Apologies for such a long absence—but I have been enjoying my holidays in Disneyland!
We had a blast! It was my first time and the first time for my daughters too. We told Bebe that for her 7th birthday she wasn’t going to get a birthday party or cake made by mommy this year. She was going to get 5 days in Disneyland! What a deal! She didn’t complain at all.
Fortunately, Bebe surprised us with her resilience. She vehemently retorted that she didn’t need a stroller at all and she walked everywhere and anywhere we went. We were up early for the Magic Mornings (7am entry!) and stayed up really late to catch all the shows and fireworks at night. Bib was short about 2 hours of sleep everyday but fortunately she napped a bit in the early afternoon before we headed out again at dinner and in the evening. We stayed at the Grand Californian and Bebe received a birthday button/pin the day we checked in. Reception told her to wear it everyday. Boy was that a good thing! Everywhere we went, people wished her a happy birthday. She received freebies like a birthday beignet with candle and singing at the Cafe Orleans and she had a free brownie and candle at Ariel’s Grotto. She was getting birthday cupcakes and happy bday songs left right and centre.
Bib spotted this baby Eeyore at one of the Disney stores and had to have it. I admit, he has a very fetching expression, doesn’t he? He looks like he wants some cake, but is a tad sad he can’t have any ‘cause he’s on a diet.
Knowing me, you expect me to come home with some Disney Foodie Goodies, don’t you? I must admit I was a little disappointed. I looked high and low for the Mickey waffle iron but the Disney people told me I should try online. They don’t carry it anywhere on the grounds anymore. So I consoled myself with purchasing as many Mickey and Disney foodie things as I could fit in my luggage. I bought the red silicone Mickey ice cube tray above, the cookie cutter, fried egg mold and red silicone pancake mold.
I also purchased a few bags of Mickey shaped pasta and some other Mickey shaped foods. Those were eaten pretty much immediately so I don’t have pics for you of those. Imagine goldfish crackers and pretzels in the shape of Mickey’s head.
We were missing Japanese food pretty badly at Disneyland. There wasn’t any sushi to be had. How sad. They need to rectify that. I was surprised they didn’t have any sushi there at all. Instead, you could get pizza, chicken strips and mac ‘n cheese pretty much everywhere. My kids aren’t really into those foods so Bebe was eating Caesar salad and roast chicken and more adult fare from our plates. We had the forethought to bring along some instant cup noodles in our luggage for those lunches when you just wanted something salty soupy in your hotel room and grabbed fresh fruit cups and milk around the site.
When we got home, we went to Japanese restaurants in Vancouver 2 days in a row because we were in sushi withdrawal. Funny how you don’t realize how good it is when you can have pretty much any ethnic cuisine you want in Vancouver. I was hankering for some Greek food too--roast lamb and Greek salad! Stomach of course wanted dim sum.
Eeyore did finally get to plunge his muzzle into the Vanilla Bean chiffon cake I baked today. He got crumbs all over but that’s okay.
VANILLA BEAN CHIFFON CAKE(adapted from
Cook’s Illustrated Master Recipe for Chiffon Cake)
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 1 1/3 cups plain cake flour (measure unsifted)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 7 large eggs, 2 left whole, 5 separated (at room temperature)
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract (I added the seeds of a whole vanilla bean pod in there too)
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- ½ tsp cream of tartar
- 3/4 cup water
1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325°F. Whisk sugar, flour, baking powder and salt together in large bowl (at least 4-quart size). Whisk in two whole eggs, five egg yolks (reserve whites), water, oil, vanilla pod seeds and extracts until batter is smooth.
2. Pour reserved egg whites into large bowl; beat at low speed with electric mixer until foamy, about 1 minute. Add cream of tartar, gradually increase speed to medium-high, then beat whites until very thick and stiff, just short of dry, 9 to 10 minutes with handheld mixer or 5 to 7 minutes in standing mixer. With large whisk, fold whites into batter, smearing any blobs of white that resist blending.
3. Pour batter into ungreased large tube pan ( 9 inch diameter, 16-cup capacity).
4. Bake cake on lower middle rack in oven until wire cake tester inserted in center comes out clean, 55-65 minutes. Immediately turn cake upside down to cool. If pan does not have prongs around rim for elevating cake, invert pan over bottle or funnel, inserted through tube. Let cake hang until completely cook, about 2 hours.
5. To unmold, turn pan upright. Run frosting spatula or thin knife around pan’s circumference between cake and pan wall, always pressing against the pan. Use cake tester to loosen cake from tube. For one-piece pan, bang it on counter several times, then invert over serving plate. For two-piece pan, grasp tube and lift cake out of pan. If glazing the cake, use a fork or a paring knife to gently scrap all the crust off the cake. Loosen cake from pan bottom with spatula or knife, then invert cake onto plate. (Can be wrapped in plastic and stored at room temperature 2 days or refrigerated 4 days.)
