The Nifty Foodie

I can’t believe that I’m typing out this recap right now. For weeks, I was anticipating attending this conference, and while I had a feeling it would be over in the blink of an eye, I still can’t believe it’s really over. Inspiring sessions, meeting amazing fellow bloggers and of course, seeing Mickey…it’s hard to put into words how wonderful this conference was, but oh man, if you ever have the opportunity to attend this conference, do it.

One of the biggest things that happened for me is that I walked away from this conference so inspired to make a huge change to this blog, and hopefully in the coming weeks, you will see those changes actually happen. I was waivering on making these changes for a while, but one session in particular let me know that this change is a good thing. I just hope you guys will be as excited about this as I am. (No spoilers yet…)

When I flew in to Orlando on Friday morning, I was pretty darn anxious. You see, I’m an introvert. There was no borderline on the Myers-Briggs test. I answered every question, except for two of them, in the introvert range. I can talk all day on Twitter and Facebook, but when it comes to being face to face, I’m pretty darn shy. I was nervous about what bloggers would think of me, and what I would think of them. All of this time, I’ve been speaking with many of these bloggers on social media, but it was going to be in real life this weekend. NERVES Y’ALL! NERVES!

The first person I met was Katie of Ruffles & Truffles. Katie and I used to blog for WeddingBee (I was Mrs. Ballet Flat…she was Mrs. Buttons) back in our wedding planning days, and the wonderful thing about WeddingBee bloggers is that when we meet each other, it’s like we’re instant pals. We have unofficial meet-ups from time to time, and when there was one in New Orleans, it was like we were all long lost friends. This was no different. Thanks Katie for letting me run around Magic Kingdom with you and your family.

I was surprised at the park crowds on Friday…we were able to hit up a ton of rides in a few hours! I totally appreciated that our hotel rooms were in the Grand Floridian…it was a quick, easy boat ride back to the resort, so I could have ample time to get ready for the welcome reception that evening. This was the part I was most nervous about…I’m one of those people who constantly worries about what others think about me, so I was hoping I wouldn’t get too shy. I was so happy to see that everyone I met was super sweet. I was shocked that a few people knew of me before I introduced myself! Even more shocking…a couple of people told me I looked great and I inspire them (about my weight loss journey so far). I was seriously shocked…I’m pretty surprised when anyone tells me my weight loss journey inspires them. It’s still crazy and new to me.

The food at the reception was absolutely wonderful. I was still quite full from eating a burger earlier in the parks (OMG…the portions at Disney are ridiculous), so I didn’t eat too much. I definitely focused a lot on meeting people, because the hour flew by so fast.

Afterwards, I met up with a few bloggers at Splitsville, which a bowling/dining place in Downtown Disney. I received an email invite to attend a little blogger get-together there, and we had a blast. I actually got a couple of strikes, which is SO NOT LIKE ME. We ate quite a bit of food….they offered everything from BBQ chicken nachos, to pizza, to sushi! There’s pretty much something for everyone here, and the food was pretty darn tasty! Since I haven’t had food like this in a long time, I definitely took no time to dig in.

I was also impressed by the bowling alley. It had a vintage-y feel to it, and I think it would be a fun place to go if (when) I come back to Disney World with my family.

Oh, and I had to include this picture just for kicks. You know you’re hanging out with a bunch of bloggers when…

{Disclaimer: We were provided with free bowling/food at this event by Splitsville.} 

During the get-together, I got to meet/talk to Katie of Katie’s Cucina (as well as her husband…they have a DIY blog together called Sew Woodsy). We were talking about our plans after this, and we realized (along with Alicia of Alicia Carlson Photography) that we all had the same plans to hit up Magic Kingdom. So after we finished bowling, we all headed back to Magic Kingdom right as the fireworks were ending, which meant going against the crowds. Oh boy…

You gotta love that when the fireworks end, the parks clear out pretty much. Splash Mountain had a 15 minute wait time (which actually was more like 5 minutes)…unheard of! Splash Mountain is my must-ride whenever I go to Disney World. I just love it…it’s so cute and fun, plus the drops are the BEST!

When the ride was over, it was pretty much closing time, so we headed out of the park and we were pleasantly surprised to see that the electrical parade was starting! I haven’t seen the night parades in a long time, so it was a treat to see. It was so cute…

The next day, it was time for the conference! When I walked in the conference center, we were all greeted with our generously full swag bags. Holy cow.

