Bunny and I made a trio of varieties this year, starting with a Milano Cortina 2026 fusion flavor that was filled with cannoli filling in honor of the host country of the Olympics:
We also made plum butter Berliner, filled with homemade Pflaumenmus, which was sehr lecker!
And our final variety was filled with our favorite Guinness mousse and topped with a chocolate glaze:
It was a tasty trio!
As long as I was already frying donuts, I also made German Mutzen from the Rhineland, which turned out very much like beignets:
And here’s a bonus look at our Mardi Gras dinner of “Bayou Queen Punch” and “Tiana’s Famous Gumbo” from Entertaining with Disney:
We had a nice day of feasting, and now we’re ready for Lent!
Time for a look at this year’s Star Wars celebration!
It began, of course, on May the Fourth, with two breakfast recipes from the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Cookbook. I made Keshian Spice Rolls….that color is all natural because there was a puréed beet in the dough! I also made an unusual coffee drink called “Sunrise Caf” which featured turmeric and five spice.
We had an afternoon treat of Cassius Tea Cookies from Star Wars: The Ultimate Cookbook…they’re kind of like sugar cookies, but with black sesame seeds!
Of course we had our favorite Ronto Wraps, with roast pork, sausage, Ronto Wrap slaw, and peppercorn sauce from Delicious Disney: Walt Disney World. The Ronto Wrapper flatbreads were based on the recipe from the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Cookbook, but I improvised a bit.
We also had a side of Yalbec Stingers from Star Wars: The Life Day Cookbook:
And every special dinner calls for a special drink…this time, we had the Aleen Firefly, which was a combination of pineapple juice, Sprite, and Jello cubes from Star Wars: The Ultimate Cookbook.
For dessert I made Kowakian Crumb Cake, a type of blueberry crisp from the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Cookbook.
I also had a special Her Universe outfit to celebrate the day!
You can’t celebrate May the Fourth without also celebrating The Revenge of the Fifth, so I picked a few more recipes from Star Wars: The Ultimate Cookbook. For dinner the main course was Nal Hutta Swamp Stew, which was a delicious pork stew with potatoes and roasted green chilies.
We also tried another new drink recipe, Seezelslak‘s Speciality, which was a light and refreshing smoothie made with coconut milk, frozen cantaloupe, and lime zest.
And for dessert, Ladybug made Cloud City Bread, which was like a cross between a meringue and a marshmallow, and so melt-in-your-mouth delicious!
I look forward to this fun little celebration every year!
Time for a look back at two days of Star Wars celebrations!
This year, I have a new cookbook, so many of the recipes are from Star Wars: The Ultimate Cookbook…as a matter of fact, unless other noted, all of them were! We started day one of the celebration, May the Fourth, with “Kand and Zand Rolls” and “Hyperspace Brew.”
I made “Kyber Scones” for a lunchtime treat:
I baked “Lira San Crackers” to go with dinner:
Our beverage of choice was the “Cantina Crush,” which is very similar to our favorite Brazilian lemonade recipe, but served over ice cubes instead of crushed ice:
For dinner, I made “Batuuan Ronto Wraps” with smoked sausage and roast pork, spicy slaw, and a peppercorn sauce, just like we had at Walt Disney World and Disneyland, according to the recipe from Delicious Disney: Walt Disney World. I served them in “Ronto Wrappers” according to the recipe from the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge cookbook.
For dessert we had “Carbonite ‘N’ Cream Pie,” which not only had chocolate and vanilla ice cream, but also Oreos!
Day two of the celebration, Revenge of the Fifth, isn’t quite as involved, but we still had a special drink, “Rim’s Edge.”
And a full dinner, featuring “Roasted Arkanian Tenderloin,” “Hynestia Spheres,” “Lammas Tree Bites,” and from the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge cookbook, “Mustafarian Lava Buns.”
For dessert I made “Lha-Mi Glacier Bars.”
The Star Wars days have really taken on a life of their own, and I tend to do as much food prep for them as I do a more commonly-observed holiday. I love that we’ve really made this celebration a big deal, and something we all look forward to!
