Zeravlar Recipes & Disney stuff

Paris to Prague River Cruise October 2011

2011-11-05T11:26:00.000-07:00

sorry, too big... click here to see it...

Honey Garlic Chilli Fried Chicken Wings

2011-08-07T17:49:00.000-07:00

in sauce pan, simmer 1 cup honey, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 6 cloves garlic minced and about a dozen dried japanese chilli pods each pod broken in half... wash & cut about about a dozen wings into separate pieces (2 dozen pieces, less the tips), lightly salt & pepper, shake in plastic bag with flour to coat, then deep fry til golden... out of the frying pan immediately dip each fried wing piece in the honey mixture and place on large plate... after done frying & dipping all the wings, pour the remainder of the honey mixture over the top of the wings on the plate...

Ground Turkey, Potato, Tomato thing

2011-05-22T09:09:00.000-07:00

Ingredients

1 large potato

3 tbs oil

1/2 medium onion, diced

7 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb. Ground Turkey (or hamberger)

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 medium tomatoes, diced

Directions

Start by slicing up the potato into quarters (lengthwise) then into 1/4 inch slices

Brown potatoes in oil, in a large skillet, on both sides

Remove potatoes from pan and place in bowl for later (leave oil in the pan)

In same pan w/ remaining oil, saute the onions & garlic

Add the ground turkey to the pan (breaking up and browning)

Mix in the cayenne pepper and soy sauce

Mix in the diced tomatoes

Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid evaporates (e.g. all you can see of the tomato is little rolled up pieces of its skin)

Turn off heat and add the potatoes back into the mixture

Tastes great over rice... and... if you have any leftovers the next day, it makes for a great omelet filling or... just frying it up w/ scrambled eggs for a nice torta...

Porkchop (or chicken breast) Rice Casserole

2011-05-22T07:22:00.000-07:00

Ingredients

6 Porkchops (or chicken breasts)

2 cups uncooked rice

1 package dry onion soup (e.g. the kind you mix w/ sour cream to make onion dip)

1 can golden mushroom soup

3 cans water

Directions

Preheat oven to 375º

Brown Porkchops (or chicken) in oil

Place rice evenly on the bottom of a casserole dish

Sprinkle dry onion soup over the rice

Place browned porkchops (or chicken) on top of the dry soup (covering rice)

Spread undiluted golden mushroom soup over porkchops

Gently poor 3 cans water over top

Bake uncovered @ 375º for 45 mins

Cover casserole and bake for another 15 mins

Porcupine Meatballs

2011-05-22T07:06:00.000-07:00

Ingredients

1 Egg beaten

1 Can Condensed Tomato Soup

1/4 cup long grain rice (or calrose or jasmine or basmati but... don't use brown because it doesn't cook well in the meatballs)

1/4 of a medium sized onion finely chopped

3 cloves garlic minced

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 lb ground turkey (ok... ground beef for the real thing)

1 teaspoon worcestershire or soy sauce

Directions

Combine egg & 1/4 can of tomato soup in a bowl

Mix in rice, onion, garlic, salt & pepper

Mix in ground turkey/beef

Shape mixture into 1.5 inch balls and place in large skillet (that has a lid)

Using same bowl (no need to wash), mix remainder of condensed soup, worcestershire (or soy) sauce, and 3/4 can of water

Pour soup mixture over meatballs

Heat over stovetop to boiling

Lower heat, cover & simmer for 40 mins

tastes great over rice (brown, white, jasmine, basmati, or... even quinoa!)

Hawaiian Shortbread Oatmeal Cookies

2011-05-22T06:43:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:

3/4 c. butter flavor Crisco or Extra Virgin Coconut Oil

1 c. brown sugar, firmly packed

1/2 c. granulated sugar

2 tbsp. milk

1/4 c. water

2 tsp. almond extract

1 egg

1 1/2 c. flour

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 c. Quaker oats, uncooked

1 c. coconut

1 c. macadamia nuts, crushed

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Cream butter flavor Crisco, brown sugar, granulated sugar, milk, water and almond extract in large bowl, blending until creamy

Mix in egg

Sift together flour, salt and baking soda and gradually add to creamed mixture, mixing well

Mix in oats, nuts and coconut

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto lightly greased cookie sheets

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes (e.g. 10 mins chewier cookies or 15 mins for crunchier)

Simpler Oatmeal Shortbread Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

6 ounces unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup oatmea

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Grease 9x9 baking pan with butter

In a medium bowl, mix flour, cornstarch, salt and cinnamon

In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until smooth

Mix in flour mixture

Mix in oatmeal (just enough to distribute evenly)

Press dough evenly into prepared pan

Bake for 25 mins

Remove from oven and immediately cut shortbread into squares

Basic Scone Recipe and the Star Tours II grand opening

2011-05-21T07:12:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons butter

1 egg, beaten

3/4 cup milk (can use buttermilk too)

Directions

Mix the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl

Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles course crumbs

Stir in beaten egg

If you wish, you can add nuts, dried fruit, chocolate chips, cheese, etc. at this point

Gradually add milk until a thick dough formed

Turn out the mixture onto a floured board and knead lightly

Roll out dough to a 3/4" thickness

Cut into 2" rounds

Place the rounds about 1" apart on a lightly greased baking sheet.

Brush the tops with egg or milk

Bake at 450° until golden brown (10 to 15 mins)

Disney Dream Inaugural Videos and a Mac & Cheese Recipe

2010-12-22T14:52:00.001-08:00

INGREDIENTS

1 package/box elbow macaroni

2 sticks butter

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

2 cups half and half

1 cup velveeta cheese cut into small cubes

2 eggs lightly beaten

salt & pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Lightly butter a deep 2-1/2 qt. casserole

Prepare the macaroni as directed on the package (e.g. boil until tender)

Drain well and return macaroni to the cooking pot

Metl the butter in a small saucepan

Stir about 2/3rds of the melted butter into the macaroni (save the rest for later)

Stir in the half-and-half, 1 1/2 cups of the shredded cheese (save the rest for later), cubed velveeta, beaten eggs, salt & pepper

Mix well then transfer to the buttered casserole

Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top

Sprinkle the remaining melted butter on top

Bake for about 40 minutes or so (until it's bubbling around the edges)

Disney Dream Cruise Ship gets Christened

Christening highlights:

Full Christening Ceremony:

Celebrities enjoying the inaugural christening cruise:

D23 Disney Geek Disney Dream Edition:

Attractions Magazine Disney Dream Edition:

Highlights of the Dream reaching port Canaveral for the first time:

On Boarding Guest Welcome:

Whoopi!

Sailing Away Party:

Princesses:

Enchanted Art:

Animator's Palate:

Pirates of the Caribbean show:

Pirates Fireworks:

Magic Portholes:

Believe Stage Show:

Scenes from the Maiden Voyage(1st official cruise after the inaugural cruise)

More scenes from the maiden voyage:

And even more scenes from the maiden voyage (including Donald riding his AquaDuck!)

Behind the scenes with Shag, retro disney artist on the disney dream

Samantha Brown Interview with Bob Iger:

Click HERE for more on the Disney Dream (along with a lumpia recipe!)

Have a Blessed, Joyful & Very Merry Christmas!!!