I claimed a seat, and immediately went to grab some breakfast. Disney sure knows how to fancy up a fruit salad!

OXO also had these little evil canisters of loveliness at the conference tables. I loved the idea of hugs and kisses, since their company name is OXO. Is it weird that I want to put these canisters (minus the candy lol) on my Christmas wishlist?

After I scarfed down some fruit and a bagel, I went to the back and was shocked by the amazing prizes being offered. Goodness….the sponsors were SO generous!

I learned a good bit from the sessions, and the speakers were just awesome. There was even a Disney imagineer who spoke to us, and I was in awe of the research that goes into opening something at Disney. They’re really about making everything at WDW an experience. What a cool job to have!

Here’s some of the key points that I took away from sessions:

• Pursue an emotion vs. a certain thing (such as money) as a measure of success
• The simple little things in life–these experiences mean a lot more to your happiness. Take a step back and notice them sometimes.

• Overwhelmed by the idea of making a video? A site like animoto.com can turn your pictures into a video.
• Don’t be afraid of shadows. They give you the third dimension in pictures.

• Check out your mobile stats on Google Analytics. Mobile blog readers are on the rise, and you should adapt your blog to cater to them.
• Pinterest is becoming a main referral source for traffic.

• Designate a certain time everyday to devote to blogging/social media, and stick to it. Otherwise, the computer can become a time suck super quickly.
• No comment (or tweet) left behind! Reply to all of them! (I need to get better with blog comment replies.)

During the conference, we had a great lunch, which featured chefs from various restaurant locations around the Walt Disney World property. It was such a treat to try these dishes in one spot. The theme was “Disney Kids”, so the meals were items that were offered on their kids menu. This wasn’t a menu like peanut butter & jelly and hot dogs. Of course, Disney goes above and beyond…even for the kids! It was all delicious!

After the conference, we had a small group meet up for an unofficial local food swap. It was fun to bring a taste of south Louisiana there, so I brought some bags of jambalaya mix from this company near Baton Rouge. The owners offered me a little discount on purchasing the mixes since I was purchasing quite a few from them (and they knew they were going to food bloggers), which I definitely appreciated. I have to wonder how TSA felt when they saw 15 bags of jambalaya mix in my bag…big cook-out in Orlando or something? Anyway, everyone brought a good variety of foods..I was pleasantly surprised by it all! If any of y’all from the swap try the jambalaya, please let me know what you think!

The dessert reception at Fantasmic afterwards was so nice! There was some dry ice involved for one of the desserts, which was fun to watch. Everything I tried was delicious!

I’ve never had the chance to see Fantasmic before, either, so it was nice that the reception was during the show. This Disney fan really enjoyed every bit of that show…I sort of caught myself singing along with it. Sorry for those of you who had to hear that….

I was pretty tired after the reception, but since Magic Kingdom was open until 1am, I just kept on going. I ended up really just shopping a good bit for souvenirs, and enjoying a Dole Whip. It was a humid evening, so the Dole Whip was definitely a hot item to get.

The next day, I packed up everything (SO glad I brought my large suitcase…the swag/local food swap (with the exception of liquids) took up my whole carry-on bag!), met up with Katie and her family and we headed to the brunch at Whole Foods together. While not everyone was able to attend, it was SO nice to see/talk to a few more people and say our good-byes. And of course, the food was awesome, especially the habanero cornbread topped with pulled pork, greens & peaches. Dearest Whole Foods, can I have the recipe PLEASE? So good..I ate two of them…oops!

There was also a mini Red Faced Runners reunion at the brunch. Here I am with Katrina (of In Katrina’s Kitchen) and Karyn (of Pint Sized Baker)!

Before we left the brunch, I had to thank Julie (of The Little Kitchen) and Lindsay (of Love and Olive Oil) one final time for organizing this whole conference. These gals are as sweet as I imagined, and I’m so glad they took a few minutes to chit-chat. I know these two were busy the whole weekend, but they seriously never seemed frazzled. I would be a wreck…you gals rock!

I also have to give a special thank you to Walt Disney World, Whole Foods, Jaden & Scott Hair, Diane Cu & Todd Porter, and of course, the SUPER generous sponsors. I was absolutely blown away by this past weekend. I’ll never forget this conference, and I’m just so inspired to write, write, write (as you can probably tell by this lengthy post)! I hope to be able to attend this conference again next year, but based on how quickly the tickets sold out this past year, only time will tell!

