Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Disney

We went on a mini family vacation to Disneyland a few weeks ago (during the heatwave no less). Thanks to Jenn for the Disney tips which included:

  • Getting our rice fix at the PCH Grill while the kids got their character breakfast fix
  • Splurging a little for the Grand Californian Hotel was definitely worth it especially because the heat got to be unbearable at times - going back to the hotel to recuperate was a lifesaver. Had we stayed offsite we would have either burned to a crisp in the park or called it a day at 11:00 AM and stayed in the hotel.

Highlights of our vacation:

  • We got our family portraits taken by Disney Mike - I figured, hey we're in Disneyland, let me see if DisneyMike can take our pics! This is the first time we had our portraits taken since we added our little #3. Poor guy is growing up in a house with no pictures of him on the wall, he probably thinks he's adopted.
  • Got my daughter started with pin trading - it was just fun for her to trade pins with the "Cast Members" on the resort although now that we're home those pins are sitting on the kitchen counter long forgotten. I don't want to think about how much I spent on pins for her to trade. By the way - Jack Sparrow-Mickey Mouse is non-negotiable. :)



  • Got to watch Little Q's reaction as all his favorite Pixar characters came to life during the Pixar Parade at California Adventure.
  • Fascination

  • Bought another cookbook!

My new cookbook, Delicious Disney, caught my eye while I was perusing the gift/sundries shop at the hotel for the 7th time that weekend. The recipe that cemented my decision to spend $40 on the book was for Twinkie Tiramisu. Joyce's daughter Ava recently turned 2 and I used her birthday as an excuse to make it. No one knew I used Twinkies until after I told them. It was a tad too sweet for my taste but I generally don't like desserts that are sweet (I prefer creamy/fruity). If you like Twinkies, I think you'll like this tiramisu.






Wednesday, July 9, 2008

new home & sugar overload

I moved my blog here - no more people searching for "Big Buttys" or whatever that is!

I stumbled onto Tim Tam Slams on YouTube - and I was immediately intrigued. Originating in Australia, the basics of a Tim Tam Slam is you take a cookie or biscuit (usually a Tim Tam), bite off opposite corners of the biscuit and then use the biscuit as a straw to suck up your hot beverage of choice (coffee, tea, hot cocoa, etc.) Once the hot liquid enters the biscuit it melts the Tim Tam which you then turn around and stuff the whole thing in your mouth. What results is a big gooey chocolatey melted cookie explosion.

I went out and bought 3 packs of Tim Tam's from Cost Plus (they are called Arnott's Biscuits) and made a cup of tea and did the Tim Tam Slam. It was really good but too much of a good thing for me - probably because you pretty much have to put the entire biscuit in your mouth at once and that was overkill for me. I got that sick feeling I usually get when I eat a large quantity of sweets.

Natalie Imbruglia does the Tim Tam Slam!