Crock Pot Chicken Curry

2010-11-27T15:04:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:

2 Tbls curry powder

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 can coconut milk

1 Tbls tomato paste

1/2 tsp tobasco sauce

5 cloves garlic minced

1 onion chopped

1 green bell pepper cut into bite sized chunks

1 eggplant chopped cut into bite sized chunks

1 sweet potato peeled and cut into bite sized chunks

6 skinless chicken breasts cut into bite sized chunks

1 can garbanzo beans (drained)

Preparation

Combine curry powder, coriander, cumin, ginger, coconut milk, tomato paste, and tobasco sauce in the bottom of your crockpot

Stir in the chicken

Stir in the garbanzo beans

Stir in the rest of the vegetables

Cover and cook on low-medium for 6-8 hours

Stir carefully before serving

Holiday Tomales!!!

Merry Christmas!

Traditional Thanksgiving Stuffing & Disney's Holiday Season

2010-11-14T08:22:00.000-08:00

We started using this recipe, which came from a Sunset Magazine Holiday Recipes book (circa 1960's, something found in my wife's parents house), when we made our very first turkey at our own house, and have been using it ever since. I've only tweaked it once to try it out w/ Chestnuts (like my Aunt's secret recipe) instead of slivered almonds...

Ingredients:

2 cups slivered almonds or...

or... 2 dozen chestnuts

2 medium onions minced

2 cups butter

2 cups celery thinly sliced

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon marjoram

1 teaspoon savory

1 teaspoon sage

10 cups toasted bread cubes (stuffing)

Preparation:

If using chestnuts, cut a deep crisscross in each chestnut and boil them for 1 hour, then peel them, and cut each chestnut into quarters (or eighths)

In a humongous pot, saute minced onions in butter until it starts to turn a little golden in color

Remove from heat and stir in all other ingredients

Take a handful of the stuffing and squish it together. It if doesn't stick together when you open your hand, add a tablespoon of warm water and try again... repeat until it finally decides to stick together...

You can stuff the cavites of a Turkey with this and have it cook that way or... You can dump it in a casserole dish, or a couple of 9 X 13 pans, and bake @ 350 for 30 minutes.

That's it, Enjoy!!!

Disney Holiday Season stuff

Disney Small World Holiday Commercial

Disneyland Holiday Celebration:

Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas Parade @ Walt Disney World:

Haunted Mansion Holiday:

Disney's A Christmas Carol

Mickey's Christmas Carol

Disney Hollywood Studios Osborne Christmas Lights

Decorating Disney Parks throughout the years

Disney Park Guest Holiday feedback:

Pecan Tarts and the Disney Dream float out

2010-11-05T19:31:00.000-07:00

This is another recipe from one of my east coast aunts and is a favorite with our family. They used to reserve these for the "grown ups" during the holidays, when we were little. I think it's the crust that makes it so d-lish... Great stuff!

Crust

3oz Cream Cheese

1/2 cup butter

1 cup flour

Filling

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup regular sugar

1/2 tablespoon flour

1 egg

1 tablespoon milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup melted butter

1/2 cup pecans

Preparation

mix crust ingredients

roll into 24 1-inch balls

form tart crusts into tart pan by flattening each ball and brining the dough up the sides.

mix filling ingredients

fill tart crusts

bake @ 325 degrees for 25 mins

that's it! ENJOY!

The Disney Dream Float Out, Papenburg, Germany

Cookie Crust Cheese Cake and more on the Disney Dream Cruise Ship

2010-10-15T07:17:00.000-07:00

One of our east coast aunts use to make a killer cheesecake. This was not a New York style cheescake but more the creamy type. Other than the rich sweet creaminess, I think the thing that made it killer was the crust, which she made with Lorna Doone Shortbread Cookies and good 'ol artery enriching butter (haha... yeah!). The following is a varient of her original recipe.

Ingredients

1 regular sized pkg of cookies (e.g. Oreos, Lorna Doones, Oatmeal, Ginger Snaps, Vanilla Wafers, etc... any crunchy type variety, not the soft or chewy kinds)

1 cube Butter

16oz Cream Cheese (e.g. 2 pkgs)

1 cup Sugar

2 tsps Vanilla Extract

3 Eggs

1 cup Sour Cream

1 large pie plate (the size of one of those humungo costco pies)

To prepare the cookie crust

Crush the cookies into fine crumbs (with a hammer? food processor? fingers?) in a large bowl

Melt the butter then mix well into the cookie crumbs

With your fingers, pat down the cookie crust mixture onto the sides and bottom of the large pie plate

Preheat the oven to 350

To prepare the main filling

Soften the Cream Cheese in a large bowl

Mix in 3/4 cups of the sugar

Mix in 1 tsp of the vanilla extract

Add the eggs and mix until the whole mess is smooth

Spatula the filling mixture over the pie crust

Bake @ 350 for 20 mins

To Prepare the topping (while the crust & filling is baking)

In a small bowl, mix the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and the sour cream

Stir in the remaining 1 tsp of vanilla extract

After the filling has been baked for the 20 mins above, remove from oven and spoon the topping evenly over the top

Return to the oven and bake for another 10 mins

I think it tastes better cold... let it cool for 30 or so mins... then refrigerate for another hour... or two... or overnight...

you can use variations for the filling such as, if you're using oreos for the cookie crust, you might want to consider adding a bar of melted dark chocolate to the filling... be creative with the combos...

That's it! Enjoy!

AOL Travel takes a look behind the scenes of the Disney Dream

AOL Travel was given video access to see the work of creative and technical geniuses developing features for the latest Disney cruise ship. While the 4,000-passenger Disney Dream, it's first new ship in a decade, is being built at a shipyard in Germany, it's in Glendale where the magic begins. About 140 creative and techie types (Imagineers) are working on innovations for the Disney Dream and it's sister ship, Fantasy (which debuts in 2012). The following are some of the AOL Travel videos taken during their visit...

Disney Imagineering
The Walt Disney Imagineering campus is a place where trade secrets are carefully protected. AOL Travel was given exclusive video access to see the work of creative and technical geniuses developing features for the latest Disney cruise ship.

Enchanted Art
Disney Cruise Line will be premiering a new form of interactive storytelling on its soon-to-debut Disney Dream, and it's hidden in the ship's artwork.

Virtual Portholes
Windowless, inside staterooms on cruise ships are not particularly desirable to most cruisers, most often being snatched up by bargain-hunters looking for a deal. In a clever move, Disney is looking to change that on the new 4,000-passenger Disney Dream cruise ship, which debuts in late January.

Magic Play Floor
Remember when youth counselors used to have kids sit in a circle and listen to a book? Well that's probably not the option the kids will choose on the new 4,000-passenger Disney Dream.

The Animator's Palate Restaurant
"Fran, Have you ever spoken turtle before?" says surfer-dude sea turtle, Crush. I answer -- without stopping to think that I'm talking to an animated character, who referred to me by name.

The Remy Restaurant
In the kitchen of the award-winning Victoria & Albert's at Walt Disney World's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Chef Scott Hunnel is carefully spooning caviar on top of paper thin crepes stuffed with king crab, giving AOL Travel an exclusive look at some of the culinary creations on the soon-to-debut Disney Dream.
In the kitchen of the award-winning Victoria & Albert's at Walt Disney World's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Chef Scott Hunnel is carefully spooning caviar on top of paper thin crepes stuffed with king crab, giving AOL Travel an exclusive look at some of the culinary creations on the soon-to-debut Disney Dream.