Summer vacation is coming to an end, which means I won’t have as much time for cooking “fancy” dinners. So even though I still have a lot of recipes left to try in The Official Disney Parks Cookbook, here’s a look at the ones we’ve tried so far. Unlike Delicious Disney: Walt Disney World, a cookbook of recipes from only Disney World which was the inspiration behind many of our Disney Dinners last year, this cookbook contains recipes from Disneyland, Disney California Adventure and beyond, Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disney’s Animal Kingdom and beyond, and other Disney locations including Vero Beach and Aulani.
Mini Strawberry Cheesecakes
Walt’s Chili and Beans
Shrimp Boil Tacos with Andouille Sausage and Corn
Honey Crunch Cake
Totchos
Tres Leches Cake
Key Lime Pie
Charred Nebraska Corn Chowder
Pork Goulash with Sauerkraut Pierogi
Caramel Hawaiian Sweet Bread Pudding
Chef Mickey’s Breakfast Pizza
Pink Leilani
S’mores Gelato Shake
Watermelon Lemonade
Goofy’s Kitchen Cherry Tomato and Bocconcini Salad
BLT Flatbread
Red, White, & Blue Sprinkle Whoopie Pies
Naan Bread with Cucumber Raita
Mango Lassi
Tomato Florentine Soup
Lemon Soda Float
The Hollywood Brown Derby Cobb Salad
Beef Sliders with Pimento Cheese
White Chocolate Peppermint Bar topped with Peppermint Meringue Kisses
I really love our Disney Dinners, and I’m really excited about the newest cookbook in this series, Delicious Disney: Disneyland, which comes out this fall!
One of our cooking projects this summer has been making recipes from Lilo and Stitch: The Official Cookbook. There are still plenty of recipes we haven’t tried, but here’s a look at the ones we’ve made so far:
Kaua’i Sugarloaf Pineapple Salsa
‘Ohana Fruit Salad
Blue Hawaiian
Dawn Patrol Loco Moco
Pā’ina Haupia Cake
Pleakley’s Pink Stuff Frosé
Braddah’s Baked Spaghetti
Luki’s Shaved Ice
The Green Flash
Easy-Kine Kālua Pork
Mahalo Hasagawa Matcha Brownies
Island Grilled Lemonade
Nani’s Spaghetti Salad
Comforting Butter Mochi
Gantu’s Galactic Brew
Black and Blue Seared ‘Ahi with Experimental Sweet Potato Mash
Guava Celebration Cake
Pudge’s Peanut Butter, Jelly, and Banana Sandwich
Rock-a-Hula Açai Bowls
Hapa Kine Strawberry and Basil Cooler Companions
We have definitely been introduced to some new flavors (guava was a huge favorite!), cooking techniques (I’ve never grilled lemons for lemonade before!), and even culinary science (butterfly pea tea has some very interesting properties!), through these recipes, which I love, and most of the recipes have been big hits!
Yesterday was a most anticipated day…it was Stitch Day!
In case you’re unfamiliar with this holiday, it’s a day in celebration of Experiment 626 (which is why it is celebrated on June 26), otherwise known as Stitch, of Lilo and Stitch fame. Last year, we just happened to be at the Magic Kingdom on Stitch Day, and it’s hard to top that, but Disney did just release Lilo & Stitch: The Official Cookbook last month, so I planned a special day of meals to celebrate our favorite alien-dog.
We started with ‘Ohana Fruit Salad, which had pineapple, lychees, pear, green apples, strawberries, and tangerines, and was tossed with coconut yogurt and served in a hollowed-out pineapple. It was really delicious!
Next was Kaua’i Sugarloaf Pineapple Salsa, served with plantain chips…I can’t wait to serve this with our next Mexican dinner, because it too was delicious!
Funny story about the drink I made…it’s called the Blue Hawaiian. Does it look blue to you? No matter how much of the blue vanilla syrup I added, I couldn’t get the pineapple and lemon juice based drink to change colors, not even to green! Even though the color wasn’t right, the drink itself was tropical and refreshing!
For dinner, I made Dawn Patrol Loco Moco. I’ve been wanting to try this Hawaiian dish of a hamburger patty served on rice and topped with gravy and a fried egg for a while, and we weren’t disappointed!
