Foods at Epcot's Food and Wine Festival 2019 | Our Anniversary Trip to Disney | Travel

Food and Wine Festival 2019

October 2019 marked Marcus and I’s 5 year wedding anniversary! I was just blow away on how fast these past years went; but they have been some of my favorite years I have ever lived.
Wanting to do something special, we both racked our brains for something that we could really commemorate the milestone in our lives. After lots of talks and suggestions, we decided to celebrate by going to Orlando's Disney parks! (Yes, we were grouped into the childless millennial category. No worries, though didn’t get into any pretzel line).
Our second day at the parks we chose to enjoy our day at Epcot! It also just happened to be Epcot’s 2019 Food and Wine Festival. Although, we are not much of drinkers we are super into food! I was SO excited to find out we would be going at this time. How it works: Epcot is known for having food from around the world because of the different countries they have built around the lake. WIth the Festival going on they have more food booths that serve both food and wine from all the different countries around the world.

At every stop they provided a free food passport with stickers to make which ones you eat on the way! So Marcus and I ate around the world and this is what we had.

Kāalua Pork Slider with Sweet-and-Sour DOLE® Pineapple Chutney and spicy Mayonnaise in Hawaii

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So far this is the closest I have been to Hawaii which is very high on my bucket list right now. Any food that has pineapple in I am there! This slider was the first of the food we tried. It is basically two bites worth of a serving. The combination was good; the flavors worked well together. Nothing truly mind blowing but I would go back for another if there wasn’t so many other foods on our list that day!

Grilled Sweet-and-Spicy Bushberry Shrimp with Pineapple, Pepper, Onion, and Snap Peas in Australia

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Marcus is huge into seafood and most of all huge into shrimp! I am not a seafood person. So a couple of items on this list we did not share. Marcus thought this dish was just ok. I had some of the veggies in the dish and understood where he came from. The flavors weren’t our favorite.

Charcuterie in a Cone with a selection of imported Spanish Meats, Cheeses, and Olives with an Herb Vinaigrette in Spain

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I felt so fancy eating this dish! It was literally just meat, cheese, and olives, but that didn’t matter! This was one of my favorites dishes of the day. All the flavors were there; there was such a good variety in such a small little cone but didn’t feel heavy on the gut. Marcus and I both approved.

Kenyan Coffee Barbecue Beef Tenderloin with Sweet Potato and Corn Mealie Pap and Kachumbari Slaw in Africa

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Coffee has never let me down. This dish was no exception. I had picked this one out early on with high hopes of something good. The presentation was a little different but the flavors quickly made this dish my favorite one of the day. It had almost a sweet curry flavor that had a refreshing quality to it. Marcus is not a curry person in the slightest. I was glad to have this dish mostly to myself!

New England Lobster Roll: Warm Lobster with fresh Herb Mayonnaise and Griddled Roll in good old US of A

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Another sea food dish, this lobster roll basically had Marcus in the palm of its butter roll. He LOVED it. Afterwards, Marcus proclaimed this dish to be his favorite of the day. So for any seafood people this is one you will not want to skip!

Boeuf Braisé à la Bordelaise, Pomme Dauphine: Beef Braised in Cabernet Sauvignon with Red Onions and Puffed Potatoes in France

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I was excited to try this dish. One thing that Epcot did I thought was really cool was all the servers at each “country” were from the actual country. Their server badge had the city they were from in each country. I thought it was just a fun way to make the experience feel authentic. I have heard of this dish from movies so I wanted to give it a try. It was pretty basic stew taste. It was nothing special.

Moqueca: Brazilian Seafood Stew featuring Scallops, Shrimp, and White Fish with Coconut-Lime Sauce and Steamed Rice in Brazil

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This seafood stew was a dish for Marcus but I had a small bite of the rice. It was too fishy for my personal taste. It sounded like it had SO much potential but Marcus didn’t particularly care for it.

Spicy Roll: Spicy Tuna and Salmon Sushi Roll topped with Volcano Sauce in Japan

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We love sushi! Sushi is the only exception to my seafood dislike. Even though it was tuna, this roll was a little more familiar with what we normally eat. Not super fresh but it was still a solid sushi roll.

Caramel Apple Popcorn in Appleseed Orchard Wine Bar

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I loved the container this food item came it! I knew it was worth getting just for the apple container. Thankfully the Caramel Apple popcorn was just as delicious as all the photos and press gave it! It was a sweet treat to end our trip around the world with!

This is my honest opinion as a first time Food and Wine Festival goer. I went in coming off the Minnesota State Fair into this anniversary food adventure with HIGH hopes. If you are not a Minnesota native you probably wonder why I bring up the State Fair. The Minnesota State Fair has some of my favorite annual foods that keep me coming back for more and day dreaming about until August each year. Every year they add new foods to try which makes me start planning the moment the list comes out before the fair even opens. The foods are mouthwateringly delicious. ( I can give you some recommendations upon request!)