Castaway Cay
Castaway Cay feels so perfect, you wonder if a sprinkling of magic pixie dust was involved in its creation. On a recent behind-the-scenes visit, AOL Travel discovered the "pixies" are actually Disney's creative geniuses, who have been busy upgrading the private island in preparation for the arrival of the Disney Dream.

Chocolate Rum Bundt Cake and a 1958 look at Disneyland

2010-10-02T07:59:00.000-07:00

For those of you that like the liquor aftertaste of Rum Balls, this recipe is NOT for you. For those of you who like a rich deep chocolaty taste in a moist cake, read on...

The little bit of rum that you add to this recipe seems to bring out/enhance the chocolate and moist richness of this cake. It's another one of those desserts that would apply to Jack LaLanne's statement "if it tastes good, spit it out"...

Ingredients:

1 package devils food chocolate cake mix

1 package instant chocolate pudding

4 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup rum

1/4 cup water

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 package chocolate chips

Directions

Combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, sour cream, oil, rum and water in large mixer bowl

Stir in nuts and chocolate chips

Pour into greased and floured Bundt pan

Bake at 350 degree for 50 minutes

Sprinkle top with powdered sugar

An Adventure in the Magic Kingdom

Join Tinkerbell and the "voice of Disneyland", Dick Wessel, on a black and white trip from the Disney Studios in Burbank to the Happiest Place on Earth, Disneyland, Anaheim. Then adventure into the trademark Disney lands as the public saw them in 1958. (One notably, "Holidayland")

Leche Flan Cake!

2010-10-01T08:30:00.000-07:00

I remember the first time i tasted this @ a party, the person who brought it wouldn't give out her "secret recipe" for it. haha... so i google'd it... I've tried this recipe a couple of times already... and it's gooooood stuuuuufffff! hope you enjoy it as much as I do...

Caramel:

1 cup sugar

1 cup sweetened macapuno (optional)

Flan:

1 can evaporated milk

8 egg yolks

1 can condensed milk

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Cake:

3 1/4 cups cake flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspon salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup oil

6 egg yolks

1 1/4 cup egg whites

3/4 cup water

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
(or... haha... you can cheat and use a boxed yellow cake mix!!!)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

Caramelize 1 cup sugar in a 9 X 13 cake pan (e.g. slowly over the stove top)

Optionally arrange the sweetened macapuno over it and set aside

Blend the 8 egg yokes, condensed milk, evaporated milk and vanilla extract in a bowl

Pour the mixture into the caramelized 9X13 pan set aside

Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and 3/4 cups sugar in another bowl

Mix in the oil, egg yolks and water until smooth

In a separate bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form

Gradually add the other 3/4 cup sugar and beat until stiff

Fold this into the cake mixture
or...

prepare the cake batter as instructed on the box you cheating wimp...

Pour the batter slowly & evenly over the custard in the cake pan.
Note: do not stir... what's cool is, as the cake bakes, it magically keeps the custard, which sinks to the bottom, separated from the cake which floats to the top!

Place the 9 X 13 pan in a larger pan half-filled with water (i used a cookie sheet that had 1/2 inch sides).

Bake for 1 hour

this isn't necessary but... i'd recommend you let it cool and refrigerate over night

Using a butter knife, make sure the sides of the cake are separated from the pan sides... then...

Invert it on a serving platter or... some other type of tupperware thing to carry to your party or... potluck or... whatever...

That's it! Enjoy!!!

This Day in History - Walt Disney World Resort officially opens – Oct 1, 1971

Ferrari World in Abu Dahbi opening in late October 2010

Farrari World will have a roller coaster called the Formula Rossa which will be the fastest roller coaster in the world, going close to 150 MPH and pulling 1.7G's:

Dinuguan (Chocolate Meat!) and some Disney related blogs to check out

2010-09-12T12:02:00.000-07:00

Dinuguan is another traditional Filipino dish. it's not really chocolate meat, that's only what we called it when we were kids because it looked like the meat was covered in chocolate. It's really a type of pork stew, with one of the main ingredients being pork blood... but... it tastes a lot better than it sounds. My grandma used to make big batches of this stuff and all of us, kids included, scarfed the stuff down (over hot rice... mmmmmm....). Haha... one time at my grandmothers, one of the kids found a container of raw pork blood in the refridgerator, thought it was grape juice, and started guzzling it down ...

Ingredients:

3 tbs cooking oil

2 lb pork butt roast (Pork Shoulder)chopped into bite size pieces

4 cloves garlic minced

1 medium onion chopped

2 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup vinegar

1/2 cup soy sauce

2 bay leaves

1 tsp sugar

1 jalapeño pepper minced

1 cup pork blood

Directions:

In a big pot, heat the oil, add the pork, cover and let it cook on medium low heat for 10 minutes

Stir in the garlic and onions, cover and let cook for 10 minutes

Add the soy sauce, vinegar, chicken broth and bay leaves, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and let it simmer for 10 minutes

Stir in the sugar, jalapeños and pork blood, cover and let simmer for another 20 minutes, stirring occassionally

Disney Related Blogs

Ever since the social networking activity started taking off, there's been an influx of Disney related blogs popping up. A lot of them are discoverable on twitter and I've gotten a lot of good new disney stuff intel just following some of the key disney tweaps but... out of all of 'em, a great place to go to get the official scoop on all things new happening in disney is Disney's own official blog site.

In any case, here's a list of Disney related blogs, both professional and personal ones, that are fun to read and/or to get the scoop (haha... aka 411) on all the new stuff coming out of Disney:

5 Kingdoms
A Dash of Pixie Dust
A Disney Mom's Daily Endeavors
A Taste of Disney
A Taste of Wonderland
A WORLD VIEW... Enjoying Walt Disney World
Adventures in Walt Disney World, FL
After the Mouse.com - The online Disney Cast Member Community
All Ears® Guest Blog
All Things Disney
AllEars.Net
AllThingsD
Anne's blog - Mouse Map
Anthony's Wonderful World of Disney
Attractions Magazine Blog
Be Our Guest WDW Podcast
BeOurGuestPodcast.com
BETAMOUSE
Blog Vinylmation Disney
Blue Sky Disney Blog
Cara Goldsbury's Luxury Walt Disney World and Orlando Blog
Chip and Company
Club D23
Cosmic Reid's Starlight Cafe - Magical Mouse Radio
Couponing to Disney
D-Report.Com
Dad's Guide to Disney World - The Blog
Daily on Twitter as discussed on the 'Rick Alvarez' list
Daveland Vintage and Current Disneyland Photos
Davelandblog
Deb's Digest
Designing Disney
Details Of Disney
DF'82
DiningWithTheMouse
DIS Unplugged Disney Blog
DisDates.Com - Online dating for Disney fans
DisFanReview
DisMarks
Disney (Unofficial) Blog
Disney and more
Disney at Work Blog
Disney Babies Blog
Disney Bella
Disney Bloggers Collection - New Every HOUR!
Disney Books blogs
Disney By Joe
Disney Contests and Sweepstakes
Disney Cruise Line « Disney Parks Blog
Disney Detectives - Discovering Disney News one site at a Time!
Disney Dispatch
Disney Diva Tips
Disney Done Right
Disney Dream Depot
Disney Dream Makers
Disney Every Day - We'll Take You to Disney Every Day!
Disney Family Man
Disney Fan Ramblings
Disney Guru
DISNEY HISTORY INSTITUTE
Disney History Today
Disney History
Disney In My Life
Disney InfoNet
Disney Main Street
Disney News Blog
DISNEY PARK ATTRACTION POSTERS
Disney Parks Blog
Disney Society - Disney Society- for fans of Disney television programs and movies. Catch up on
Disney Tales
Disney Top 10
Disney Travel Adventures
Disney Travel Examiner
Disney World - Orlando - Blog
Disney World Basics
Disney World Blog Discussing Parks, Resorts, Discounts and Dining - Only WDWorld
Disney World Update
Disney's Dream Maker Feature Story
Disney's Dream makers Site News
Disney's Folly
Disney, etc.
disney4dads
Disneyana World
DisneyBella
DisneyBiz
DisneyBooks blogs
DisneyDaddy
DisneyDreamDepot
DisneyFairyTales.com
DisneyFoodBlog
DisneyInMyLife
Disneyland News Live
Disneyland News Today
Disneyland Nomenclature
Disneyland Resort Newsroom- Home
Disneyland's Famous Dr. Lee!
disneylandmom.com
DisneyNews Daily paper.li
Disneyology
DisneyParks Official Disney Accounts Paper.Li
DisneyParks.com
DisneyPhotography.com
DisneyShawn
DisTECH - The Blog About Technology and Disney
DisTips - Walt Disney World Tips
DisZine
DLP.Info - Disneyland Resort Paris
DLRP Today
Doing Disney Seacrist Style
DoomBuggies.com - TellNoTales.com Official Weblog
Duckman's Blog
easy WDW
EPCOT Central
etckt.com
Everything Walt Disney World
Eye of the Passholder
Family Disney Vacations
Finding Mickey
Flexible Disney
For the Love of Disney
FunkiDivaGirl’s Disney Travel with Style
Global Disney Pinvestigation
Growing Up Disney
Grumpy's Hollow
Hidden DLRP
I Love WDW
Illuminating Epcot
Imagineering Disney
Imaginerding- Disney Books, links and more!
ImagiNERDing
In Disney Style
Inside the Magic
It's A Disney World After All
Jeff's Worldwide Mouseathon
Jim Hill Media
Jungle is -101- - Disneyland's Jungle Cruise And Other Disneyland Stuff
Just Another Disney Blog
LaughingPlace.com Disney Articles
Laura and Jeanine's Salute to All things Disney but Mostly Disneyland
Love Those Disney Girls
Lunch - Only WDWorld
Magic Eye
Magical Kingdoms Disney Blog
Magical Mousecapades's Blog
MagicalMousecapades
MagicalMouseRadio.com
Main Street Gazette
MainStreetGazette
Marcio's Disney News
Meet the Magic
Meltdown Free Disney
MiceChat - Blogs
Mickey's Magical Trip Tips
MickeysMagicalTripTips
Military Disney Tips Blog
Monocle On The Mouse - Recent Blogs Posts - Blogs
Mouse Beat- Disney Blog about Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios
Mouse Magic HD Blogs
Mouse Magic in a Minute
Mouse Mentor
MouseInfo.com
Mouseketweeter
Mousekingdom Blog
MousePlanet
MouseRight
My Disney Blog
my disney collection blog
My Disney Mania
MyHiddenMickey
NCDisneyDad's Blog
News from Walt Disney World
Operation Pixie Dust
Our Cheap Disney Vacation
Page 626
Parkeology
Passamaquoddy
Passport to Dreams Old & New
personal Disney videos
Plan the Magic
Progress City, U.S.A.
Re-Imagineering
reedycreekradio.com-joomla-index.php
Running to Disney
SamLand's Disney Adventures
Scrapping the Magic
Screamscape
Shandy's Corner, A Disney Blog - Magical Mountain
So Disney!
StitchKingdom
Studios Central
Stuff from the Park
Take the Monorail
Tales from the Laughing Place
TalesFromTheLaughingPlace
Team AllEars® Running Blog
The Affordable Mouse
The art of telling tales
The Cousin Mickey Doesn't Talk About
The Daily Disney from OrlandoSentinel.com
The Daily Mickey
The DIS Unplugged Disney Blog
The Disney 50
The Disney Blog
The Disney Chick
The Disney College Blog
The Disney Dork Blog
The Disney Driven Life
the disney food blog
The Disney Frontier Blog
The Disney Gene
The Disney Obsession
The Disney Pins Blog
The Disney Wedding Blog
The disneynews Daily on Twitter
The DVC Life
The DVC Mom
The English Disney Blog
The Food Festival
The Magic in Pixels Disney Photo Blog
The Mouse Connection
The Mouse For Less - Disney News
The Muppet Newsflash
The Official Disney Blog
The official-disney-accounts Daily on Twitter
The Original Disneyland Hotel
The Tiki Room Morning Show -Under New Management-
The True Disney Fan
The Unknown Magic Within Walt Disney World
The Voice Of....
THE W.E.D. PAGE
The Walt Disney World Moms Panel
TheAffordableMouse
TheDisneyBlog
TheDisneyChick
TheDVCLife
TheFoodFestival
Think Disney
This Is Where the Magic Lives
Tinker Bell's Pixie Prints
Tinker Tell's Pixie Dust Express
Today In Disney History
Top 10 Disney - WDW to Disneyland
TouringPlans.com Blog
TravelsWithKids
Upcoming Pixar
Vintage Disney Alice in Wonderland
Vintage Disney Collectibles
Vintage Disneyland Goodies
Vintage Disneyland Tickets
Visions Fantastic
Walt Disney Company Daily News Digest
Walt Disney World Facts
Walt Disney World Resort News
Walt Disney World- It's Not Just for Kids
WALT'S BASEMENT- FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS DISNEY! - Message Board
Walt's Wide World
WDW Central
WDW Daily News - Disney News & Orlando Area Attraction Info
WDW Facts — All about Walt Disney World
WDW Fanatic Family - Just another WDW fan site…
WDW News Today
WDW Photography
WDW Radio - Your Walt Disney World Information Station by Lou Mongello
WDW Twourists
wdwnews.com - Walt Disney World Resort
WDWNTube
WDWPRINCE
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Kare-Kare and Halloween at the Disney Parks

2010-09-07T10:17:00.000-07:00

Kare Kare is a Filipino peanut flavored stew and... was one of my Dad's favorite dishes. My Mom & Grandma usually made this with oxtails but... you can also just use regular stew meet if that suits your tastes (you won't have to wrestle with the bones as much :-).

