Just One July

As sucky as work has been lately, I decided that maybe I just need a good challenge, so I think I'm going to join in with Justine's Just One July SAL. I haven't found an official signup list, but I know that my friend Tiffany is also joining in (and she's doing a giveaway as well). Of course, it's not too difficult to figure out which project I will be stitching on, Lilo and Stitch Otherwise by Neni Designs:

I am ending the month here, at almost the first row finish:

And I'm not sure where the month is going to take me, but I'm hoping to finish, or get close to finishing, the first three rows. It's a huge goal but maybe a lofty goal is just what I need right now (or it could just kill my stitching mojo altogether, guess we'll see!).

Disney Reviews Restaurant Edition #24-Pecos Bill's Revisited

I think I've probably mentioned once or twice (or ten times) how much I loved Pecos Bill's Tall Tale Inn and Cafe, located in Frontierland in the Magic Kingdom. If you missed it, the best place is my last review from 2013 located HERE or my first review from 2012 HERE. If there was one thing I could always count on, it was a taco salad from Pecos. I wonder if I had a premonition in 2014 that all was about to change because I had three of them in one trip:



When I heard that they were changing the menu back in 2015, I was kind of glad we were going to California that year because I just couldn't deal with not having my beloved taco salad. By this year though, I was ready to face the inevitable and give their new menu items a try. First of all, the interior or the ordering system didn't change at all, just the menu. They went with more of an overall Mexican theme instead of just the one item.

Amber went with the Chicken Taco Salad because they were out of steak and beef for salads (although we were there mid-afternoon):

with bite-sized Churros for dessert:


I went with the steak fajitas (don't ask me why you could get fajita steak and not salad steak, for places like this, the meat is the same):

and I also got the side of Churros, but since they are coated in cinnamon, they were gifted to my Sister (the other dessert options were horrible and I knew she would eat them):


As I've mentioned in the past, the main draw to Pecos is not particularly the food itself, but the fixin's bar. Now, both of our orders were practically running over the plates already (and the plates were quite small considering the elevated prices of the new items), so adding anything to the dish was very hard (the picture of Amber's dish was post-fixin's, mine was pre). Luckily, they weren't paying attention and gave Amber an extra bowl and I used that for my toppings, but once I put them on the plate, it seemed like for every bite I took, another bite-sized chunk would end up on the tray. It was messy, hard to eat and, since Amber really didn't get what she wanted anyway, we both walked away very dissatisfied and somewhat pissed off.

Now that a bit of time has passed though, I'd be willing to give it another shot come fall, but I think it will be something I will have to do on my own, I think Amber's done. The memory of my beloved taco salad will have to live on in my heart though, because I doubt they will ever bring it back. RIP Taco Salad...you will forever be missed.

Disney Reviews Special Edition #9 - F&G Festival Night Topiaries

Sorry I got off track with the numbers. I think I wrote post #7 first, but somehow managed to schedule it after #8. Oh well, caught up now!

I'm not going to rehash all my previous topiary pics in night form, but I did want to share a couple of the highlights because they are really completely different in darkness. Just remember, these are all hand-held with no tripod, so please forgive!



On this one, you can see the reflections of the weird lighting effects they do to make them look so pretty:



I find it odd that they can do all the detail for the Beast's face, but not Belle's:




I have to admit, as much as I dislike Frozen, this was one of my favorites:

And my absolute favorite:

Disney Reviews Special Edition #7 - F&G Festival Food

The food pictures should be easier (and lighter) than the topiary posts simply because I'm the primary food picture-taker, so I don't have to scour through two separate albums this time!

If there is one thing I love to do, it's hit the food booths at the Food and Wine Festival and I was hoping that the Flower and Garden Festival food booths would be just as good (if not better). Having just gotten back from Disneyland in California last October and being slightly disgruntled at the food there, my hopes might have been higher than usual for Disney World.

Although the F&G food booths were good, none were as outstanding as the F&W booths typically are, but that could be because of the quantity of choices. Whereas the F&W Festival has an average of 40 or so booths, the F&G Festival only had 13, so there isn't as many options and we all know what a picky eater I am. For a complete listing of this year's booths, check out The Disney Food Blog, one of my favorite Disney sites for food info.

Like the F&W Festival, the F&G Festival hands out free little "passports" that you can get stamped at every food and garden visit. It's the best way to keep up with what you ate where. These pictures are going to go in order of my stamps rather than in order of how we ate them. And this was also over a 6-day period, so no need to worry about the quantity!