I know Disney does not spare expense when it comes to making their client experience amazing for everyone that goes. With that in mind I was not impressed with the quality and flavors of the food we purchased at Epcot’s Food and Wine Festival. I wouldn’t go back to Disney’s Epcot just for this food festival, but it was a fun experience to try at least once in my life! I am so gratefully Marcus and I were able to have this fun time together and share in this experience.

Bonus Foods at Disney Springs

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These items are not at Epcot but I could not leave them out of the post. Disney Springs is a little free access “Downtown Disney” with food and shopping. Marcus and I hit it up the first night to explore and ended up spending a solid 20 minutes in their Christmas Store. It took everything in me not to buy the whole store out. (Disney knows what it is doing!) But back to the food!

This little cake is from Amorette's Patisserie. It is the Mickey Mouse cake: Chocolate Chiffon Cake, Dark Chocolate Mousse and White Chocolate Mousse. It was the perfect combination of light and fluffy with a little bit of crunch. It was so delicious I wish we could have brought a large one home with us! I highly recommend this mini cake to get you into the Disney spirit!

We later grabbed dinner and Marcus was eyeing these nachos. Believe me when I tell you these were literally the best nachos of my life! I am not joking when I say these nachos were the best tasting food we had on out Disney trip and you DON’T EVEN NEED TO GO TO A PARK TO GET THEM! We have joked about having them flown to us. But if you are in Disney Springs go to the West Side and the sell them on a little barbecue hut on the right side of House of Blues.

Hayward Surprise Birthday Weekend | Wisconsin Travel

Surprise Hayward Birthday Weekend

I know this is a little late BUT this post is what we did for my birthday! I wanted to share how much Marcus did and all we enjoyed! (With a little family photo session at the end :D)
November is my birthday month! I have always been big into my birthday and I think a large part of that is coming from a big family. One day out of the year was my day and I LOVE my birthday! This year Marcus gave me the option early on, do I want my birthday gift to be a surprise or do I want to know. I decided to live on the side of whimsy and be surprised. Then a week later I caved. "You can tell me it is ok." My feeble attempts were futile, until about a week before. Marcus caved a little and gave me 5 questions I could ask and he would answer them honestly. I LOVED this part. I thought through my questions and decided to ask one to help manage me expectations. "Will I be in any way holding, touching, feeding a Red Panda by Monday?" (Red Panda's are my favorite animal and a very high bucket list item to have a live encounter with some day). The Answer was a No. Among a couple of other questions that were more fun than anything I did get out of him that we were leaving the state! I was SO excited!

I took Friday off at his request and after a day at the office I came home to Marcus handing me my weekender bag and telling me once I filled it up we were hitting the road! I took off for my bed room as fast as I could and with permission looked in his bag to get a good idea of what to throw into mine.

3 pair of underwear and 3 pairs of socks. That was all the information I needed to help fill the amount of days we would be away! With a little more hints from Marcus as he watched and packed more things into the truck, I left the bathing suit at home and 30 minutes to an hour later we were on the road! Dunder was coming with us.
It wasn’t until about 2 hours in until Marcus told me what was going on. He had booked us a weekend getaway to a WI Cabin. I was so excited and was pleasantly surprised! This year my family has been talking about renting a cabin for a week where we can all enjoy water sports and fellowship together. Marcus took that and put it on a little trial run. The second part of the surprise was that the following day my whole family would be joining us!

PS Dunder exhausted himself out with how excited he was to be on this adventure he slept most of the way. When we finally came rolling into the small town, it was dinner time. We stopped at a local pizza place grabbed one and then headed to the cabin. We pulled up to this dark wood log cabin that was so cute, even in the dark.

What felt really different from the city was even just unpacking the truck it was eerily quiet. Not something we experience very much living so close to a highway. The cabin was so cozy with a fireplace and plenty of space. All the decorations looked like they were just shopped out of Hobby Lobby’s cabin decor with Moose, Deer, and fish hanging on the walls. With wood panels and dark green carpet, it was perfect for a weekend getaway.

The downstairs had a pool table so after some curiosity exploring, we played a couple of rounds of pool. And I didn’t know this but I married a pool shark. Marcus grew up with one in his house so naturally he is amazing. ( and super proud of that fact).

We ate pizza with the fire blazing and just enjoyed a night of hanging out.
The next day I woke up to a stunning view of the lake that this cabin had been built on. The cabin was higher on the hill so it just held a stunning higher view. We explored outside and found stairs headed down to the water, a little fire pit on the side of the house and a front yard made for throwing Dunder’s Frisbee.

We walked the streets around the cabin and just took a relaxing day at the cabin. Reading some of the books they had there while basking in the sun on their over sized chair. It wasn’t until about dinner time until the rest of the family started pulling up!
We made enchiladas’ thanks to my mom’s hard work at prepping everything for us! Round 2 of pool broke out which is where I found out my sister and father are also amazing at pool. Apparently, this is a talent that skipped over me in my family.