Ingredients

2 lbs oxtail (or real stew meat if you prefer)

2 eggplants sliced (1/4 inch slices)

5 long string beans, cut into 1.5 inch pieces

3 cloves garlic minced

1 medium sized onion chopped

3 tablespoons oil

1/2 cup soy sauce

5 cups water

1/2 cup peanut butter

Directions:

In a skillet, saute the garlic and onions in hot oil until they start to get brown

Add the oxtails to the skillet and saute for another 10 mins

In a large pot, bring the water and soy sauce to a boil

Add the skillet contents to the large pot, bring back to a boil, then simmer for 60 minutes

Add the string beans and eggplant to the pot, bring back to a boil, then simmer for another 15 mins

Stir in the peanut butter and simmer for another 15 minutes

hardcore Filipinos usually eat this with a little bagoong (shrimp paste)... and... sometimes they add tripe (uhg, pig stomach lining... has the texture of chewy fat... but hey, to each their own...)

That's it! Enjoy!

Halloween at the Disney Parks

Halloween at the Disney parks is big. Both Walt Disney World and Disneyland go all out to make Halloween "not so scary", but still exciting, for everyone...

The following is Walt Disney World's commercial for Halloween:

and here's a fast forward vid showing the Magic Kingdom getting prepared with the fall decorations:

WDW holds a Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party every year:

The WDW halloween parade is pretty trippy and is called "boo to you":

And WDW also has a "Villains Mix & Mingle" show:

haha... if you plan a WDW trip for Nov 1st 2010 through Nov 9th 2010, you can go to both Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party!

The Disneyland Halloween commercial keeps with last year's cool and funny take on a "disney villain" theme:

Last year in October, my wife's niece (Tina!) celebrated her birthday at Disneyland. This was the first time we were able to experience Disneyland during the Halloween season and we were awed by how decked out the park was. It was also cool seeing a bunch of little munchkins running around in costume (some in Marvel Mickey get-ups, cuz Disney happened to have aquired Marvel last year)...

It was really cool what they did to the Haunted Mansion, decking it out in a Nightmare Before Christmas theme:

another attraction that they tweaked for Halloween was space mountain (ghost galaxy):

Halloween Screams, their Halloween fireworks show, was just plain awesome... but... it was really really packed so... you had to get there early, to get a good spot with a clear view of cinderella's castle:

and here's Disneyland's "Halloween Time" vid, that sums it all up:

updated: here are some new vids from this year's disney related halloween activities:

Disneyland's happy haunts tour:

Disney Entrance and Main Street Giant Pumpkins (Go Giants! #WorldSeries):

How to carve pumpkins like the Disney Parks:

what follows is random (haha) and has nothing to do with kare kare or halloween at the disney parks...

RT @RehgallgMij Truths For Mature Humans

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.

14. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
15. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

16. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.

17. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Bad Part of Town" routing option.

18. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

19. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?

20. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

21. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

22. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

23. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time!

24. The first testicular guard, the "Cup," was used in Hockey in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1974. That means it only took 100 years for men to realize that their brain is also important. (Ladies.....Quit Laughing.)

i repeat (from a previous blog entry), this is cool:

Leche Flan and Former Disneyland Attractions (yesterland)

2010-09-04T09:08:00.000-07:00

ok, for those of us raised in Filipino American households, let's face it... the best'est dessert in the whole wide world when we were kids was, what else... Leche Flan!!! haha, when they used to take us to those Filipino weddings, i remember make'n a run to the buffet table in the hopes that there'd be platters of the stuff just ready for the taking (and remember getting scolded, often, to stop bogart'ing the stuff)... Anyway, this one's my wife's recipe...

Ingredients

7 Egg Yokes

1 Can Evaporated Milk

1 Can Condensed Milk

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

2 Tablespoons Sugar

Pans: (you usually can find these at those Asian Grocery Stores)

Double Boiler

Oval Leche Flan Pans

Preparation:

Mix egg yokes, evaporated milk, condensed milk and vanilla extract in bowl

Heat 2 tablespoons sugar in oval leche flan pan, until lightly carmelized, coating the bottom & sides of pan

Pour egg mixture in leche flan pan

Boil water in double boiler until steam appears

Put leche flan pan in double boiler

Cover, lower heat & steam for 15 to 30 minutes

After 15 mins, insert toothpic and see if it comes out clean, if not check again every 5 mins

That's it! Enjoy!

Former Disneyland Attractions

I actually have a memory of Disneyland from when I was about 2 years old... I remember clinging to my mom, scared $#|+|_3$$, as they put us in a cage in some type of cave... haha, it was the skyway to tomorrowland (1956–1994) or... to fantasyland, not really sure which way we were going...

Do you know the zip-a-dee-doo-dah animatronic characters that are a part of Splash Mountain? They were re-purposed from a show called America Sings (1974–1988), that used to be where innoventions currently is (in tomorrowland). The building used to be called the Carousel Theatre, where the audience would rotate around the center of the building, when it was ready to view the next skit:

Prior to America Sings, the Carousel Theater held General Electric’s Carousel of Progress (1967–1973) which, btw, is still a live attraction in WDW:

Another funky attraction that my wife & I road when we were teens, was the Mike Fink keel boats (1956–1994 and 1996–1997). I was thinking, this is kinda stupid... My wife remembers having to sit with your knees bumping into the folks on the other side of the boat. The boat operator (aka cast member) kept making fun of everyone and everything around the rivers of america:

The country bear jamboree (1972–1986) was an "E Ticket" attraction (meaning it was one of the good ones) and lots of folks were wondering why disneyland decided to retire it. oh well... haha... i have an MP3 of the show that i listen to when i'm jogging:

One ride that folks usually got on just to kick back and take a little rest was the people movers (1967–1995), the lines never seemed to be long. WDW just re-opened that attraction but it looks a tad different than the original retired attraction:

here's what the original attraction looked like:

what replaced the People Movers, but has also been retired, is the rocket rods (1998–2000):

One of the formerly retired attractions was Michael Jackson's Captain EO (1986–1997, 2010-present), but it's back now, to pay tribute to him after he passed away:

when it was retired, it was replaced with honey i shrunk the audience (1998–2010), which is now retired because of Captain EO coming back (haha, confusing):

another one i'd like to comment on is the adventure through inner space (1967–1985), which was replaced by star tours. we took my wife's niece on this when she was a toddler and we convinced her that the ride really really shrunk you when your omnimover traveled through the eye of the microscope:

To see a full list of other attractions that have been retired, click here... another good reference is http://www.yesterland.com.

oh... and this has nothing to do with flan or rides but... i've never seen this before... (haha... random)

Pancit Sotanghon and Hidden Mickeys

2010-08-29T12:12:00.000-07:00

Pancit is another one of those traditional Filipino dishes that you'll always find at some type of Filipino gathering (or potluck). My grandma use to make a huge pot of this stuff when our extended family got together. Sure do miss her pancit and the get-togethers we used to have at her cabrillo house.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts sliced into strips

1/2 lb. peeled shrimp

16 oz pkg of Sotanghon noodles(Mung Bean Thread noodles)

2 cups chicken broth

6 garlic cloves minced

1 medium onion chopped

1 large carrot cut into matchsticks
1/4 head of cabbage shredded

1/4 c. olive oil

salt (or soy sauce) and pepper to taste

lemon wedges

Directions:

Soak the Sotanghon noodles in warm water (for about 10 mins)

Saute garlic and onion in the olive oil until tender

Add chicken and shrimp, stir frying until chicken is no longer pink

Add carrots and cook for about 2 minutes

Add chicken broth and bring to a boil

Drain the sotanghon noodles that have been sitting in the warm water

Lower heat, stir in the sotanghon noodles, add the shredded cabbage, and let simmer for about 10 mins (the noodles should soak up the liquid)

Serve with lemon wedges

Some folks stir in "fish sauce" or patice to get that good 'ol filipino stinky fishy flavor. Some also like to sprinkle chopped green onions on top.