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow, I’ll be on a plane en route to Orlando, Florida for my first Food Blog Forum. Last year, I stalked Twitter and Instagram the whole weekend of the conference, and it sounded like everyone had a fantastic time. You really can’t go wrong with food bloggers and Disney. After reading blog recaps last year, I just knew that I had to go to the one this year. I was so happy to see the dates, because there were no conflicts. You see, this weekend is sandwiched between my husband’s birthday and our wedding anniversary. It was the perfect date to go without feeling insanely guilty for missing a personal holiday.

I’m sort of obsessed with all things Disney. There’s videos of me from a family trip when I was 3 years old at Disney World. I could see that while I was petrified of the characters (my reaction was OMG…Mickey is HUGE?! WAHHH!!), while at the parades and on the rides, I was beaming. Absolutely BEAMING. Even at home, Disney was the best! I was obsessed with the animated movies, Sing Along Song tapes & the books. Also, for the first few years of my life, my Uncle Brian had a picture of the infamous “Epcot ball” (as we called it) in the living room. He would point to it, and ask us “What’s that?” We knew that if we said “Epcot”, it would be a tickle war. So, I quickly learned other words…simply calling it a ball, a circle…ANYTHING but EPCOT! LOL! It’s one of the few memories I have of my uncle. He went to Disney World multiple times a year and had a killer pin collection. Disney was his thing. Sadly, cancer took my uncle when I was 5 years old, so I always tear up a little when I see the “Epcot Ball”…even as an adult. (Whew…I’m wiping tears writing this post. This is supposed to be a happy post, right?)

Anyway, it just goes to show you that Disney will always have a special place in my heart. Always. And while being at Disney World this weekend is a definite perk, I’m really looking forward to meeting so many bloggers that I consider my friends. While I’ve never met many bloggers in real life, I feel like I have a great friendship with so many of you. So, I’m very excited to finally meet and talk to those who are attending.

I thought it would be fun to psych myself up for the weekend by decorating some sugar cookies with a cookie cutter from Disney World. While decorated sugar cookies are usually very time consuming, I saw this post which made me think otherwise. This royal icing (originally by Sweetopia) eliminates the need for using both an outline and flood icing. It’s all in one. The consistency reminds me of a super thick flood icing, so while you can’t pipe many details, you can do a good basic cookie with this recipe. It took me three hours to go from cookie dough to decorated cookies. Crazy, right? I think I’m going to use this from now on for when I make multiple decorated cookies (especially for the holiday season). I’m so glad I found this! Make sure you follow this recipe perfectly, though (note: when the hand whisk vs. when to use your mixer).

Quick(er) Royal Icing
Source: The Way to His Heart, originally from Sweetopia

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup warm water
• 5 tbsp. meringue powder
• 1 tsp. cream of tartar
• 2 1/4 lbs. confectioners’ sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla or almond extract

Directions:

1. In the bowl of a mixer, add the water and meringue powder. Hand whisk the mixture for 30 seconds.
2. Add the cream of tartar, and hand whisk again for 30 seconds.
3. Add the confectioners’ sugar & extract, and mix with the paddle attachment of a stand mixer on low for 10 minutes.
4. Optional: add gel food coloring to tint the icing to the color(s) of your liking.
5. To decorate your cookies, add the icing to a squeeze bottle and pipe/fill the cookies with the icing. Allow the cookies to dry for a full 24 hours before serving.

About a month ago, the local grocery store started carrying Italian cookies (baked by a local small business). I’m a huge fan of Italian cookies…cuccidati, sesame cookies, anise cookies, biscotti…you name it, I probably love it! Since I missed out on the St. Joseph’s altar this year, I was definitely craving some cookies after I saw them in the store. Instead of purchasing them though, I wanted to make them. I’m stubborn like that, and hey, our church fair was coming up….the sweets booth needed donations. Any excuse to bake, right?

