Pie That Brownie, Fruitcake! Updated Post #1832 - The End

[kabuki]

Great update Brenda!

Even the Meat Clot Looked as nice as it can!

 

[oybolshoi]

Sadly no, they don't do that anymore. Beach Club used to do the same thing, but it stopped many years ago.

Ok Brenda, all caught up now. I love that I got 2 updates for the price of 1 today Sounds like you had a great time with Chelsi & Jason and love the couple asking where the festival was

Thanks for taking the time to stop by and read! We did have a terrific time with Chelsi and her Jason ... the first of many evenings of laughing and drinking and eating (can life get any better???).

That poor old couple. I shouldn't poke fun ... after all, I thought I saw a squirrel reading a newspaper.

They had Crunky's when I was there a month earlier:

I had to take a picture because I thought it was hilarious! It's a shame you and your Mr. missed out on a good crunky chuckle.

I am officially jealous ... this is the first time Japan-mart hasn't had krunky for us to mock. I was even going to buy some since we won't be back next year for our "stereotypes are insulting but there is a grain of truth to them and that's what makes them funny" tour around the World Showcase.

I can't mock the RD-ers with you, because I am a proud member of the up before dawn hurry up and wait-ers club. I can however agree that it's totally and completely funny how people don't know what/when/where the F&WF is when they are smack dab in the midst of it. I had someone ask me and I was all "If it was a snake, you'd already be in it's belly".

I also think there should be a Morocco Restroom Appreciation club. I have a bladder the size of a shot glass and that place is like a second home to me. There and the UK Restrooms. Always seems cleaner than Norway's Restroom, which I avoid. Oh, I could wax WDW restrooms till the cows come home...

Can't wait to read more, since you guys hit so much stuff I missed as a solo.

I mock because I love ... and because I self-deprecate ...

And while we're on the subject of bathrooms ... what the hell is wrong with the person who designed the stalls in the ladies room in Germany??? It's like they don't want people to use the bathroom ... the toilets are off center from the stall doors and it's very difficult to manuever in there (at least it is for me). Those bathrooms make a hollow mockery of the exemplary design and engineering that usually come out of Deutschland.

Thanks for reading! I'm on a bit of an update roll right now so I'll probably get the tequila tasting out of the way soon.

You scrub meal plans as often as NASA scrubs their launches!

Usually we scrub one or two on a ten-night visit and I don't think that's too bad, but on this trip we blew the mother-load. I think we ditched seven or eight ADRs ... all of which had been meticulously timed and planned by yours truly. Sometimes spontaniety and good company trump the possibility of donuts at Jiko.

I thought it was pretty good, and I didn't ask them to hold the popcorn. It could have used a little more heat, though. I think they dialed it down, because Amy said that over the first weekend, this packed a spicy punch. I didn't get that when I tried it.

Seems like the ceviche was pretty popular overall and I would think the popcorn did a nice job of soaking up some of that excess juice ... especially since the shrimp were MIA. Jay would definitely have liked more spice with his, but he's usually pretty kind when we share since he knows too much hot stuff will rip my guts to shreds.

You are EVIL! I know I would have not only stopped to explain they were standing in the middle of it, I probably would have found them a festival guide, too. Former Disney Store cast member training, you know.

Didn't you know that Jay and I fill our brandy snifters every evening, bite the end off a chockie cigar, and raise a toast to evil? I could have sworn we told you ...

See, you're a nice person Lori. What are you doing hanging around with riffraff like Jay and me?

I agree that it was like having a wee bit o' chicken to go with my SAUCE. I like tzatziki sauce, but it was too much.

First time for me trying anything like this ... would have been better with the sauce on the side for dipping. But like I said ... I don't really like sauce and I definitely don't like creamy salad dressing and the more I think about it that's what the tzatziki sauce reminded me of.

I didn't get the slider this year, but it looks way different from the last time I had gotten a "lamb slider". It was not a meat clot, but very tasty. I wish I did try it to see if it was way different than the version I liked.

And the scallop. I see you didn't like the part I called the Absence of Flavor served under the scallop. The scallop itself was pretty decent, though.

The pretzel with cheese didn't look appealing, so I skipped that.