That's it! Enjoy!

Hidden Mickeys

For those of you that don't know what hidden mickey's are, they are mickey mouse head shapes that the disney imagineers cleverly placed (or hid) throughout the disney resorts and parks (e.g. ). Click here for a nice hidden mickey detailed description: What is a Hidden Mickey?.

Back in 1996, the Alvarez clan met up in Disneyland during Christmas week (one of the most joyful trips we've had with the extended family btw... :). In preparation for that trip, i printed out all i could find on hidden mickeys and the clan had a blast looking for them while we were there. My sister Cindy even found a new one (at the time) while we were waiting in the queue line for the Toontown Roger Rabbit Car Toon Spin ride, so we logged it on the HiddenMickeys.Org site.

I'm sure most folks familiar with Disneyland and hidden mickeys have seen this one while traversing the queue line of one of the major attractions:

The above shot was found at the hiddenmickeys.org site, which is a great reference for finding hidden mickeys at all the Disney Parks & Resorts. Another site that's a good reference and where you can also purchace a guide is hiddenmickeysguide.com.

The Disney Blog recently put up an article about hidden mickeys and folks left them comments about where to find others. Here's a hidden mickey video from that article:

Here's a youtube video from a person that bought a hidden mickey book and took pictures of the actual hidden mickey's described in the book:

Next time you hit a Disney Park, I hope you take a stab at finding some hidden mickeys with as much fun as others have had finding 'em!

This has nothing to do with hidden mickeys or pancit but... i think it's cool (haha... random):

Adobo and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

2010-08-28T15:07:00.000-07:00

Adobo is another one of those traditional filipino dishes... Hard core filipinos tend to like stinky sour things with lots of rice. haha... when you cook Adobo, it might stink up the house a little (although... some folks like the garlicky vinegary smell...)

Ingredients:

2 lbs chicken (e.g. 2 packs of wings, thighs, breasts, drumsticks, or a mixture thereof)
and/or

a small pork butt roast (it's really the upper part of a pork shoulder, don't know why they call it a butt)

5 cloves garlic minced

1/2 onion chopped

5 cloves (the spice clove, the kind you poke into a ham)

2 bay leaves

2/3 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup vinegar

about 1/2 cup of flour or so (to coat the chicken)

pepper to taste (some folks put a tablespoon or so of whole pepper corns)

Directions:

Rinse the chicken pieces parts and pat dry...

if you have wings (haha... the chicken, not you), you can cut the little drumstick part from the other part, and trash the little tips if you wish (or you can keep 'em whole, sup 2U)

if you have the pork butt (haha... the roast, not you), chop the roast into 2 inch cubes, getting rid of the excess fat if you wish (probably tastes better if you leave a little fat)

coat the chicken (and pork if you're using it) in the flour

Optional: quickly fry the flour coated chicken and/or pork in oil until both sides are brown

Put all of the other ingredients in a big pot and stir around a little

Add the meat and bring the whole thing to a boil, stirring occasionally, until about half the liquid evaporates (about 20 to 30 mins)

Add water until it's barely covering the meat and bring to a boil again

Lower the heat and simmer for about 30 mins

Great over steamed rice... actually, it's probably kinda nasty w/ any starch other than rice...

That's it! Enjoy!

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

so... with the Disney Dream Cruise we'll be taking next July, we were thinking of spending a day or two @ Universal Orlando to check out the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (WWOHP).

Our family has been potter fans ever since the first book (Sorcerer's Stone) was published, taking turns reading each book as they came out (daughter first, then son, then wife, then... always the last... me...). We made a big night of it when Sorcerer's Stone first came out on the big screen (going out for dinner & all)...

so... when Universal announced that they'd be introducing the WWOHP theme park, well... of course we're going to have to check it out some day... Our kids aren't kids anymore so... it's getting tougher to find an excuse to check things like it out, especially since were on the other side of the US from it... Anyway, here's one of the original teasers that came out on it:

NBC put on a "The Making of WWOHP" special while everyone was waiting for them to build the park:

and here's the WWOHP commercial that was shown during the 2010 Super Bowl:

The special WWOHP grand opening ceremony was pretty spectacular:

One of the hottest cool rides in the park is Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey:

Really can't wait to check it out... oh well... I guess a year isn't really that far away (heard that the forbidden journey brakes down a lot... maybe it'll stabilize by then :)

a few more WWOHP video links:

Hogwarts Castle (queue line for forbidden journey)

Flight of the Hippogriff Rollercoaster

Dragon Challenge Rollercoaster

Hogsmead (kind of like a Harry Potter Main Street USA)

Ollivander's Wand Shop

Harry, Ron, Malfoy, Butterbear, JK & other grand opening scenes

Hermione, Hagrid, Neville, Fred & George

Ellen

Hogwarts Frog Choir

Tri-Wizard Cup Show

Babinka Royal & the Last Tour to Endor

2010-08-20T07:36:00.000-07:00

Babinka Royal was one of my Mom's specialties. As a kid, i could take it or leave it... but as an adult it's simply heaven (especially warm or heated up in the microwave first). This is the type of food that the health nuts would say "if it tastes good, you better spit it out"...

There are different type's of Babinka desserts out there but...

this particular one is kinda sorta like a Filipino pound cake because of it's density and... all of the good artery enriching eggs & butter in it... but... it's a little more chewy/springy... because it's made with that Mochi Rice Flour (sometimes called "sweet" rice flour).

Ingredients:

1 box Sweet (Mochi) Rice Flour (you might be able to find this in the "international" section of your supermarket or... one of those Asian grocery stores)
2 tablespoon Baking Powder
6 Eggs
1 12oz can Evaporated Milk
1/2 cup regular Milk
2 cups Sugar
3 sticks Butter (melted)
2 tablespoons Vanilla

Instructions:

Beat eggs
Stir in melted butter
Stir in milk
Stir in sugar
Stir in vanilla
Stir in baking powder
Stir in sweet rice flour
Mix all until smooth
Poor mixture into 9x13 dish
Bake @ 325 degrees for 60 mins

I've heard that sometimes, folks add shredded cheddar cheese to the batter but... that's a little too filipino weird to me... I've also heard that some add that mucousy macapuno coconut stuff to the batter but... that's a little too slimy weird, for my tastes too... I guess if you sprinkled regular shredded coconut, or that angel flake coconut you use on cupcakes, on top, it'd probably be a good thing...

Anyway, that's it! Enjoy!

The Last Tour To Endor

One of the coolest rides at Disneyland and Walt Disney World's Hollywood Studios is the Star Tours ride (admit it, you probably get your star wars geek on once in a while, right?).

This year (2010) they're going to shut down both to refactor (haha... old programmer mentality) the rides, adding scenes from the prequel movies and making it a 3D experience.

