Archive for January 2011

Too Full For the Animal Kingdom

Confession, we didn’t eat in the Animal Kingdom.

In some respects, Disney World quick service food at the four parks is probably similar to Will Ferrell movies, you hope it’s different, but really they’re all the same.

It’s not a tremendous disappointment because the Animal Kingdom occupied a mere three lines on my food list. Only missing the Zebra Domes made me wistful. Astonishingly, Ben was unwilling to search out the Mara Lodge just for dessert.

Even though we struck out at the Animal Kingdom, here’s what was on my list:

Note: Click the name of the quick service restaurant to view their menu.

I’d bet Reese Witherspoon’s management ring the barbecue served at Flame Tree is identical to what we had at Fairfax Fare in Hollywood Studios. It gets rave reviews online and repeat visitors.

Yak and Yeti looked decent, but it’s hard to tell from a menu. The option of Asian food among burgers and pizza is refreshing in itself.

Nevertheless, compared to the other parks the Animal Kingdom has the prettiest scenery and setting.

We might not have eaten there, but it probably was a good thing in light of my nerves. Approaching the Expedition Everest roller coaster, I grew extremely apprehensive witnessing cars of people slowly chug up a steep incline and then rapidly drop into nothingness. Yikes.

Amazingly, after surviving one ride I couldn’t wait to go again (opposite of the Tower of Terror). Expedition Everest is my new favorite Disney ride. And it has a Yeti.

Disney World Posts

• Gidget’s Disney World Food List (view the spreadsheet)
• Gidget Eats Does Disney World
• Disney’s Quick Service Dining Plan and My Food List
• The Magic Kingdom
• Hollywood Studios
• Animal Kingdom
• Epcot
• Downtown Disney and the Boardwalk

Blown Away

Near the end of the day fireworks were exploding in my office.

Okay, clearly not literally, but in my mind they were while I was jumping up and down in celebration of a tweet from Eat Jackson, who revealed that Angela Shepard and I had won!

I am sincerely thankful for every single person who humored me and voted for Gidget Eats. Knowing we all have busy days crammed full with email, jobs, families, driving, exercising, cleaning, tweeting, facebooking, eating and repeating, I am appreciative for the small moment it took.

And not to get too mushy, but I was truly touched by some of the comments and the undeserving amount of fantastic people in my life willing to help me out.

Thank you Eat Jackson! Thank you folks at Walker’s and Local 463!

Last but certainly not least, thank you dear friends, family, and reader.

I know, I know, it’s not like I won a presidential election, Nobel peace prize, or even American Idol (double ha!), but Gidget loves to eat.

Shameless

Gidget needs your help!

The contest over at Eat Jackson is still going on. If you want to help out, go vote (once and only once please) before Friday, Jan. 29 at noon.

A big thank you to those who voted for me! I’m grateful for you taking a moment out of your day to do so.

And because I appreciate all my loyal readers, here are some links, things to do and freebies:

Jackson News and Events

• Best Of Jackson 2011:  Food and Drink: from the Jackson Free Press
• Beer Tasting: Friday, January 28 there is a beer tasting at Brent’s in Fondren sponsored by Raise Your Pints.
• Speakeasy Soiree: Saturday, January 29 there is a benefit at The Auditorium to benefit the Boys & Girls Club of Central Mississippi.
• Jackson Now: call me slow, but I just found this website! Read news such as the Bodega downtown and movies playing at the planetarium.
• For Better Or For Wurst: a new Jackson food blog joins the mix

Freebies for all

• *Wendy’s new Natural Cut Fries with Sea Salt: Be patient, at the end of the flash show there is a link to print a coupon for a free order of fries
• *Bath & Body Works candle: to introduce a new fragrance, they’re giving away free 1.6 oz candles, good only for Jan. 28-30
• Elle Decor Magazine: score one whole year of free Elle Decor magazines
• Yoplait Original Yogurt: receive a coupon for one free cup of Yoplait yogurt by filling out the form
• redbox: today only (1/27/11), rent a movie for free with this code – MOVIENIGHT

Gidget Needs Your Help!

Look at our persuasive smiles!

In the right circumstances, I can be a competitive person.

The pinnacle of my high school tennis career was reaching the State Championship junior year. It was the farthest I had ever gotten, the best I’d played, and during an intense match I dropped the f-bomb. More than once. My mom was there.

I wanted to win, but that is SO not me. (In college I had a swear jar and every curse word would cost you $0.25, people actually paid me.)

On the other hand, competition can be healthy. Next month I’m still on track for running the Rock’n'Roll Mardi Gras half marathon.

Along those lines, I just found out I’m in another competition and need your help!

There is a voting contest going on over at the Eat Jackson blog.

On an previous post he threw out the question – If you had one meal in Jackson, what would you have and where would it be? I answered, Walker’s Drive In (duh!) and left my comment. Now those who said Walker’s or Local 463 are in the running for a $100 gift card!

The thing is, the winner is determined by who gets the most votes. Currently I have one, not sure now…

Please play fair and vote once, for me preferable: click here to go to the Eat Jackson blog. Then I may be persuaded to do a contest of my own…thanks y’all!

And if you need evidence of my love for Walker’s, you can read about it here, here, here, here and here.

Mochi, the Better Rice Cake

Strawberry mochi

Enchanted by the Japan world showcase in Epcot, I stumbled across a store where I wanted one of everything.

There were kimonos, sake, stationary, wall hangings, chopsticks, bonsai trees, and enough Hello Kitty items to decorate a house. Yes, I still like Hello Kitty, and no, I’m not ashamed.

Like a bargain hunter at the Target $1 bins, my self-control was put to the test in the candy and food section. Although there were three kinds of mochi on display, I only purchased one package of the strawberry. (Space in my suitcase may have been a factor.)

Mochi are Japanese rice cakes. The soft outer shell is made from glutenous rice which is stuffed with a sweet filling. The fillings range from red bean paste to ice cream to fruit. They are nothing like the American coaster-sized disks of cardboard, except they are both round.

These adorable palm-sized pillows are delicately chewy and subtly sweet. Many Asian culinary landscapes include some sort of rice cake, but a Japanese friend first introduced me to mochi in high school.

I brought mochi to work and persuaded (nearly) everyone to try it. They were pleasantly surprised but I’m not, mochi is easy to love.

• How to Make Mochi By Hand: from Serious Eats
• Korean Rice Cakes: from Serious Eats
• Mochi: New York Times
• Japanese Rice Cake (and recipe): from Melting Wok

The green tea ice cream mochi pictured below is from the new Oriental Supermarket/Mr. Chen’s in Jackson off of I-55. Upon scoring my favorite mochi, I may have squealed in excitement. Not pictured is the second box of chocolate mochi. It’s mochi madness!