I have been roused from my blogging slumber by the arrival of my favourite time of year in Orlando: autumn. This is my favourite time of year for several reasons:
1. The temperature finally starts to slide downwards - albeit very, very slowly - after nearly six months of cooking for the outside in, meaning I can cautiously start wiping the dust off my sparkly wooly hats and leather boots.
2. Flight prices dip to acceptable levels meaning people might actually come to see me. Evidence: my mother is currently here, and her departure is immediately followed by the arrival of my best friend a week later, and one of my other best friends a few weeks after that.
3. All the special events start at the theme parks. Most notably, Halloween Horror Nights at Universal, and - the best one of all - 6 glorious weeks of the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival.
Food and Wine is a food-lovers paradise. In the World Showcase, there are normally 11 country "pavilions" promoting their country's heritage, exports, and food. During F&W, that number almost doubles, with temporary food stalls from several additional countries popping up in-between the permanent pavilions. So as well as the United Kingdom, you also have Ireland. As well as Mexico, there is also Australia, Brazil, New Zealand and South Africa. Each stall sells taster-size plates of a few national dishes as well as a selection of locally sourced wines, beers and specialty drinks.
I'm going to assume it is becoming clear why this is up my alley.
This weekend was my first visit of the year to F&W and I took my unsuspecting mummy along for the ride. A "perfect storm" of theme park factors - it being a Saturday, a food and wine day, and the perfect temperature for wandering around a park - meant that tens of thousands of other people had the same idea...but it was soooooo worth it. Highlights included:
- The cheddar cheese soup from Canada, made with Moosehead beer and bacon as well as cheese.
- The frozen caipirinha from Brazil. Delicious and very effective, although I was very disappointed at the end of they day when I discovered I'd missed out on a coconut rock mojito at the Caribbean stand. Next time.<br>
- Lamb slider with tomato chutney from New Zealand. Oh how I miss lamb. However as a leg of lamb from Publix costs almost $50, it is a rare treat.
Unfortunately it didn't occur to me to take any pictures of my yummy food, but my lightbulb moment of blogging about only happened about an hour ago. Again, next time. For now I will leave you with a photo of a foodie, winey Epcot sunset :)