URBAN FARM EATS
I had the Vegetable and White Bean "Naanwich" with Arugula Pesto and Oven-dried Tomatoes featuring Seeds of Change Quinoa, Brown and Red Rice:

and the Avive Natural Peach Sparkling Wine

Amber had the Seared Pork Tenderloin with Mushroom Ragout, Spring Vegetables and Marbled Potatoes


PINEAPPLE PROMENADE
Am had the Frozen Desert Violet Lemonade


LA ISLA FRESCA
I had the Jerk-spice Chicken with Mango Salsa, Chayote and Green Papaya Slaw with Lime-Cilantro Vinaigrette

Am had the Jamaican-braised Beef with Pigeon Pea Rice and Micro Cilantro


JARDIN DE FIESTAS
I had the Tacos de Camaron with Tempura Shrimp served with Hibiscus Flower, Caramelized Onions and Habanero Sauce, but I'm not sure if Amber had the same since I have no second picture


PRIMAVERA KITCHEN
Am and I both had the Mezze Lune Primavera with Egg Pasta stuffed with Ricotta and Spinach in a Creamy Sauce with Spring Vegetables and Pecorino Cheese (and I'm leaving off Am's pic...it's the same thing)

And I also had the Cremoso al Pistachhio which had Pistachio Cream, Strawberries and Mascarpone Cream


THE SMOKEHOUSE: BARBECUE AND BREWS
I had the Pulled Pig Slider with Crispy Onions and Coleslaw, but I forgot to take a picture. There was a massive snafu during ordering because the booth was closing and they didn't have enough food to sell to those already in line (myself included) so we had to wait till more came and then the fireworks started and I just forgot.

FLORIDA FRESH
I skipped this both, but Am had a glass of Watermelon Juice (non-alcoholic), which was nothing but squeezed watermelon juice (I'm not a watermelon fan-again...how I am a card-carrying Southern Belle?)


FLEUR DE LYS
I had the Macaron Chocolat Framboise (basically a Raspberry Macaron with Chocolate Fudge and Raspberry Jam)

And the Ice Pop Grand Marnier Peach Cocktail

Which caused a lot of laughs because Amber thought I was eating it funny...how else are you eat a push-up pop when you have sensitive teeth and can't bite directly into it?

Am had the La Vie en Rose Frozen Slush (Grey Groose Vodka Orange, St. Germain Liquor, White and Red Cranberry Juice)


CIDER HOUSE
I'm a little sketchy on which cider Amber had, It was either the Black Cherry Hard Cider or the Mad Man Blueberry Hard Cider (I think), but I'm just not sure. Either way, it was pretty gross

Overall, I think the macaron and pork sliders were my favorite, but there wasn't one item I had to throw away (unlike the F&W Festival), so I guess it's safe to conclude that the F&G booths were a success! I still prefer the Food & Wine Festival food-wise simply because there is a wider range of choices, but combined with the topiaries and the lack of drunks at the Flower & Garden, I would say that the Flower & Garden Festival is now my favorite time of year to visit Disney...well, it would be if it was also Halloween time that is, but alas, I doubt I could get Disney, let alone the rest of the world, to celebrate Halloween in March-May!

Weekly Stitching

I did a horrible job at finishing the row for Lilo and Stitch Otherwise. I left off here last week:

And due to other commitments, other chores, etc, I only got to here:

Maybe I'll get the row finished this upcoming week.

I did get Angel in Lilac added to my Jasmine wall:

Disney Reviews Special Edition #8-F&G Festival Gardens

This is going to be a harder post to do, basically because I have hundreds of photos of the different flower gardens that were at the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival and it's too hard to pick. I debated on doing a post on each garden, but again, it would take me FOREVER to do that and I think it's time to move on to other reviews. So I decided that I'm just going to post a few select pictures from the various gardens or from areas of the Flower and Garden Festival that I haven't previously covered.

I like to look at flowers (from a distance since bugs are almost always near), but it's rare that I can tell one flower from another. I just like the pretty colors, so it probably wouldn't do me any good to describe these pictures anyway. Oh, and these are also a mix of mine and my Sister's pictures.






















I personally couldn't go into the Butterfly Garden (bugs), but Am took plenty for me!

And that's about as broad of an overview of the different gardens as I can give without a total photo bombardment in twelve parts!