I don't think you missed much by not sampling the slider, but that's just my opinion. Jay loved it ... go figure.

The scallop was good but the "stuff" it came with was yawn-worthy. And after finding something like 20 baby scallops in our New Zealand salad last year I admit to being disappointed in just receiving one this year. Two would have been nicer, don't you think?

The pretzel wasn't bad but the cheese sauce missed the mark. And we all know that Germany does better pretzels. They also sold a tasty and suggestive sausage at the Brewer's Collection ... I know because we ordered it at least twice and have pictures that cannot be posted here.

Oh sure, spoil the secret of the Morocco bathrooms! And I think you just quoted part of the Bonnie Tyler literal video.

Well it seems like everyone here already knows about that bathroom! And I quoted the video on purpose ... it seemed oddly fitting.

I liked the tuna sensation, too. But the soy got too strong the closer you got to the bottom. Still tasty though.

I love all the strange Japanese snacks! My favorite still is Pocky for Men. I keep thinking about the Secret commercials, "strong enough for a man, but made for a woman".

She looks 12. I'm surprised she was old enough to sell booze to you.

I agree about the soy sauce ... as we got closer to the bottom of the container it seemed like the tuna was swimming in soy, which I do not like.

And for the Japanese CM ... I wasn't going to card her if she wasn't going to card me!

Great update Brenda!

Even the Meat Clot Looked as nice as it can!

Thanks for reading Chelsi! I tried to make the clot look good ... I just wish they'd left last year's real slider alone. I thought it was great last year, especially served with mustard.

 

[kxs401]

I await News From the Ditch with baited (bated? does "baited" imply I've been eating sushi?) breath!

 

[whogirl'smom]

Another good day of snacking and boozing! The meat clot reference almost had me gagging...we watched "Sweeney Todd" this morning.

I will have to visit the hallowed halls of these bathrooms.

 

[oybolshoi]

I await News From the Ditch with baited (bated? does "baited" imply I've been eating sushi?) breath!

baited breath = sushi ... that's awesome!

The Ditch was amazing, as always!

Another good day of snacking and boozing! The meat clot reference almost had me gagging...we watched "Sweeney Todd" this morning.

I will have to visit the hallowed halls of these bathrooms.

Hiya Jamie! I can't take credit for the meat clot ... that's Chelsi's work, I just stole it from her because the visual makes me laugh.

You know now, after all this talk of the wonder of Morocco's bathrooms, you are destined for disappointment?

 

[KristinAnne]

We'll be there in 2 weeks and I'm going to check if they have the Crunkies in Japan! Great updates! Oh, reporting back on my first ever sushi experience a couple weeks ago...it was excellent. We stuck to shrimp, tuna, and salmon. Definitely getting more soon. One of these days I'll get DH to eat cooked fish, and then raw fish is only a step away.

 

[oybolshoi]

Hey stranger! How've you been? I'm so glad to hear that you enjoyed your sushi adventure and you did it just the right way ... stick with the safe and easy stuff and gradually work towards more "interesting" things if you feel like it. Honestly, I could be perfectly happy eating salmon and tuna nigiri without anything else for the rest of my life but that would bore Jay.

Thanks for stopping by to read and have a great trip next month!!

We'll be there in 2 weeks and I'm going to check if they have the Crunkies in Japan! Great updates! Oh, reporting back on my first ever sushi experience a couple weeks ago...it was excellent. We stuck to shrimp, tuna, and salmon. Definitely getting more soon. One of these days I'll get DH to eat cooked fish, and then raw fish is only a step away.

 

[oybolshoi]

Friday, October 16th - Tequila Tasting at the Ditch ... Was I the Only Person Who Hoped to See Pee-wee Herman Dancing on the Bar???

In years past I've been very vocal about expressing my displeasure over certain aspects of Epcot's Food & Wine Festival, especially what I perceived to be a real lack of creativity in their more moderately-priced special event planning. So allow me now to be equally vocal by saying that providing tequila seminars at the newly opened Tequila Ditch for the relatively affordable price of $35 per person was a brilliant and inspired idea. Kudos to whoever came up with this idea because it was a huge hit!

