It's a good thing I cook better than I blog!

As the title suggests I am one lame blogger. I have made a few things that I haven't blogged about but I never remember to put the pictures on the computer and then I go to blog and remember, dang I'm at work and my camera is at home. What a blogging failure!

So in lieu of a new recipe I will share with you some of my recent food related outings and future food related plans.


Epcot's Food and Wine Festival

My husband and I went to the Food and Wine Festival for the first time last year. The hubs is lucky because Food and Wine always falls over his birthday and after having such a grand time last year (both times we went) we decided to do it all again this year. Of course I didn't take any pictures of the food, because it was dark and I only had the camera on my phone, we are super light travelers when we go to Disney... don't want anything getting in the way of fun, not even a camera. So I will just tell you a little about my favorite parts.

In Ireland they had the most delicious chocolate lava cake and my husband loved the fisherman's pie, which had a stew of lobster, scallops and veggies topped with mashed potatoes.

In France the short ribs topped in mashed potatoes are amazing. Along with the cosmo slush they always have and the kir, which is a drink with champing and a fruit flavored liquor.

In Belgium... the waffles. Need I say more?! They also had an iced coffee with Godiva Chocolate Liquor, Yum!

I am a really picky eater so those are my favorites. I also love a good Riesling and could drink my way around Epcot every weekend from now until I die. There is just nothing more magical than good food, good wine and kids on a leash.

Pumpkin, Pumpkin Everywhere!!!

Jeremiah's Italian Ice in Orlando has Pumpkin Pie Ice and when you get it mixed with vanilla soft serve, it is by far one of the best things in the world. They have Pumpkin Pie ice mid October through the end of the year usually and right before they stop carrying it for the season I always get a quart of it to keep in the freezer because I love pumpkin so much.

Cheesecake Factory pumpkin cheesecake is also a fall staple in my diet. I could eat an entire pumpkin cheesecake, it's too good for just one piece.

First Watch, a breakfast/brunch place we have around here, has pumpkin pancakes on the weekends. Unfortunately I work on Saturdays and go to church on Sundays and I am NOT a morning person so there is no way I would wake up and go get pumpkin pancakes before work or church so I haven't had them yet. My mom and grandpa love them and I went with them on a Friday hoping they would have them only to be disappointed when they didn't and I had to settle for french toast, which was really good.

Dunkin' Donuts has a pumpkin donut. It's pumpkin spice cake and glazed. It was OK. I wouldn't get one again, but my husband loved it.

Oh the planning!

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and I have a large family. We always have "dinner" at my parents house at 2:00. I bring southern style green beans that I make in a croc pot with bacon and onions and pies, sometimes even cake, some combination of pumpkin pie, pumpkin bundt cake and pecan pie. I love Thanksgiving. I love the food, I usually love spending time with my family and oh yeah the food, especially left overs.


I have also started planning my Christmas baking. I have a few family members that either have everything or I wouldn't know what to get them, so I've decided to make baked goods baskets for some of those people. I have a list of cookies, treats and other munchies I plan to make but I will post pictures of those so you will just have to wonder until then.


Hopefully I'll get my act together and upload some pictures this weekend so I can post some more cooking posts, seeing as how this is supposed to be documenting my cooking adventures both delicious and unfortunate. Until then, get yourself something pumpkin and enjoy Fall while it lasts.

A cheesecake project pt. 2

Over the weekend the hubs and I tasted two more of The Cheesecake Factory's offerings.

Chocolate Coconut Cream Cheesecake - YUCK! Now I don't like coconut so I figured I wouldn't be too thrilled with this cheesecake, but the hubs loves coconut and he threw almost half of it away because he said it just wasn't very good. It was creamy and had a nice texture, until you got some coconut shavings stuck in your teeth. It was just bad. Definitely the worst flavor yet.


Tiramisu Cheesecake - This was good. If I am ever at The Cheesecake Factory and feeling Italian, I'd get this again. I love Tiramisu so I was excited about trying this. It was a great balance between the creamy cheesecake and traditional espresso soaked plateful of delicious.

Only 16 flavors left.

A cheesecake project

SO this has nothing to do with my own cooking skills, more my love of cheesecake. I love a good cheesecake as much as the next girl and my husband is right behind me in line for a big piece of creamy goodness. So we have been two by two trying all of the cheesecakes that The Cheesecake Factory has to offer and we are a little over half way through the cheesecake menu, so I figured I would share my thoughts so far.


The Original

This is a classic, delicious but too plain for us.

Fresh Strawberry

I don't like strawberries, I know I'm crazy... but I do love the sugary goo that surrounds them. This is a good choice if you want something simple and topped with fruit, especially for me and my husband who loves the strawberries and could care less about the goo!

Stefanie's Ultimate Red Velvet Cheesecake™

I love cheesecake and I love red velvet cake and this concoction was supremely disappointing, as in I had two bites and decided I couldn't eat any more of it.

30th Anniversary Chocolate Cake Cheesecake

Again this mix of chocolate cake and cheesecake was disappointing, just because two things are delicious doesn't mean they need to be layered with one another.

White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle®

This was really good. I don't usually like anything white chocolate in anything but this is probably one of my favorites so far.

Godiva® Chocolate Cheesecake

When I am in the mood for something chocolaty this is my go to cheesecake. I love myself some Godiva and mix it with cheesecake and I am in heaven.

Fresh Banana Cream Cheesecake

I wasn't very excited about this entry on the list, but keeping with the task at hand to try every cheesecake they have to offer we got it. I have never been happier to put something banana flavored in my mouth EVER! It was like banana pudding which I love, except firm and creamy and over crust.

Adam's Peanut Butter Cup Fudge Ripple

This is very rich, very good, but rich. Definitely share this with someone, it's not something you can eat alone.

Lemon Raspberry Cream Cheesecake

This was not as good as I hoped it would be. Especially because I love lemon and raspberry, those were our wedding cake flavors, lemon cake with raspberry filling. It was just a strange piece of cheesecake and I probably wouldn't get it again.

Dulce de Leche Caramel Cheesecake

This will probably be in my top 3 cheesecakes when this project is said and done. It is just all around good, especially when you are sick of fruit and sick of chocolate, which happens on occasion.

Chocolate Raspberry Truffle®

This is another great option for a chocolate cheesecake. Definitely in my top 10.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

This is my all time favorite cheesecake, not to mention my all time flavor of anything. If I could eat something pumpkin flavored every day I would.


Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake

This is only OK. I love Pecan pie and Pumpkin anything but I was disappointed with the combination.


Maybe sometime soon I'll post a little blog about my first attempt at making a cheesecake... it wasn't pretty and ended with a hunk of baked cheese that you could use as a brick.