The only issue I’ve faced with Italian cookies is that it’s VERY hard to find a good recipe, since they’re almost always a family secret. Most of the recipes that I find on the Internet are very hit or miss, and I lucked out with this one (being a hit). It’s a soft, cakey cookie with a very subtle anise flavor. It’s enough to give a hint of anise, but not enough to make you think oh man, that’s too strong. You have to be careful with anise extract…too much of it can make something taste like licorice…it’s a strong extract! I loved adding the icing and sprinkles. I made mine in mint green and pink, and went a little crazy with leftover pastel non-pareils. They turned out so spring-y and fun! I tried one of these, and it was just so good! I bagged them up immediately so I wouldn’t eat a dozen. I need to make these again…or it’s probably best that I don’t.

Italian Anise Cookies
Source: Food.com

Ingredients:

For the cookies:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp. anise extract
• 1 tsp. almond extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 2 -3 tbsp. milk

For the icing:

• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 3-4 tbsp. milk
• 1/8 tsp. anise extract
• food coloring
• decorative candy sprinkles

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare the cookie sheets by lining them with a Silpat or parchment paper, and set them aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar for about 5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time, and mix well after each addition. Add the anise and almond extracts.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the baking powder. With the mixer on low, add in 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, and then add 1 tbsp. of the milk. Repeat with another 1/3 of the flour mixture, then 1 tbsp. of milk. Repeat once more with the remaining flour and milk, and mix until the dough is brownie batter like.
4. Use a 1 tbsp. cookie scooper to make simple drop cookies. Keep a bowl of warm water handy to dip your fingers in (use your wet fingers to smooth the tops/sides of the cookies, since it is a rather sticky dough).
5. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes (they will not brown in that time, but they will be done), and then place them on a cooling rack to cool.
6. While the cookies are cooling, make the anise icing. In a medium bowl, mix the sugar, milk and extract together. Then, add in the food coloring of your choice (it doesn’t take much with this icing to get the color you want). The icing will be a little on the thick side, so it’s best to microwave it for a few seconds to make it thin enough for dipping.
7. Once your icing is microwaved/thinned out, it’s time to dip the cookies. Hold the cookie in your hand (top side down), and dip the top half of the cookie in the icing. Shake off the excess icing, turn the cookie over and place on the cooling rack. Immediately add sprinkles over the iced cookie (the icing sets fast). Repeat until all cookies are iced/sprinkled. Then, allow the cookies to set overnight on the cooling rack before serving.

Whenever there’s good news swirling around in my life, I get so excited. While I know I’ve never met many bloggers, I still consider a few of them that I “know” online as friends. When my friend, Krystal, announced her pregnancy, I was so happy for her. She already has the most adorable daughter (seriously…every time I see a baby picture on Instagram, I get a TEENY bit of baby fever), and I know she’s going to be such a great big sister. Krystal is sweetly referring to baby #2 as “cupcake”, so with that in mind, Eva of Eva Bakes had the idea to throw Krystal a cupcake virtual baby shower!

My contribution are a childhood favorite of mine: funfetti. My Mom used to make funfetti cupcakes all the time. I love the color bursts from the sprinkles, and the almond-y, butter-y flavor is just awesome! I found this recipe on Sweetapolita’s blog, and I think it’s even better than the boxed stuff. I never thought I’d say that, since I LOVE boxed mix funfetti (judge away), but oh gosh…this is a goodie.

Congratulations Krystal on your bundle of joy! I can’t wait to see pictures of the little one!

Check out the great cupcakes that other bloggers are sharing for her shower!

Funfetti Cupcakes with Whipped Vanilla Frosting
Source: Sweetapolita

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:

• 1 cup whole milk, at room temperature
• 4 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 1 whole egg, at room temperature
• 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. almond extract
• 2 3/4 cups cake flour, sifted
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 tbsp. + 1 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 12 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into cubes
• 1/2 cup Rainbow Jimmies

For the frosting:

• 3 sticks + 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened and cut into cubes
• 3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
• 3 tbsp. milk
• 1 tbsp. pure vanilla extract
• a pinch of salt
• sprinkles for decorating