These 60-minute tasting sessions were only offered once daily on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays during the F&W Festival - seating was limited given the size of the venue and many of these sessions sold out on the first day that special event booking opened for the festival ... that was August 11th, in case you're curious and you weren't one of the crazed foodie-boozies trying to get through to WDW-DINE on three or four different phone lines.

I didn't want to attend this event on the same afternoon that we had a signature dinner booked, but a combination of sell-outs and prior plans made this the only Tequila session we could get into for the duration of our trip. We arrived at the Mexico pavilion about 15 minutes early so that we could check in and cool off - it was oppressively humid and the thunderclouds were piling up. I'd also been alerted, thanks to those DISers who scoped the Festival earlier in the month, that there might be some logistical issues and I was curious to see if these had been addressed at all.

In short: not really.

For what it's worth, whoever was in charge of this stuff should have made an executive decision to close down the Ditch for an hour while the event was in progress. Placing velvet ropes in front of the seating area so that regular patrons couldn't sit down might have alleviated the problem of evicting them in order to set up for the event, but it did nothing to prevent the crush of bodies at the bar nor the rapidly increasing decible level of their conversations.

I know ... money talks ... but 35 guests booked for this event at $35 each, pre-tax and pre-gratuity, works out to about $1,225. Something tells me they didn't make that much money selling margaritas at the bar during the 60 minutes that our session was in progress. So, Disney F&W Suits ... if you're listening ... and I'm pretty sure you're not ... next year be a little more considerate of your special events guests and let them have the damn Ditch to themselves for an hour so that they can actually hear the lovely Hilda give her discussion about the history and production of tequila. Not only would this be a generous and considerate thing for you to do on behalf of your guests but it would also be an exceptionally respectful gesture on your part towards Hilda and her obvious expertise in this field.

Back to the event ... There really wasn't anywhere specific for us to wait prior to being seated, so we all kind of bunged up in that small area just outside of the Ditch. Jay and I were among some of the last guests to be seated but that actually worked out well because we had a nice table for two near the center of the room and could actually hear pretty well. Each table was set up exactly the same - three glasses of tequila, a place mat, a small tray with coffee beans, cinnamon sticks, and lime peel, and a bottle of cold water.

Tequilas

From left-to-right in the picture above are the following tequilas we tried that afternoon: Partida Blanco, a "white" tequila; Cazadores Reposado, a "rested" tequila; and Don Julio Anejo, an "aged" tequila.

The blanco is often referred to as "white" or "silver" in the United States and is the youngest tequila available; it is un-aged and is bottled or stored immediately after distillation. This was the strongest smelling and tasting of the three. Ralph Wiggum was right: it tastes like burning.

Reposado, on the other hand, is aged a minimum of two months, but less than one year, in oak barrels. We use reposado at home for our margarita making and we like it a lot because it's nice and smooth - still strong, but not like drinking paint thinner.

And then there is the Anejo, which is aged at least one year, but less than three, in oak barrels. Neither Jay nor I had ever tried an Anejo before - we're not tequila experts by any stretch of the imagination - but this one was definitely our favorite. It was very smooth and mellow and reminded us both more of an after-dinner drink than something to be used to mix drinks.

Sensory accompaniments

These trays were on each table and were used to help distinquish the aroma of one tequila from another. I think a lot of us only smelled alcohol when we initially swirled the tequila and tried to pick up a scent, but when we went back and sniffed the lime peel and then tried again with the Blanco the aroma was suddenly very pronounced. The cinnamon was most prevalent in the Reposado while the coffee bean was strongest in the Anejo. And just like with wine or scotch or beer, certain foods brought out different flavor profiles in the tequila.

I can't think of a better way to usher out my thirties than by drinking tequila!

I am the second-most-interesting man in the world ...

Based on some reviews I'd read of this event prior to our trip, I thought that the tequila pours were on the skimpy side. I still think that, but having experienced the event I will say that a little tequila does go a long way. And they weren't pouring cheap tequila - the Blanco we were served retails for about $50 per bottle while the Reposado and Anejo each retail for about $40 and $50, respectively. We were also provided some appetizers towards the end of Hilda's discussion so that we could try each tequila with food.

Food ... Good!

