We are Eating Again -- Resistance is Futile Final update Tiffins 2/19

The Champagne seminar looks good . Agree they could be more generous with the pours . Unfortunately our one trip during F & W that didn't start on the last weekend the seminar wasn't scheduled.
 
The Champagne seminar looks good . Agree they could be more generous with the pours . Unfortunately our one trip during F & W that didn't start on the last weekend the seminar wasn't scheduled.

You can never go wrong with Champagne.
 
La Hacienda de San Angel is one of my favorite restaurants. I really like the ambiance and love the food. We met our friend Barb for dinner after our seminar and a few more rides.

We started out with some margaritas. An avocado Margarita to be exact. These are so sweet and creamy. Love this .
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Mike and I shared Parrillada - Del Mar - Mixed grill offering shrimp, fish, scallops and vegetables, served with beans and fresh salsas. The fish was MahiMahi. The scallops and shrimp were awesome. I cant describe how good the street corn is. Yummy. The veggies were red pepper, zucchini, yellow squash and green onions. This is a great deal. We loved it, as always. Mike is ready to try the meat one again. I always prefer fish.
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Barb ate Flautas - fried tortillas with potato, chipotle chicken, and ranchera sauce. I believe this is correct, but not 100% certain. She liked it, whatever it was.
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The table was given a bowl of beans and a bowl of Spanish rice. Both were good.

I have never been able to last til dessert, until now. Barb wanted to try something, so when asked to share it with her, how can we say no? We tried Flan de Maiz - traditional caramel and sweet cream custard with pastry cream. Now I know this says "traditional" flan, but this dish was anything but traditional. It had texture, more like a soggy pudding cake, not like the jiggly custard I normally associate with flan. It was good, just not really flan. I am really glad tried it.
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Another good meal at La Hacienda. I just booked my May trip without a reservation here. We want to try all new places. Preparing this review, I am kinda sad about that. I really like this place.
 


Now you have me craving an Avocado Margarita, which I will be sure to get when we're in the World 2 weeks from now!
We did try La Hacienda once; DH enjoyed it but me not so much. I think it was what I ordered so I'm willing to try again. I did like the ambiance.
 
Now you have me craving an Avocado Margarita, which I will be sure to get when we're in the World 2 weeks from now!
We did try La Hacienda once; DH enjoyed it but me not so much. I think it was what I ordered so I'm willing to try again. I did like the ambiance.

We really like La Hacienda, but I know many people don't like it as much as we do. My BFF Sally who often travels with us cringes because it isnt the Tex-Mex type food she likes. I could go and be happy just eating the corn chowder I love it so much. Try again with another entree before writing it off.

I want an avocado margarita right now too.
 
You are correct. Those are the flautas. I had them in November.

We thought the "flan" tasted like uncooked corn casserole. I enjoyed the short ribs, though.
 


Glad to see you were able to enjoy some bubbly, but $18 for those pours does seem a bit excessive. At least they were good though. And speaking of good you so have me ready for an Avocado Margarita. It's been ages since I've had one.
 
I'm just catching up with the last few posts. Okay, now I'm hungry! Your adventures look delicious!


Ooh, things that go POP in the night!

Glad to see you were able to enjoy some bubbly, but $18 for those pours does seem a bit excessive. At least they were good though. And speaking of good you so have me ready for an Avocado Margarita. It's been ages since I've had one.

Dang, I thought she meant $18 for the three bottles! :D
 
You are correct. Those are the flautas. I had them in November.

We thought the "flan" tasted like uncooked corn casserole. I enjoyed the short ribs, though.

You reminded me that the flan did taste like corn. I forgot about that. Not really flan.

Glad to see you were able to enjoy some bubbly, but $18 for those pours does seem a bit excessive. At least they were good though. And speaking of good you so have me ready for an Avocado Margarita. It's been ages since I've had one.

We have found that the seminar as have really gone downhill as far as value. The prices continue to increase, while the pours have gotten smaller. Wine isnt even served with the culinary demos any more unless you pay for an even higher priced demo. These used to be my favorite parts of the Festival.

I am always ready for an avocado margarita!

I'm just catching up with the last few posts. Okay, now I'm hungry! Your adventures look delicious!



Ooh, things that go POP in the night!



Dang, I thought she meant $18 for the three bottles! :D

Thanks for staying with me. Lots more to come.

I love bubbly in almost all forms. $18 was a bit steep.
 
