For over ten years, I have read each Harry Potter book. Very few books get the honor of a permanent home on my bookshelf: Gone with the Wind, The Pillars of the Earth, Fahrenheit 451, Six Wives (about Henry the VIII), and Cry the Beloved Country just to name a few. I normally pass books on, sell them in a garage sale or donate them when I am finished with them, usually before the ink is dry because I go through them so quickly! But the Harry Potter series is one that I have read several times, seen the movies, and discussed them with a good friend. Blame it on my high school teaching background, blame it on the fact that I can pick up just about any book and enjoy some part of it…but I embrace my love for all things Harry Potter!
One of the things we were most looking forward to during our visit to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter was trying Universal Studios interpretation of what butter beer tasted like. We had heard over and over from other people who have been that the butter beer is fabulous and not to be missed. And they were right! If you can only have one drink, we recommend the frozen butter beer over the soda version. It is just the perfect thing to cool you down on a hot day at the theme parks.
When you are looking around for a place to buy your butter beer, you will find several kiosk setups outside and the restaurant, Three Broomsticks. Don’t be daunted by the lines and instead walk around the Three Broomsticks to the bar section, Hog’s Head Pub. You will find a much smaller line there because at first glance it looks like only draft beer is sold. You will get your butter beer much more quickly here.
Stay tuned for a more in depth review of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
Be sure to visit Wanderfood Wednesday over at Wanderlust and Lipstick.
Disclosure: Thank you to Universal Studios for complimentary admission. While at Universal, we paid for everything else (including the exorbitant parking rates!).
Posted in Sharing on March 30, 2011
Traveling is not just about making memories. It is also about bringing back memories. The last time we were in Orlando, we stopped for gasoline at a 7 Eleven. When Daddy J went inside to pay, he grabbed me a fountain diet coke. I took one look at it and was instantly transported back to my high school days (which seem much farther away these days!). I have had plenty of fountain diet cokes since high school, but that cup brought back a flood of memories. Flannel shirts, flip flops, and big gulps at the 7 Eleven on the way home from hanging out on a Friday or Saturday night.
I smiled at that Big Gulp cup, took a long sip, and then answered to my children as they got settled for the 7 hour ride home.
Be sure to visit Wanderfood Wednesday over at Wanderlust and Lipstick.
On Friday night, my husband and I went on a much needed date night. We wanted to try a restaurant we hadn’t been to yet so we chose Five Sisters Blues Cafe located in the downtown area. When you step into Five Sisters it will remind you of dining in New Orleans or another city equally influenced by blues and jazz music. The food is true Southern Soul Food but there is some lighter fare available as well. Five Sisters Blues Cafe will be open one year in May. It is named in honor of his mother and her four sisters.
I originally planned on getting a salad but when I spotted the shrimp po’ boy, pineapple coleslaw and macaroni and cheese, I had to go with that. My husband got the chicken tender basket. When the meal was served, my husband took one bite of chicken and then cut off a piece for me.
“You have got to try this.”
“No…that is ok. I have plenty to eat.”
“No, really. You have to try this.”
My husband knows that I would eat homecooked Southern fried chicken every day if it came without calories or fat. I took that bite and could not believe how delicious it was. This wasn’t your typical chicken tender basket from a chain restaurant. This was juicy, perfectly seasoned, melt in your mouth fried chicken.
Though we ate at Five Sisters during our date night, we did see plenty of families eating as well. If you are in the Pensacola area, I hope you decide to stop by Five Sisters Blues Cafe for lunch or dinner (or a good ole Sunday brunch). Hopefully, you won’t be disappointed.
Be sure to visit Wanderfood Wednesday over at Wanderlust and Lipstick.
Posted in Eating on March 9, 2011
Before you travel, take time to connect with people who have been to your destination before. We would never have known about the Kalapawai Cafe where we had a delicious breakfast if we hadn’t heard about it from Nathan K. or our friends who live down the street from the cafe on Oahu.
The people working there were so friendly. They suggested tasty choices and make coffee drinks that they thought we would like. They chatted with us about where we were from, where we were going, and what brought us to Oahu. You could definitely tell that this was a place locals visited regularly. We had coffee and a breakfast burritos before driving to the North Shore for some exploring.
Be sure to visit Wanderfood Wednesday over at Wanderlust and Lipstick.
If you watched Hawaii 5-0 last week, you saw Dano raving about a pastry that his partner brought him. Before his partner explained what they were, I saw the tell tale box from Liliha Bakery sitting on the car and knew that he had to be eating a coco puff. Sure enough, Dano’s partner goes on to explain that they are the famous coco puffs at Liliha Bakery.
According to the website, Liliha Bakery sells between 4800 and 7200 of these coco puffs a day and I believe it! The place was packed. Fortunately, there is a lot of parking available so we didn’t have trouble finding a space. Besides pastries, Liliha also serves diner type food.
The coco puffs were very sweet and delicious but don’t just confine yourself to coco puffs!
We tried several other pastries and each one was delicious.