Each guest received a shooter of Shrimp Ceviche, a Chicken Tostada, and a Crab Tostada. I really liked the ceviche, which actually had a pretty good kick that seemed to be somewhat tamed by the Blanco. And I already knew from a prior visit on Wednesday that I adored the crab tostadas ... they were just an amazing blend of lightly sweet crab and mildly spicy sauce. The chicken tostada was the only item that I didn't like - the meat was dry and flavorless but that could have just been bad luck on my part. Jay did say later that the chicken was the weakest entry of the three - he agreed that it was pretty flavorless but felt, as did I, that the tastiness of the other two appetizers more than made up for it.

And that's the scoop, my friends. While we wouldn't pay to do this a second time, it was a terrific and affordable event to try once. There are definitely some areas for improvement but I think they are relatively easy fixes. Jay and I both highly recommend this for anyone out there who enjoys a good drink and a chance to learn about something new for a fairly reasonable (for WDW) price.

I cannot give this event a Ren & Stimpy rating due to some of the aforementioned logisitcal and planning issues, but we both enjoyed this very much and believe it has tremendous potential to become an outstanding F&W event in years to come. For that reason I award the Tequila Tasting our second highest rating: The Batmanuel!

 

[kabuki]

Friday, October 16th - Tequila Tasting at the Ditch ... Was I the Only Person Who Hoped to See Pee-wee Herman Dancing on the Bar???

[/I]

OK! Am I the only person (besides Sledge) looking at your button placement!? That is pre-tequila taste!!!! You go girl - I think this moves you up to The most -interesting- woman with buttons on in the world!- That is one happy banana!

 

[kxs401]

baited breath = sushi ... that's awesome!

The Ditch was amazing, as always!

It's very sad that I intentionally misspelled "bated breath" just to make that lame joke!

And yay! An update! I can't wait to try the ditch... my mouth is watering right now thinking about a good margarita (not that slushie crap they sell outside the pavillion!) along with some crab tostadas and ceviche.

 

[cntkg1]

OK! Am I the only person (besides Sledge) looking at your button placement!? That is pre-tequila taste!!!! You go girl - I think this moves you up to The most -interesting- woman with buttons on in the world!- That is one happy banana!

Nope, you weren't the only one. I was thinking the exact same thing. I was about to ask if that replaced the "OLBFFFNPWB" move of a few TR's ago.

 

[Briarmom]

OK! Am I the only person (besides Sledge) looking at your button placement!?

Nope.

More great reviews Bendy!

 

[oybolshoi]

OK! Am I the only person (besides Sledge) looking at your button placement!? That is pre-tequila taste!!!! You go girl - I think this moves you up to The most -interesting- woman with buttons on in the world!- That is one happy banana!

Where else was I supposed to put them so that they would receive the attention they deserved ... the buttons ... I'm talking about the buttons! ...?

I thought I did a nice job of button-to-bewbie balancing. Sadly it didn't nab me any free booze this time ...meh, we had to go clean up for Muppet Man's siggie dinner anyway.

Thanks for reading, Chelsi!

It's very sad that I intentionally misspelled "bated breath" just to make that lame joke!

And yay! An update! I can't wait to try the ditch... my mouth is watering right now thinking about a good margarita (not that slushie crap they sell outside the pavillion!) along with some crab tostadas and ceviche.

I love puns so I thought your lame joke was great! And although the Festival is over you can still order tequila flights at the Ditch to set up your own tasting if you want. Or you can just go through the drink bible! Either way I hope you enjoy it as much as we did and thanks for reading!

Nope, you weren't the only one. I was thinking the exact same thing. I was about to ask if that replaced the "OLBFFFNPWB" move of a few TR's ago.

Hiya Goosie!! The buttons were a balancing act, nothing more!!!

And I am currently too fat to be one-legged-bewb-flashing-for-freebies-no-pants-wearing-bendy ... I tried in a couple of pictures and those turkey-leg calves of mine show up every time.

Back to the treadmill with me!

Thanks for reading Goose!

Nope.

More great reviews Bendy!

I was trying to be symmetrical ... it was all about balance! I swear that was all!!!

Hey ... does that mean I had Feng Shui Bewbies??

Thanks for reading Briarmom!!

 

[praisehisname]

Great review! I know next to nothing about tequila (except that I like margaritas), so I found it really interesting. So thanks!