The next day was Halloween. We did a little golfing, then went back to Epcot. Time for a couple more booths.

My favorite booth is always the Chocolate Studio! We shared the Liquid Nitro Chocolate-Almond Truffle with Warm Whiskey-Caramel
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Sweet Dark Chocolate Raspberry Tart with Whipped Cream
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Banfi Rosa Regale Sparkling Red, Piedmont – Daou Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, Paso Robles

The truffle was great at always. The tart still tastesd wonderful, but it was much smaller than last year. The Rosa Regale was nice and sweet. The Daou cab was dry and very yummy.
 
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From the Coastal Eats booth we had Baked Shrimp Scampi Dip with Sourdough Baguette. Love this.
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We drank glasses of A to Z Wineworks Pinot Gris, Oregon and Gravel Road Pinot Noir, Oregon. Both were good. I like the Pinot Noir as a light red for a cold day.
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We also had The Steakhouse Blended Burger: Blended Beef and Wild Mushroom Slider with Brie Cheese Fondue, Arugula, Truffle and Blue Cheese Potato Chip on a Brioche Bun and The IMPOSSIBLE™ Burger Slider with Wasabi Cream and Spicy Asian Slaw on a Sesame Seed Bun. Both were good I preferred the mushroom slider where Mike preferred the Impossible.
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We went back to the Festival Center and looked around Ghirardelli. There are always beautiful chocolate sculptures. I also snagged some more Rosa Regale and hot drinking chocolate. I also stopped at the Mimosa Bar and had a tasty Passionfruit Mimosa.
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My final stop was for a Margarita. This had lime, mango and strawberry, the latter being my favorite.
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After this, I had quite a buzz going. Back to the room for some sleep before California Grill that night.

Oops just realized from my nails that margarita was from a different day, but they all look the same.
 
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That night we met Barb at California Grill so we would have a great view of Hallowishes. Nothing better than hearing Oogie Boogie sing the Blues to fireworks while standing at the top of the Cali Grill viewing area.

We started out with wine, of course. Plus I always have to have a Cosmo martini here, as this is my favorite place to grab one. We got. Bottle of Emeritus Pinot Noir. This was very good and fruity.
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We also got some bread and oil. I cant find my bread pic, but I don't remember it being anything special.
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Barb started with Pepperoni Hand-formed Pizza - from the wood-burning oven; house-made pepperoni, tomato conserva, fontina, asiago, parmesan, mozzarella, basil-oregano pistou. She wasn't impressed and left much of it uneaten. She said the crust was soggy in the middle. Plus the pepperoni seemed more like sausage.20181031_214732-2268x3024.jpg
Mike and I love the sushi here, so we got Double Tuna Crunch Roll - yellowfin tuna, Escolar, avocado, Togarashi spiced corn-tapioca crunch, spicy Umami sauce . This is really good tuna, and we like the presentation. We also got Spicy Kazan Roll, - crab, shrimp, scallops, tuna and fireball sauce. I always say I'm going to get something here other than sushi, or the occasionals soft shell crab. I never do.20181031_214626-2268x3024.jpg 20181031_214620-2268x3024.jpg
Of course you can't visit California grill without getting a great dessert. For the life of me, I can't remember what this was. I know it had pear and tasted of custard, but I just don't remember. It's not on the menu anymore. It was very tasty though and i would order it again if I knew what it was. I will check with my friend Barb and see if she remembers.
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I still love this restaurant. Maybe someday I will order an entree, but for now I am happy with the sushi.
 
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Looks like you all had a great day at Food and Wine. You sampled some of my favorite items (shrimp scampi I'm looking at you) and of course no day with some afternoon tipsiness is ever bad :P

Awesome you got to see Hallowishes from CG. Its one of my favorite places to watch fireworks from too. And your sushi looks so good. We love it there too, but its always so hard to decide between sushi or entrees. We may have been known to go twice in one trip just for that very reason.
 
Looks like you all had a great day at Food and Wine. You sampled some of my favorite items (shrimp scampi I'm looking at you) and of course no day with some afternoon tipsiness is ever bad :P

Awesome you got to see Hallowishes from CG. Its one of my favorite places to watch fireworks from too. And your sushi looks so good. We love it there too, but its always so hard to decide between sushi or entrees. We may have been known to go twice in one trip just for that very reason.