Here's a vid that Disney recently put out, with a textual teaser at the end, that they show when you first walk into the Star Tours ride queue line enclosure:

Disney held a "Last Tour to Endor" celebration at their annual Star Wars Celebration event. Here's a fun vid that summarizes the entertainment during that event:

and, updated on 9/8/2010, here's Disney's official wrap-up video:

As you probably saw in the above vids, they tweaked the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular show and added Star Wars characters (haha... they called it a "Raiders of the Lost Jedi Temple of Doom" mash-up):

There was a lot happening on the Star Wars Celebration hall floor... Here's a vid of a kid reporter giving a tour (pretty good... looks like she'll have a promising career!):

They also had a Star Wars character dance off show:

The folks, taking their last ride before it's closed for refurbishment, were pretty jazzed up:

Another interesting happening at the event was the Jon Stewart George Lucas interview... here's a play-by-play on it:

Jon What a fantastic celebration. I obviously waited outside all night.
I wanna thank the organizers for hosting this in Central Florida in August, it allows us to experience the actual conditions on Dagobah. We're gonna have some fun with a man who you may not be familiar with but is the reason most of you aren't at a Star Trek convention right now. Now introducing... GEORGE LUCAS!
(lucas walks out, fans go crazy...)
Jon: That's all the time we have for today... Do you get the profits from handheld recording devices cause I saw quite a few.
George: It's just like your show only a smaller audience
Jon: "Just like my show only popular... First of all, welcome to Orlando.
George: Thank you. I live at Disney World. Last chance for you to go on Star Tours before we shut it down and open up a new one.
Jon: Slow question to start... (then he rambled a huge question about Episode IV and how 3PO started driving the Landspeeder)... Sorry I can't capture that whole quesiton live, but it was funny and ended with George... Why?
George: It's amazing what wonders a good oil bath will do for him.
Jon: As I walk around the convention hall, there were R2s full size, rolling around all over. After filming with trouble, what's it like seeing this room with working droids?
George: It's a tragedy. I spent 8 years trying to make ONE droid move forward more than 10 feet without crashing. In the end the droids, there were 8 of them, were so inadequate that we had to make a fiberglass one, and pull it with sticks. Here, we have some of the most beautiful R2s you can imagine. If only I could make another Star Wars...
(crowd erupts)
Jon: You do realize now none of these people will get any sleep tonight. Here's one from Chadmiral Ackbar "I hope his name is Chad, and I'm sure he has a vanity plate that says It's A Trap. The names, is there a process, is it random or are there stories behind them?
George: Right from the very beginning, the one thing about writing is I don't like to do it. I get to work at 9 I go back at 6, and all the writing is done between 545 and 6. I have a book that has just names. Wherever I go (with my son) I'll see something and I write it down saying that's a good name! Ewoks is a derivation of where we live, it's an old Indian vilage site, the Meewok Indians. Darth Vader is "Dark Father" in dutch-ish. The TIE in the Celebration Hall was identified as Belgian by George and Jon.
Jon: What does it feel like when you see the 501st, with divisions in every country in the world.
George: The thing about the 501st that's great is it just sprang into life. There are 5000 in 32 countries, they're everywhere I go wherever I need them. They visit kids in hospital and the kids are overwhelmed, it's a very good organization all the way around.
Jon: When you see the largest 501st is in Germany.. do you see.. does the Polish 501st get nervous?
George: You know the Belgian 501st has TIE fighters, has Jabba the Hutt, so they're not getting taken over. A fan in the audience yelled out that there's a Rebel Alliance as well, and Jon joked they were supposed to keep it secret.
Jon: When you're doing A New Hope, this is a new style of filmmaking, how do you stay positive when everything was turning against you in being able to create it in the style you wanted?
George: It helps to be nuts.
Jon: I think we've just written the title of your autobiography.
George: You have to have such persistence, be so stubborn, and just say I'm right, I don't care what the rest of the world thinks. No matter what the odds are against you. With New Hope and then Empire, that was very dark. Getting that next film going was very difficult, there were times when it looked like it wasn't going to get finished, and you had to say, "I believe in this".
Jon: Is there anything that happened in that process that was changed by the studio that you'd like to change back?
George: I was very lucky in that I was in SF, my studio was there, we made the movies in England away from Hollywood. The studio executive said "I think you're a talented guy and I'll invest in you" even though he didn't know what I was doing. We ran out of money, we went over the schedule, I couldn't do the Jabba the Hutt scene, some of the special effects I wanted Star Wars was a huge success, Warner had cut THX, and I forced them to put it back the way it was, and eventually I had the time and money to do that for Star Wars.
Jon: Luke Skywalker, you're tyring to keep him hidden from Darth Vader whose last name was also Skywalker. When Vader saw on CNN that it was Luke Skywalker who had blown up the death star, do you think he thought "Boy, that name sounds familiar." Any thought given to an alias to keep him hidden?
George: There is a logic to that, 1: there are a lot of skywalkers. You think there's one in the universe, you should see the phonebook! That and the other part which is, the one place that is most painful for Anakin Skywalker is Tattooine. That's where he grew up, where he lost his mother, it's the source of his struggle. You'll also know that the Emperor has long suspected that there are children. In the beginning, Vader doesn't know that there are children, so he put that out of his mind. The Emperor knew there was a possibility, cause HE told the lie that "you killed Padme". When Luke blows up the Death Star and you come back in the movie we're celebrating for 30 years, the first thing he says is "Skywalker is alive" and that's when Vader finds out he even has a son.
Jon: Were all these backstories planned ahead or did you have to go back and add them?
George: No, I just make it up when someone asks. *laughs*
Jon: The intricate universe, how do you create that?
George: In the beginning, I did a movie, it was supposed to be one movie, and it started with Episode IV, like an old matinee serial you missed the first few. And halfway through the movie, you realize his enemy is his son, and in the end his son redeems him. And that was way too big as one movie. So I broke it up to stretch out Darth Vader and who he is. In order to tell the story of episode IV I had to write the back story to tell who Darth Vader is and that was originally not intended to be a movie. Because the backstory was not filmable then. The big tech breakthrough in Empire was to get a muppet to be believable as a real thing and not just a sock. I knew he was a Jedi Master and he fought, but we couldn't show that. When tech caught up I knew I could tell the real tragedy of Darth Vader and start with him as a child. That's where having my own company paid off. I first went to them, and I said I'll do 3, I'll do the trilogy and the studio was all excited that I was doing the origin of Darth Vader, and they said fantastic! and I then told them "Well I'm starting with him as a 10 year old boy" and you'll never see Vader and they said "no, we want to see Vader killing a bunch of people". I even admitted that the first part of the story is usually kinda boring, which is why I started with chapter IV.
Jon: Was there ever a point where you felt like Vader couldn't be redeemed in the end?
George: Well he was always going to be redeemed. The original problem was that I wanted all three movies made. So instead of asking for a bunch of money, I only asked for the rights to the sequels. They said "Hey, this makes our next quarter look good, we don't have to spend the money, we're giving away something that's probably not worth anything anyway". So he had the ability to make all three right from the start, and took virtually no pay for New Hope. At the end of Empire, the middle part is usually not much. I was looking at this and said this is gonna be hard, cause I was ending it on a real downer. I'm your father, cut your hand off, this is rough. So I asked a Psychologist, is this too hard for a 10 year old? he said "You know, it won't hurt them at all" cuz Darth Vader is a bad guy, some kids will handle it in their age range and say "hmm interesting" and younger kids will jsut say "he's a bad guy, so he's lying." it's their built in safety net.
