Expanding the Magic...with Disney Parks Recipes

One of the ways our family likes to get our Disney fix is by doing things that remind us of our past Walt Disney World vacations. We view our vacation videos over and over. We add to our vacation scrapbook each time we take a trip. And we try to replicate our favorite Disney Parks foods. We've had pretty good success with Tonga Toast from the Polynesian, Chocolate Mousse from Epcot/France, and Cheddar Cheese Soup from Epcot/Canada. (I did NOT have success with the Pumpkin Beignets recipe from Club 33.) Ocassionally, Disney is kind enough to share one of their signature recipes. Often, you can find a copycat recipe that a talented fan has posted on the Internet (they're never quite as good as the real thing).  Here's a favorite of mine--but I'm not sure if I'm quite up to the task of tackling it just yet:

School Bread/Norway/Epcot

Ingredients:

2 pints water

3 oz. dry yeast

3 1/2 oz. sugar

2 1/2 oz. melted butter

1 tsp. cardamom

2 lbs. flour

1 whole egg

8 oz. shredded coconut

12 oz. vanilla custard

Heat water and butter to 95 degrees. Mix flour, sugar, cardamom, yeast, and egg together for five minutes until dough is stiff. Form it into a ball and place in a bowl, covered with plastic wrap, and let it set until dough has doubled in size (about 45 minutes). Roll the dough into a long snake-like shape and cut into five ounce pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and put on a non-stick pan; let them set for 30 minutes. Bake 15 minutes at 375 degrees. Let cool.

Mix powdered sugar and water until desired icing consistency is achieved. Form hole in bread using finger. Dip bread in icing (hole side down) and sprinkle with shredded coconut. Using pastry bag, squeeze vanilla custard inside of hole and swirl at top for decoration.

If you're really industrious and want to make your own custard, here's the recipe:

Ingredients

1 2/3 cups milk

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

4 egg yolks

1 TBSP corn starch

In heavy saucepan bring milk to a boil. Set aside. In another bowl beat eggs, sugar, and vanilla until the mixture doubles by volume. Add hot milk a few drops at a time to temper the eggs. Mix well after each addition. Place in metal mixing bowl and place over double boiler. Dissolve cornstarch in a little water and add in a thin stream while stirring constantly until it thickens to proper consistency. It must not boil. Cool by placing pan in ice bath.

Great Low-Commitment Way to Decorate a Room

I don't know about your kids, but my girls seem to have a new favorite character (usually the newest Disney Princess) every month--and they want their rooms to reflect their preferences. While I'm unwilling to redecorate on every whim, I do want my girls' rooms to be their own--to be havens that they will enjoy and appreciate. For my oldest daughter, we started with a basic pink bedspread and filled the room with DP accessories, pictures, and even toys. Since we used a general DP theme, each "new" princess fits in rather well. (For my youngest daughter, we actually "helped" her make the choice of Ariel, and we've decorated accordingly. Hey, we had a lot of Ariel stuff, and this frugal mom didn't want it to go to waste!) Now that my firstborn is getting older, she is planning to switch to a more grown-up "Paris" theme for her bedroom, and little sister will inherit her DP shelves, lamp, and toy bin. (I'm hoping this happens AFTER we move--if our house ever sells!)

All this to say, I've been scouring the Internet for inexpensive and easy ways to liven up the girls' rooms--and I stumbled across one of the easiest ways to make a big impact on a room with very little commitment: stickers! These aren't your garden variety stickers on a page; they are decals made especially for walls, and they stick on and come off so easily! (They work best on a semi-gloss paint, rather than flat.) They range in price from under $10 to around $50 (some very large stickers cost more), and they are very low maintenance. Here are a few of my favorite Disney-themed versions:

















These are so inexpensive that I've even purchased them to decorate for birthday parties (see below)--then they come down immediately after. And, if you're very careful, you can actually re-use them!

Hidden Mickey Monday

Hello, Monday morning! Nothing like a bowl of Cheerios to start your morning...and with a bonus Mickey!



 

 

 

 

Characters Make Every Day More Fun!

We're always looking for ways to infuse a little bit of Disney fun into the every day. One fun way we do this is by purchasing Disney-themed beauty and personal care items for everyday use. Here are some fun new items I found while cruising one of my favorite e-commerce sites. (Hello, my name is Valerie, and I am addicted to Amazon.com!)

  I had never seen Phineas & Ferb items--excited about this!



  My girls take these--there are a variety of characters available.



  Glad to be done with this stage, but we went through TONS of these!

  They cure everything, don't they?

Cutest Disney Baby Items

When our girls were babies, we weren't quite as obsessed with all things Disney as we are now. Oh, we were fans, but we hadn't yet experienced the joys of taking our children to WDW, which brought us to a whole new level of fan-dom. And the whole Disney Princess phenomenon hadn't yet taken off, so most Disney-themed baby items tended to feature Pooh. But as I've been looking for gifts for a few friends with tiny ones, I've discovered a whole world of awesome--and not just the predictable!--Disney-themed baby products. Here are a few of my favorites:

  I completely LOVE this! So very cute!

  Stylish and functional!

  Every baby needs tons of these!

  Available in several styles/characters.

  Every princess needs a "throne."

  These are great for traveling.

  Princess on board.

  Vintage Mickey--LOVE!

  And, yes, they still make some very cute Pooh stuff.

Friday Photo

Hard to believe that she turned 9 this week (sigh)...my sweet Reagan on her first ever visit to Walt Disney World:

Thursday's Tip

I have a confession to make: Though I am constantly seeking and trying new experiences in and around Walt Disney World, I have never taken my two princess-loving daughters to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. Have you seen what they charge for the whole enchilada of a makeover? My frugal nature just won't allow it. On top of that, I actually really don't like the way the hairstyles look--particularly the uber-tight-on-top-of-the-head buns with tiny plastic tiaras attached to them. Every little girl that emerges looks basically the same--so where's the fun in that? (But mostly, it's the money thing.)

So, here's my Thursday's Tip: do your own Disney Princess makeover for a fraction of the cost. First, the costumes. When purchased at the right time (usually after Halloween, but sometimes earlier in the year if they're clearing out old costumes to make way for new designs), I have bought Disney Princess costumes from the Disney Store for around $20--sometimes even less! (And, let's be clear--these are WAY nicer than the licensed versions you find at other stores.) For makeup, you can find all manner of sparkly stuff in the cosmetics aisle of Target or Wal-Mart. They make glitter lotion, glitter eye shadow, glitter hairspray, and even a fine glitter that you can shake on almost anything. (Trust me, that stuff sticks wherever it lands!)

As for the hairstyle, this is where you can get creative. And you can tailor it to whichever princess your child is portraying. But if you want to stick with simplicity, try a ballet bun. Simply put the hair in a ponytail (high, but not ON TOP of the head), wrap it around itself (you can add a small hairpiece from your local beauty supply if your child's hair isn't quite thick enough), and secure with pins. As a ballet mom, let me offer the secret weapon from my arsenal: an old lady hair net (the thin kind your grandma probably wore home from the beauty shop). I put the net around the wrapped hair before pinning, and it keeps all those little wispy parts tucked in neatly.

With costume and all, you've probably spend less than $30 to complete the look....compare that to around $150 at BBB. With the extra $120, you can book a character meal! (OK, maybe not the whole family at Cinderella's Royal Table, but it's a good start!)