Saturday, October 24, 2009

So Fine in 2009!

Or the Adventures at Epcot's 2009 Food and Wine Festival.

A week ago today I was reveling in all the culinary adventures the Mouse House had to offer. I figured no better day than exactly a week late to fill all my bloggy darlings in (that and I finally got all the blasted photos loaded)...so here we go!

My day started with a very early alarm considering I had frequented my favorite brewhouse (Stubbies!) for some pumpkin ale the night before...so after washing my headache down the drain in the shower, all the while drinking water like it was my job my darling Christine and I jumped on the road...with a quick pit stop for breakfast at The Bagel Bakery.

I got the Eggal which is a Egg and cheese with meat on a bagel in the form of Fresh out of the Oven Everything Bagel (literally..it was steaming and amazing!) cream cheese, sausage and egg. Oh man, so good.

See I told you it was good.....don't try this at home kids, I am a professional driving while eating-er!
We arrived in Otown at my college best Jenna's house way toooo early of course, because I'm crazy like that, so after some fbook stalking we finally cruised our way over to Epcot and met up with this bunch of crazies! Some photowhoring ensued...and trust me I'm giving you the bare minimum here for your own sanity (that and the mega length of this pooooost)
Christine and I...she hadn't been to Epcot in something like 10 years! So I was very glad to break the streak. Some times I think I should rename this blog "The Adventures of Jess & Christine....oh and I ate some stuff too"!

Jumping is kind of our thing, if you haven't noticed by now...Jenna, Sarah and I.

I love these girls, because we are always laughing...case in point in the above photo. Not to mention we are all gorgeous!

Ok, enough gushing about my wonderful friends...let's get on to the FOOD!

1st stop on our world culinary adventure was Argentina.
Grilled Beef Skewer with Chimichurri Sauce and Boniato Pureé and the Reserva Malbec. I really think that Malbecs are my favorite red wines now, I haven't had one I didn't like. And the skewer? Nothing short of a amazing...and this is coming from the girl who rarely eats red meat anymore. So tender and topped with a super garlicky amazing chimichurri! This ended up being my favorite item of the day!

In classic multitasking fashion Jenna picked up a goodie for me from Mexico too, while she was grabbing her Taco de Cochinita Pibil (aka chicken taco, that we all agreed was tasty, but nothing special)

I opted for the Chilaquiles (Baked Tortillas Layered with Chicken and Cheese). This ended up being even better than described since I love black beans! Plus topped with tomatoes, onions, chihuahua cheese and some sour cream! Very tasty, but nothing I couldn't make myself.

Now that we had some yummy South American food in our bellies we all knew what time it was....Tequila Time!

There is a little known tacquirea inside Mexico...so we met up with our whole group there for some shots (and the classier gals-a category in which I do not fall- got real margaritas....don't let them fool you with that slushy crap they serve outside)Ready to go! Tequila, super tasty tomatoes and cilantro chaser and a lime of course!

Cheers Friends!
Obviously, I didn't enjoy mine at all! I'm more of a beer and wine kinda gal, but I do love me a tequila shooter! Yum o.

As the buzz settled in nicely we cruised over to Poland for a favorite of mine from last year. (did I mention we do this every year? Some times more than once? Oh yes, I love my life!)

Kielbasa and Potato Pierogie with Caramelized Onions and Sour Cream

Only at Disney would Polish sausage be chased with delicacies from China, but at this point I had stopped trying to rationalize.

Pot stickers and a delicious (and totally out of character for me) Mango Gingerita cocktail were purchased and savored.

The pot stickers were fairly classic take out fare, but they satisfied a craving. The drink though...wow! I'm not a huge mixed drink/fruity-girly drink gal but this was so yummy with the sweetness of the mango offset by the spiciness of the ginger (it was ginger packed too). I ended up only drinking about 2/3 of this cup before passing it off to Jenna.

A long wait in line for the ladies restroom was make a little more pleasant by snacking on this fare from Australia that I had snagged before jumping in line.Seared Barramundi with Blistered Cherry Tomatoes, Arugula and Lemon Oil. This was the only disappointment of the day. The fish (while super fun to say...go on say it! Beara-MUNDI! and that may have been 1/2 the reason my ginger hazed brain wanted this plate) was rather dry and plain. The high light of the plate was the Blistered Cherry Tomatoes...I would have gladly consumed a whole bowl of those babies.

After wandering around Germany and Italy for a while waiting for our group to get out of an over priced "wine tasting" (aka, buy a bottle and you can taste it here! right.) I swung into Austria for a snack.
Mushroom Soup with Chive Dumplings paired with a taste of the Leth Grüner Veltliner. I had recalled the mushroom soup being one of my favorite from last year, but they had switched it up this time around.The dumplings did nothing for the soup, other than be very VERY green.

We wandered through Japan, and Morocco before stopping to check the Sam Adams tasting schedule.

Seeing that we had about an hour before the next tasting it only made sense to make a jaunt over to France for escargot and champagne!

Yummy pile of snails and bread or rather: Escargot Persillade en Brioche. And yes, I ordered a double order. I knew from last year that three just isn't enough...that and since we all share, I knew hands would be swooping down on this lovely plate! With a sparkling pomegranate Kir champagne to wash down all the lovely garlicky buttery delights!
Even though I was full of delicious French snails at this point I knew I needed something to munch on while waiting in line for Sam....so it hit up the Louisiana stand on my way back to the Land of The Free (aka USA)
Crawfish Étouffée (Spicy Cajun Crawfish and Vegetable Stew over White Rice). A few bites were hijacked before this picture was taken....the boys- most of which had been indulging in the wine, more than the food, part of the festival were getting a little grabby! I love them though, so it's all good. Very tasty. Etouffee is my favorite low country food, second only to a true low country boil, which is far too messy to fit in a little cup at Epcot!

After an overly dramatic wait in line for the Sam Adams tasting we were finally let in and found ourselves seated before this lovely little placemat.

I've sat through this tasting several times before, as had most of our group, so we were a bit rowdy. Let's just say we are the "fun group"...you know the one all the granny panties glare at!

Swirling and smelling the aroma!

I decided that the 14th Anniversary Ale was my favorite, and since you can only get it at the F&W festival, well that that's what I got! Yummy...just what I like on a warm and breezy afternoon. Light, and fruity with some coriander!

Next we wandered across the boarder to our lovely neighbor Canada to enjoy some hearty grub.
Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup and Spicy Chicken Sausage with Sweet Corn Polenta. So good. These two plates rival the beef skewer from Argentia, and that is really saying a lot. Also, they weren't kidding on the spicy part of the sausage! I was happily hiccuping after finishing that baby! Good thing we all shared an unpictured Moosehead to wash it down!

Of course the rowdy kids had to then stuff ourselves (rather unsuccessfully) into a phonebooth next...and this was only 1/2 our group! haha.

One last stop in Greece rounded out my Epcot eats for the day. I wasn't going to get anything from Greece since I eat Greek food fairly regularly, but after I heard a few other park patrons raving about the Spanikopita I had to find out for myself.
With a tasting glass Boutari Santorini on the side, since I adore Santorini wines! Hijacked again, this time the punishment was to be my hand model....which made for a challenge, since my "model" woudn't hold still! haha. All in good crazy fun! Oh and yes, the spanikpita was truly worth raving about. So yummy!

Well, if you made it through this whole post, contulations! As you can see I had a blast. The festival is going on for a few more weeks, so if you are in the Orlando area check it out. It's a bit pricey, but really a fun time!

Love to all,
~An overinduglent, but totally satisified, Jess

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