I was so tipsy after so much wine and tequila, I was worried I wouldn't feel like Cali Grill. I should have known myself. I would not miss CG.

Sushi at CG always wins out for us. I haven't had an entree there for over a decade. I need to do it sometime.
 
Thursday we played a little golf, then met Barb for lunch at Art Smith's Homecomin'!! Mike and I went here in 2016 and ordered carry out chicken sandwiches and fries. While good, I just knew there had to better food inside. We found out this trip.

The day was pretty hot, so I really wanted a drink. Bring on the Moonshine!! I had to have a Rumshine Punch, a mix of Strawberry Rumshine, BlackBerry brandy, banana liquor, pineapple juice and house made grenadine. WOW!! This was strong and sweet and super YUMMY! I would have this again in a heartbeat.
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We shared an appetizer of Church Lady Deviled Eggs, - HFK-style whole deviled eggs. These were good deviled eggs. Nothing extraordinary, but very good.
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My favorite dish of the whole meal was the Ham n' Jam Biscuits. I am not sure if that was exactly what they were called because, well Rumshine. Also, this is no longer on the menu. So sad because this was fantastic. Great fluffy biscuits topped with honey ham and jam (I think blackberry but again, Rumshine.) The portion was HUGE. We took one and a half home and finished it the next day. So tasty, they were my favorite thing we ate.
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We totally overdid the food this meal and also ordered Bee Haven Bay Fried Green Tomatoes, - Shaved ham, remoulade sauce and dressed local greens. I am not a huge fried green tomatoes fan, but these were good with the shaved ham on top. Honestly, I really just loved the ham.
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As if this wasn't enough, we also ordered entrees. Mike and I sharedArt's Famous Fried Chicken, - Chef Art Smith's signature dish! Buttermilk-brined for 24 hours then perfectly fried and served with creamy mashed potatoes, cheddar drop biscuit and love. I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed in the chicken. Maybe it's because my Granny made great fried chicken, and I make some good buttermilk brined fried chicken, I don't know. This was ok, but not something I would order again.

The sides were PHENOMENAL!!❤❤ The cheddar biscuit was soooooo good. The sweet spicy bread and butter pickles were yummy. The mac n' cheese was HEAVEN!! It was cheesy and saucy, not dry at all. The flavor was fantastic. This is now one of my favorite mac n' cheese.Chef-Arts-Florida-Fish-Camp_Full_28420.jpg
I believe Barb had a chicken sandwich. It was much better than the ones Mike and I got last year from the carryout. Fried Chicken Sandwich, - Buttermilk-brined for 24 hours and double-battered, dressed with hot sauce aioli, iceberg lettuce, tomato and bread and butter pickles. Here is a photo from the official website. It pretty much looked like this.
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Now all 3 of us are stuffed to the hills, but Barb insisted we try her Hummingbird Cake, - The famous pineapple-banana cake with cream cheese frosting from Chef Art's bestselling cookbook, "Back to the Table." Served with seasonal fruit gastrique and a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. She packed up most of this to take back to her room. Barb and Mike LOVE this cake. Mike's favorite cake I bake is my Granny's banana cake. I liked it, but banana cake really isn't my thang. I really wanted to try the Shine cake, because, well, moonshine. I just couldn't justify more food. I wasn't even sure how I was going to make dinner plans that night.
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We liked Homecomin' and will be back. I am really disappointed that the Ham & Jam biscuits are gone. Maybe I will just get a big tough of mac n' cheese and shine cake.
 
Sorry the fried chicken was a bit of a disappointment but everything else looks phenomenal. Southern food isn't something I can really cook or that we can get very often so Homecoming is always a favorite of ours. Those biscuits especially are pure perfection!
 
Catching up...

I really enjoy the beverage seminars - particularly when it’s either the winemaker or one of the owners/family who is presenting. But the pours are kinda silly. I get its $20 or whatever it is now but if you’re just following along with the presenter you need more than two teeny-tiny sips to appreciate what they’re saying and trying to highlight about the wine.

La Hacienda is one of my favorites too. I’ve eyed the corn soup but not tried it yet... will fix that next time!

Ah, California Grill. So good. And a great way to see Hallowishes without a party ticket.

Sorry you weren’t terribly impressed with the chicken at Homecomin’. The chicken thigh biscuits are my favorite but if you didn’t like the chicken might not be your thing. Those biscuits though... I think I saw recently that they’ve added some new menu items as well.
 

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