After everyone was assigned a room and chilled with the fireplace on we all headed to bed.
Saturday morning after breakfast, I rounded everyone up to do a couple of quick family photos on the road leading to the cabin! It just struck me the day before how beautiful it was. I am glad we were able to get some family photos to document the time together.
That evening we celebrated with some presents and Dorthy Ann’s Bakery cake. (the one with raspberry filling)

I am so grateful and excited to share this little adventure weekend. My heart was so full.

Tips For Your First Time at the Minnesota State Fair | Travel

If you have talked to ANY Minnesotian about what you need to do while in Minnesota, you will most likely be encouraged to come sometime at the end of August for the Minnesota State Fair. The Minnesota State Fair is basically Christmas in August for someone like me who can’t GET ENOUGH. I go 2 to 3 times every year with different combinations of people and I mostly go for the food and fellowship. I love the hustle and bustle and greatly look forward to this every year! I have gone at least once for every year I have been alive and will continue to go. This year I finally was able to have my AZ family experience their first time at the fair in only 9 hours and close to 20k steps later. So I thought if they had to go without me what would I tell them for their FIRST experience. I thought I could help you to from someone who goes annually.

For anyone who is planning on going for the first time here are a couple of tips before your first visit to the Great Minnesota Get Together.

1) Get Your Tickets Early At Cub

Admission ticket prices just got up to 15 dollars at the gate, which isn’t highway robbery but don’t pay more than you need to. To help you save for all the delicious things you will be eating, Cub Grocery Store offers Admission tickets for a $2 off up until the week before the opening day. If you are going with your whole family or friends save a couple of bucks and treat your team to a bucket of Mouth Trap Cheese Curds. You can also purchase the coupon book here for 5 dollars. Although you never use all of them, you can get a couple of coupons that will save you more than 5 bucks. So you have to ask yourself it is worth it. A couple of coupons we love annually are the Pop Coupon, If you are into Rides they have a 5 or 10 off ride ticket sheets, $1 off cotton Candy, and $5 to $10 dollars off Minnesota Stair Fair Merch.
There won’t be coupons for the new foods that year so be warned.

2) Use The Envelope System

Using the Envelope system is taking out a little bit of money at a time and storing it in an envelope that you will use the day of! This is something my husband and I do and it works great! The Minnesota State Fair is really a shared experience of eating all the foods you have been dreaming about since the last fair for the regulars. An average food item ranges from $8 to $12 an Item which can add up very quickly. So if you are able to save up in advance this method will look the best on your bank account when the time comes to get your hands dirty in the most delicious way possible. (with Sticky Pink Cotton Candy). Not big into food? Other things to save for would be rides for this kids or merch from all the booths in the Grandstands.

3) Download the Minnesota State Fair App

The Minnesota State Fair is the BEST State Fair in the whole of the United States. I am not just making this up. Much research has revealed this to be true (Google it) Technology has come into play in the best way and you can now download the Minnesota State Fair app right to your smart device. It has cataloged all food available that year and a map of where to find the food with details descriptions. It also has Merchants and Attractions. The app is better than nothing but still can improve. A big change I wish they would add is have a google maps kind of thing where it will lead you directly there on the app. Maybe it will happen in future but for not here it is!

4) Only Way To Try A Lot Is To Share The Lot

All the portions of food are for adult humans. Even for the most trained eater you will only make it to 2 to 3 items if you are eating everything by yourself and make it to about noon on day one. I really see the only way to try a lot of different foods at the Minnesota State Fair is to be prepared to share the food you are buying with your group! It is basically a day of samplers and by the end of the day you can check off all of your foods and events with a satisfied belly.

5) Bring Your Walking Shoes and Friends

Every year this was a family event. So my dad would pack us all in the car/van and drop us off while he spent the next 30 minutes looking for parking in the surrounding neighborhoods. Now, Marcus and I park and bike in to help save on pre-walking before you hit the gates. You can expect for a full day at the Great Minnesota Get Together to be anywhere from 15k to 20k (or more) on steps. If you do not bring the right shoes you will be kicking yourself mentally later as it will kill your feet. Trust me this will save you a whole day of icing your feet if you just wear the right foot wear! ( I wear my Bzees and have no regrets the next day! Others just do tennis shoes) I have always thought of the Minnesota State Fair as a group thing. It is so much fun to spend a couple of dollars and explore all the booths and buildings with your best friends and people you love. It is a great date for just you and your partner. I am a wedding Photographer and this location is HIGH on my engagement/couple session list.
SO If you and your significant other are trying something new or going for your annual fried pickle fix let me know and we can set up a time to enjoy the Minnesota State Fair TOGETHER!