunch of people stampeding towards them gave them the hint that the ride was indeed shut down. I even cracked a joke that I broke the ride. I went to the exit area to tell my friend what happened, and we picked up FastPasses for Indy.
By this time, Catherine was ready to meet us, and we all went to see Billy Hill and the Hillbillies at the Golden Horseshoe. Via text message, she related to me that the fridge was still acting up, and that the Diet Cokes were frozen. She made a Diet Coke Volcano in the bathroom sink, apparently, when she tried to open one.
Before we went inside the Golden Horseshoe, we saw a cast member carrying a ginormous cake inside. Oh yeah! They serve food at this place! I felt a bit out of my element here, since the Diamond Horseshoe at WDW just gathers dust. It was refreshing to see a show that had food service. I was still full from the rotgut breakfast, but the food smelled really good.
We sat in the middle balcony area. Here's a picture I took of the Billy boys.
We left Disneyland and headed to DCA to catch the food demo at Bountiful Valley Farm. When we were getting into line, one cast member was giving out those great number cards, and the other was checking IDs for wristbands. Catherine and I experienced that before the beer demo, but we were confused about this at a culinary demo. One of the items being prepared has alcohol in it, so we needed the wristband.
I know who the chef is, only because he's listed in the festival guide. Bret Thompson used to work for the Patina Group, which runs a lot of the restaurants found at Disneyland's Downtown Disney area. Bret managed Catal Restaurant for many years before opening his own place, MILK ice cream café and bake shop.
Bret's assistand and Bret
He made for us a beautiful vanilla bean panna cotta with a sparkling wine granité. Or what I just call an adult slushee. Yum. You want to see what it looks like?
Panna Cotta with berries and sparkling wine granité
The panna cotta was dense and creamy, and the fresh berries and granité were refreshing. There's nothing like having some dessert before lunch!
Lunch. Another adventure awaits. Catherine and I wanted to try another festival specific item from their counter service places, and this time we decided we wanted this from Award Weiners:
The Portabella Philly. Sounds good, right? But before we could order, we encountered an extremely long line, and it was around 2pm. Well, it was a Saturday, so I guess that explains it.
We were almost to the order window when the woman in front of us ordered 12 hot dogs. But Award Weiners serves a variety of different ones, so she ordered them as 4 of these, 5 of those, and 3 of those. And put fries in these, apple slices in those....Auuuugh! Of course we had to be behind that lady!
Since there was really no place to sit near there, our friend went to find a table near the ice cream and bakery area at the front of the park. Catherine and I soon had our food and found our friend.
Portabella Philly
That doesn't look very appetizing, does it? I wondered where the mushrooms were, but there were plenty hiding under the crap on top. While the toppings were underwhelming, the portabellas with the sauce they were in saved this from being awful. Would I get it again? No.
One of my friends wanted a special print of Sleeping Beauty Castle by Thomas Kinkade, so we stopped in the store next to the Animation building so I could buy it for her. I was getting tired, and I knew I wanted to change clothes before the Wine Reception event we were going to later in the Wine Country area.
Before I continue, I wanted to share the movie of the Toy Story Zoetrope that I took with my camera. It's a pity my camera doesn't record sound, because the zoetrope did have fun music that played when the thing was spinning. The quality isn't that great, either. I'm seriously considering upgrading my camera in the near future.
Warning: There are strobe effects here, so if strobe negatively affects you, don't play it.
I rested for a bit in the room and came back close to 4pm to go to the cheese demo scheduled for 4:45pm at the Bountiful Valley Farm area. People were already starting to get into line around 4pm, so I called Catherine to let her know she and our friend should meet me soon to be sure to get a seat.
Again, I have no idea who the chef was, but he works within the Disneyland Resort.
We were served a selection of three cheeses, along with some crostini bread and cranberry chutney in a spoon. I have no idea what that leaf was for.
Cheese, glorious cheese!
When I saw this, I couldn't help think that Brenda (oybolshoi) would have enjoyed this demo. The three cheeses were from the top: The square was Grana Padano, a cow's milk cheese which strongly resembles Parmigiano Reggiano; the triangle in the middle was sheep's milk Manchego from Spain; and the third was a goat cheese made by Cypress Grove, called Purple Haze. (The Humboldt Fog I had the night before was made by this cheese maker.)
The Grana Padano was really tasty, and I would use this in place of the Reggiano it tastes like. The Manchego was named after the sheep that provided the milk. Most people would be hesistant to try sheep or goat cheeses, but the Manchego was very mild in flavor. I can see this being well-liked by anyone who tried it. The Purple Haze was a tangy cheese, and it was very soft and spreadable on the crostini. Yum.
Catherine said that the WDW festival offered a cheese tasting event for $45 that included cheese and two glasses of wine for $45. And that that amount of cheese we just ate was comparable to the amount of cheese served at the event. I'd say we just got quite a bargain, since this tasting was free!
Of course, during his presentation, the chef made a comment that had the three of us giggling like schoolgirls again. Or perhaps we turned into Beavis and Butthead. The chef had talked about how he'd like to relax in the evening. He would get home, open the wine and
cut the cheese, ... *snort*
Yes, we're incorrigible! Nobody else at the demo seemed to pick up on that comment, but we just tried to keep our laughter quiet.
Next: Wine Reception. Ho hum.
but it was soooooo worth it...I absolutely adore him...we had a jambalaya sandwich and an asian noodle dish he prepared...i loved reading your report especially about the caramel cake omg if that doesnt make you
nothing will...
I would have booked the event dinner he was doing, instead. 
(In fact, I had heard that a couple from Chicago canceled the event when we were told it would be a vegetarian menu.) 
Farts are funny. Talking about farting without meaning to is hilarious! 