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two cupcake pans by lining them with paper liners and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, add the eggs, 1/4 cup of the milk and the vanilla & almond extracts. Whisk the mixture well and set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt on low speed for 30 seconds.
4. Add the butter cubes to the dry mixture, and mix on low speed for 30 more seconds. Add the remaining 3/4 cup of milk and mix everything on low speed until the mixture is just moistened. Then, turn the mixer up to medium speed, and mix everything for 1 1/2 minutes.
5. Scrape the sides of the bowl, and then add 1/3 of the egg/milk mixture. Beat on medium speed for 20 seconds, and repeat with adding another 1/3 of the egg/milk mixture and mix for 20 seconds again, doing the same thing one last time with the remaining 1/3 of the mixture. Gently fold in the rainbow jimmies, until well incorporated throughout the batter.
6. Scoop the batter into the lined cupcake pans (filling 2/3 of the way full). Bake for 15-20 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cupcakes.
7. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, and then transfer them to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
8. While the cupcakes are cooling, make the frosting. Place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and mix the butter for 8 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add in the confectioners sugar, milk, vanilla extract and salt, mixing on low speed for one minute. Then, turn the mixer up to medium, and fluff the mixture for 6 minutes.
9. Once the cupcakes are fully cooled, frost the cupcakes generously with the vanilla frosting, and add sprinkles for decorating.

 

 

I was a huge *NSYNC fan back in the day, and every year, I get a real kick out of the “It’s Gonna Be May” meme. Seeing it 2390859 times on Facebook this week made me watch the video again, and it reminded me of the days when I would get to drive my Mom’s minivan and would blast *NSYNC’s “Pop” CD in the old Discman (with the cassette tape attachment), since the minivan only had a cassette player. Ahh…how times have changed, y’all!

(Please tell me someone else attached their Discman to the car stereo with the cassette tape adapter…)

Anyway…it’s May (whoa..). And well, since it’s May, Cinco de Mayo is just around the corner. Usually the tex-mex places appeal to me with their food and margarita specials for the day, but lately, I’m not that much of a drinker since I started calorie counting. Give me ice cream over a 1,000 calorie cocktail. I know…I’m weird. We actually purchased alcohol on our cruise in December, and this is the first time I opened the tequila we bought there. We’re kind of boring in this house.

I’ve been wanting to make these cupcakes for a while, but the boozy aspect is what got to me. I can’t exactly do my usual baking routine of baking a recipe and bringing it to coworkers. I’m pretty sure HR would be at my desk within 2 hours, so I’ve never made them. However, these are for a celebration for a good friend of mine, and since she’s a big fan of everything tex-mex, I thought these would be the perfect cupcake to celebrate.

I ended up adapting a strawberry cupcake recipe by adding lime juice and zest, as well as brushing the tops of the cupcakes with tequila (which I found this idea on another blog). The frosting is a simple buttercream with strained strawberry puree, lime zest and of course, tequila. The combination of these flavors are just awesome. I hope she enjoys these!

Strawberry Margarita Cupcakes
Source: cupcake recipe adapted from Martha Stewart, technique from Confections of a Foodie Bride, frosting is a Nifty Foodie Original

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• juice and zest of one lime
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 10 oz. strawberries, hulled and diced finely
• 1/4 cup tequila

For the buttercream:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3-4 cups of confectioners sugar, divided
• zest of one lime
• 1 tbsp. tequila
• 1/4 cup strained strawberry puree (puree in a blender, put in a sieve over a bowl to let excess liquid drain for appx. 30 minutes)

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and prepare 2 cupcake pans by lining them with paper liners. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together the two flours, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer (using the paddle attachment), beat the butter and sugar for 3-4 minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl, and beat in the eggs one at a time, until well-mixed. Add in the vanilla, as well as the lime juice/zest, and mix until just combined. Put the mixer on low speed, and add 1/3 of the flour mixture (mixing until combined) and then 1/3 of the milk (also mixing until combined), repeating until everything is in the batter. Fold in the strawberries.
4. Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 of the way full. Bake the cupcakes, rotating the pan halfway through baking (at the 10 minute mark), for 20 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean). Immediately brush the cupcake tops with tequila (using a pastry brush), and then transfer the pans to a cooling rack to cool for 5 minutes, and then remove the cupcakes from the pan to finish cooling on the wire racks.
5. While the cupcakes are cooling, make the buttercream. Cream the butter for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add in 3 cups of confectioners sugar, and beat well until the mixture is sort of crumbly. Add the lime zest, tequila and strawberry puree, and beat the mixture for 2 minutes. If the buttercream appears to be too wet for piping, add more confectioners sugar (1/4 cup at a time), beating for about a minute after each addition.
6. To serve, pipe or spread the buttercream on completely cooled cupcakes. Enjoy!