For dessert, we had the Pā’ina Haupia Cake, which had a lovely coconut filling. Bunny drew an outline of Stitch, and Ladybug copied it in royal icing to make the decoration for the top of the cake…they did a fantastic job!
We had a really fun time celebrating Stitch Day, and I can’t wait to try more recipes from the cookbook!
May the Fourth be with You! (But watch out for the Revenge of the Fifth!) We’ve had another fun two-day Star Wars Day(s) celebration. Most of the recipes we tried this year were new, starting with yesterday’s breakfast of Keshian Spice Bread from Star Wars: Galactic Baking (a new cookbook in our collection):
Dinner last night was a repeat (but so worth it)…I made Ronto Wrappers (flatbreads) from the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge cookbook, and Batuuan Ronto Wraps from The Official Disney Parks Cookbook (just like we had at Disney World last summer and so delicious):
I also made the iconic Star Wars Blue Milk from a recipe on the Disney Food Blog…this one was pretty hit or miss, but it looked pretty!
Dessert was Hoth Cocoa Cream Puffs from Star Wars: Galactic Baking…they were amazing!
For dinner tonight, I made Nerf Kebabs from the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge cookbook, and served Wawaatt Sprouts from The Life Day Cookbook with them:
I modified the recipe for Lothal Spicebrew from the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge cookbook to make it non-alcoholic…it was much more popular than last night’s drink!
For dessert, I baked Sith Cookies from Star Wars: Galactic Baking. The were soft and delicious.
This has become one of my favorite bonus holiday celebrations, and I’m really excited that there’s another Star Wars cookbook coming out later this year, so we can try even more recipes!
Between our Disney Dinners and other special events this year, I’ve made a lot of speciality drinks, and some of them were really pretty! Here’s a look at my my favorite (and prettiest!) creations from 2022, starting off with a concoction I created for Kirby Day:
I think the pink salt rim is what really sells this Kyyyalstaad Fizz (lemon and lime juice with sparkling water) we had on May the Fourth:
I created a nonalcoholic version of the Monorail Yellow…I love how summery it looked!
If the Monorail Yellow looked like summer in a glass, the Lava Smoothie looked (and tasted) like the tropics in a glass!
The Witches Cauldron Brew from The Nightmare Before Christmas cookbook was the perfect drink for fall:
Keeping up with the theme of six photos in my “Top Five,” here’s one that’s definitely not like the others…hot chocolate from our first snowfall of the year in November!
Tomorrow I’ll be taking a look at my favorite vacation photos…let me tell you, that was a hard list to narrow down!
For the last few months, I’ve been sharing all of the Disney Dinners I’ve made…here’s a look at each dish we tried from either a Disney cookbook, or an online resource with copycat Disney recipes:
We also tried quite a few thing while we were at the Disney parks (my favorite was the Dole Whip!):
This wraps our summer of fun Disney dinners, but I’m looking forward to trying (and retrying) recipes from our Disney cookbooks in the future, and I’ve already pre-ordered The Official Disney Parks Cookbook, which is scheduled to come out next February, so we’ll have even more new recipes to try!
For our final Disney Dinner of the summer, I didn’t use any of my cookbooks…instead I turned to the internet, where I first found a copycat recipe for violet lemonade like they serve at the EPCOT International Flower and Garden Festival, something we were able to attend on our trip. The drink had a lovely floral quality, and was such a pretty color!
The Disney Parks Blog had a recipe for Totchos as served at Woody’s Lunch Box in Toy Story Land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The recipe included a simple, thick chili as a topper, and while it wasn’t my famous three-meat chili, it is perfect for things like totchos, hot dogs, and baked potatoes, so I’ll probably make it again!
For dessert, we had classic but simple Mickey Mouse cupcakes with Oreo ears! I know I saw a picture of this idea online somewhere, but it’s not like you need a recipe to make it happen.
While we’ll continue making recipes from our Disney cookbooks (we’re already looking forward to getting The Official Disney Parks Cookbook, a companion volume to Delicious Disney, when it comes out next year!), there was something really special about this summer of Disney Dinners that I’m really going to miss!