If you are staying in Waikiki and want to visit Liliha Bakery, you will need a car or some other mode of transportation because it is about 10 a ten minute drive.
Be sure to visit Wanderfood Wednesday over at Wanderlust and Lipstick.
We ate at the Rainbow Drive-In on our way to the airport to leave Hawaii. It was our last meal in Hawaii and it did not disappoint. We were going to eat at Ono Hawaiian BBQ as recommended by Nathan Kam who was kind enough to send us a list of several things to do and places to eat. Unfortunately, we didn’t realize that they were closed on Sundays. After finding Ono Hawaiian BBQ closed, we plugged the last restaurant recommendation that we weren’t able to get to into the GPS and luckily it was right around the corner.
Rainbow Drive-In serves plate lunches, sandwiches and breakfast from 7am to 9pm daily with the exception of a few major holidays. We decided to go all out for a last lunch in Hawaii and ordered the mix plate which included BBQ, Mahi Mahi, and chicken alongside macaroni salad and rice. It was delicious.
While we ate, we sat at the picnic table soaking in the sun and watching the cars drive down Kapahulu Avenue wishing that our vacation wasn’t coming to an end.
Be sure to visit Wanderfood Wednesday over at Wanderlust and Lipstick.
During our self-guided tour around the island of Oahu, we stopped for lunch at Ted’s Bakery. Ted’s Bakery is located on the North Shore. The building is brightly painted and the bright blue umbrellas make it difficult to miss. When we pulled into the parking lot we were lucky to get a spot as a truck piled full of teenagers and surfboards sped out of the drive. Every table was full of locals and tourist wrapped in beach towels eating out of white styrofoam containers.
When we walked inside Ted’s, we were bombarded by the smell of different sweet and savory foods intermingled with sunscreen, the ocean, and the gritty beach sand stuck in the sun bleached hair of the surfers who were ending their day at the beach with a meal. Despite the fact that every spot in the building was occupied, the line moved quickly so know what you are going to order before you get up to the front. We ordered our meals. I ordered the garlic shrimp plate lunch and Daddy J went with a mahi mahi sandwich.
Ted’s is “home to the original chocolate haupia cream pie” and it is worth a stop to give it a try. I am not a big fan of pie but this one has plenty of chocolate pudding-like goodness topped with coconut pudding goodness. Do you want to try to make the chocolate haupia cream pie yourself? I found this recipe and I am currently trying to talk my sister into making it for me when she comes to visit!
Be sure to visit Wanderfood Wednesday over at Wanderlust and Lipstick.
Posted in Eating on January 26, 2011
I normally blog about all the great food that we try in other cities and countries and I sometimes forget to blog about the amazing restaurants in my own hometown. I have a couple of posts in the works and I would like to share some more of my favorite Pensacola spots over the next few months.
Ever since I read the post on Arrows Sent Forth about her shrimp etouffee recipe, I have been craving some crawfish etouffee! We had a quick little dinner date so we decided to go to Jerry’s Cajun Cafe.
Jerry’s Cajun Cafe serves cajun/creole food and when you walk through the doors of the beautiful white building, you will feel like you stepped into a restaurant in the middle of the French Quarter from the decorations to the music.
I had crawfish etouffee, my very favorite dish and the only one I get when I go to Jerry’s. Sorry about the picture quality. I took them with my cell phone!
Daddy J had the shrimp po’ boy.
And of course, no meal at Jerry’s is complete without their bread pudding!
Be sure to visit Wanderfood Wednesday over at Wanderlust and Lipstick.
You know when you hit that point on vacation where you can’t possibly eat another bite?
We had enjoyed so many different meals at all the different recommended restaurants. We had also spent A LOT of money on said meals. When we are at home we do not eat many fancy meals out because we are trying to save money for our next vacation! We had already splurged a lot! On our second to last evening of our Hawaii vacation, we couldn’t decide what to eat. We weren’t incredibly hungry and we were looking for something that was not extremely expensive. We just decided to wander around Waikiki until we found something that caught our attention. As we walked past the Royal Hawaiian Center, we decided to venture in and wander around. When we got to the third floor, we found Doraku.
After looking at the menu we decided to grab some sushi. It was worth it! I had the Doraku roll because it was something different from what I had tried before. It is tempura fried and so good! Daddy J had a spicy tuna roll. It was the perfect amount of food at a tolerable price.
Doraku has several locations: Waikiki, Miami Beach, and coming soon to Honolulu, HI.
Be sure to visit Wanderfood Wednesday over at Wanderlust and Lipstick.
By the end of the week, the predictability of my breakfast choice was almost laughable. While my husband was daring and adventurous trying all sorts of island fare at the various restaurants, I ate macadamia nut pancakes every chance I could.
To make them yourself at home, the easiest way would be to mix up your favorite pancake batter and throw in a 1/2 to a cup of chopped macadamia nuts. I like this recipe at Baking Bites that uses bananas as well.
Be sure to visit Wanderfood Wednesday over at Wanderlust and Lipstick!