And I didn't notice the buttons until Chelsi pointed them out...

 

[BriarRosie]

Didn't you know that Jay and I fill our brandy snifters every evening, bite the end off a chockie cigar, and raise a toast to evil? I could have sworn we told you ...

See, you're a nice person Lori. What are you doing hanging around with riffraff like Jay and me?

That's because I'm secretly evil. I would have been laughing at the poor woman before taking pity on her and giving her a clue.

OK! Am I the only person (besides Sledge) looking at your button placement!? That is pre-tequila taste!!!! You go girl - I think this moves you up to The most -interesting- woman with buttons on in the world!- That is one happy banana!

You are SO not the only person to spot the button placement!
I was being good and trying to stifle myself.

I'd like to know who the Most Interesting Man is, and what Sledge means.

 

[oybolshoi]

Great review! I know next to nothing about tequila (except that I like margaritas), so I found it really interesting. So thanks!

And I didn't notice the buttons until Chelsi pointed them out...

Hi Denise - thanks for reading; glad you liked this most recent update! We learned a lot about tequila at this tasting and it was really interesting to us since we didn't really know anything about it.

I have nothing more to say about my buttons.

That's because I'm secretly evil. I would have been laughing at the poor woman before taking pity on her and giving her a clue.

That's probably closer to what Jay and I would have done, too.

You are SO not the only person to spot the button placement! I was being good and trying to stifle myself.

I'd like to know who the Most Interesting Man is, and what Sledge means.

The Most Interesting Man in the World is from the current Dos Equis ad campaign. Very funny commercials and we ended up quoting them a lot at each other during the last days of the trip.

Sledge is Chelsi's story to tell.

 

[J.C.&ALI'SMOM]

Awesome buttons!! I need to get some of those! Loved the review. It is nice to know there are tequilas out there that taste like more than paint thinner. I am seriously bummed that we just got back and didn't once set foot in the Mexico pavilion I even told DH that he would be buying me a "real" margarita. We just never made it. Oh well, does that mean he has to buy two next time?

 

[whogirl'smom]

Very interesting review of the tequila tasting, Brenda. I only recently decided I liked margaritas even (at a local holeinthewall Mexican place), so this was very enlightening. Maybe I had just had bad booze before!

I agree that you should have had the place to yourself as small as it looks.

 

[BriarRosie]

The Most Interesting Man in the World is from the current Dos Equis ad campaign. Very funny commercials and we ended up quoting them a lot at each other during the last days of the trip.

Sledge is Chelsi's story to tell.

I had to do a search and found it on YouTube. I haven't seen these before!
My favorite line has to be: "People hang on his every word....even the prepositions..."

And I guess I'll wait for Chelsi to tell her story...

 

[oybolshoi]

Awesome buttons!! I need to get some of those! Loved the review. It is nice to know there are tequilas out there that taste like more than paint thinner. I am seriously bummed that we just got back and didn't once set foot in the Mexico pavilion I even told DH that he would be buying me a "real" margarita. We just never made it. Oh well, does that mean he has to buy two next time?

I am so sorry you weren't able to make it to the Ditch for a real drink. And yes ... he has to buy at least two to make up for not getting you any on this trip. That's just how it works.

BTW - I saw the pics of your DD's birthday cake and it looked wonderful!

Very interesting review of the tequila tasting, Brenda. I only recently decided I liked margaritas even (at a local holeinthewall Mexican place), so this was very enlightening. Maybe I had just had bad booze before!

I agree that you should have had the place to yourself as small as it looks.

Thanks for reading Jamie - glad you enjoyed it. And yes ... you may just have had badly made margaritas. Welcome to the world of tasty booze! Now you know where to go for a drink on your spring trip!

I had to do a search and found it on YouTube. I haven't seen these before!
My favorite line has to be: "People hang on his every word....even the prepositions..."

And I guess I'll wait for Chelsi to tell her story...

My two favorite quotes right now are:

"He once had an awkward moment just to see how it felt."
"He lives vicariously ... through himself."

Jay is partial to: "it's never too soon to start beefing up your obituary."



Keep an eye out for the rest of Chelsi's Ditch-Day post ... that's when Sledge will make his appearance. And then it all spirals out of control from there.