Jon: Most impressive star wars memorabilia you've been given by a fan?
George: I got a little me, carbon frozen which I liked alot, then I got another, which was Jar Jar Binks in Carbon Freezing. That was so good, that ILM made a full-size one. There's always gotta be someone who takes the brunt of the ridicule. In the first film it was 3PO, no one could stand him everyone hated him, he was fussy. Then in the third it was the Ewoks, and that took all the pressure of 3PO. We had a sign in design that said "Dare to be cute!". Now the third one to take it all is Jar Jar. he's basically the same fussy bumbling idiot that 3PO was in the first one. Younger comedy, the older fans don't like. We realized we have a real honest-to-god generation gap with Star Wars. Anyone over 40 loves 4-5-6 and hates 1-2-3 . The younger ones love 1-2-3 and Jar Jar Binks! If you're ten years old, stand up and fight for your rights! Of course, now, now, we have the under 10 year olds that only know about Ahsoka, and they're happy, they don't even know about the Star Wars movies!
Jon: Are you working on something for fetal, that can be injected in ultrasound?
George: We're working on that right now, Seth Green. I thought Robot Chicken was so funny that we'd make a little comedy cartoon show like Spungebob for 4 and 5 year olds, and he still thinks it's for 21 year olds. So as far as he knows it's for 21 year olds, and it'll look like it's for 5 year olds. No one knows what it'll be yet, but I know one thing, it'll be funny.
Jon: There's a lot of religious undertones, did you ever think I'd just take this and turn it into dianetics, start my own religion, move everyone to the desert... what was the deal behind the Force?
George: I used comparative religions and the commonality is there, it's what The Force is. It's the commonality through all religions. So they said "what is that God" between all religions, and they didn't want to personify it, so that's what the Force is. It's a way of keeping spirituality alive
Jon: So the Jedi, they're kinda a priest... but they can channel it..
George: Well it's more the monk idea. You get a warrior monk, the idea in Star Wars is they're not really warriors, they're negotiators. They negotiate disputes between planets, but they do it with a big stick, their lightsaber. If you don't come to a conclusion, I'll settle it for you.
Jon: What's the idea behind them not getting married, the emotion behind it?
George: Well, you have the light side- compassion, you care only about everyone else, the dark side, you care only about yourself and pleasure personally. There's a line between loving someone compassionately, and not being greedy; once you're greedy you get fearful that you'll lose what you have, so you have to give up everything. You can love people, but you can't possess them, you can't own them. Once you get power, it corrupts you. So Anakin, he fell in love with Padme, but then found out he would lose her. So he was tempted with someone saying "I can give you the power to save her".
Jon: So what I take from that is Jedi CAN have one night stands. Palpatine insinuates that he learned power over life and death from his master, and then insinuates "too bad he was killed in his sleep" did he kill him?"
George: Yes, he did. That's what Sith Apprentices do!
Jon: Do you realize what you've made here?
George: I'm still just a guy who makes movies. I'm philisophical enough to know that maybe it'll survive, maybe not. But I know we made a mark on the 20th Century and maybe we'll last through 21st. I really want for the first guy to get on Mars to say "I've wanted to do this ever since I saw Star Wars." That's the one thing I really want.
Jon: Question from a 10 year old who wants to be a director, what's the secret?
George: Do well in school, go to film school (college), and be mindlessly persistent. People go "how do i make a movie?". I say, well, you go get a camera, and get some kids to act for you. If you have no money, go sell your furniture.
Jon: What's Obi-Wan's home planet?
George: This is something that was one of the first things I wrote in the very first script. He comes from the planet StewJon (he says with a grin). And, since StewJon, I had no idea you existed obviously, but since you exist and his planet is connected with your name, and it's in the scripts, and hasbro reads the scripts, obviously... (R2D2 wheels out with somethin on his head, it's a Hasbro toy of Jon Stewart from the planet Stewjon!)
George: This action figure comes with 2 heads. One looks just like he does right now, the other has a goatee! (Jon smiled and shook his hand, and hugged him)
Jon: "Here's the sad thing, I'm not gonna let this in any way increase in value, I'm gonna open it up and play with it!" (audience cheers)
(they show an old Star Wars Underoos commercial of kids dancing in the underoos)
George: Mark and Carrie love those commercials...
Jon: You know what's fun is seeing how far we've come in 30 years choreography wise. Now, there's a couple commercials from Japan...
George: There was a dark period in my life, and I fell on some hard times, so I produced a couple things; I had to get a job, I was a spokesman for Panasonic, but it got me through those years when I was raising my kids and didn't have a job.
(commercial has ewoks running behind a child then a child riding on the back of Chewbacca and George Lucas saying "Something New", the tagline of the commercial
Jon: Someone wanted to know about the Baron from Clone Wars.
George: Baron Pappanoida came out of Episode 2 or 3. There's a scene in an Opera where I'm there, they finally convinced me to be in the movie. My name was Baron Pappanoida, but I was there with my family. Unfortunately my son got killed by a bunch of storm troopers there.. so that was a shame. His daughter actually wrote an episode about the family doing some fighting.
(Jon introduces the clip with the Pappanoida family fighting in a bar)
George: The show is getting better and better, much more sophisticated. and... we're already starting to write season V.
Jon: Who's the new guy coming up in Clone Wars?
George: As they get better, another episode my daughter wrote is where Ventris helps a.. well, On the planet Ventris comes from, the women are on one side and control the planet, and the men live in an enclave, and the Emperor used one of them to become Darth Maul.
Jon: Maybe we have a special guest that can come out and share some information with fans? It would be nice if there was just a little special moment we could give to them...
George: "THE BLU-RAY"... I wish I could say it was coming out this year, but it's not. It's coming out next year. We've put together different kinds of additional material. There's some really good materials being included in there. Some of it is one scene, more deleted scenes you haven't ever seen yet.
(Mark Hamill comes out and the crowd give him a huge applause)
Mark: Take a deep breath, and sit down, you're cutting into George time! I just saw this clip for the first time on a golf cart on a computer. This is my natural entrance as a Jedi. When they told me, I said "I vaguely remember this" and when they showed me I really remembered it. It's very short, but it's very special. For all you ultra-passionate fans, it's special for you because let's face it you're like family. This is my original entrance into the film Return of the Jedi.
(Darth Vader walks down a hall, and into a chamber, meditating, reaching out to Luke telepathically. Luke is shown in robes making his Lightsaber. He turns it on, glowing green, nods, and turns it off. It was a bit ominous, and was meant to make fans wonder, until the Green lightsaber turned on, whether he'd join his father on the darkside or not.)
(Carrie Fisher comes out on stage also to huge applause, shares a long embrace with Mark, then with George, and gives a handshake and a kiss to Jon. Audience goes wild again!)
Jon: Are these Celebrations your only opportunity for you all to get together? does the turn-out still blow your minds, make you feel like yesteryear?
Mark: You forget the passion exists, and they prove you wrong.
Carrie: I never thought this would be happening 30 years ago. I got proposed to yesterday, so that was nice.
Fan yells "HAVE MY CHILDREN!"
Carrie: You want children? That's gonna be rough. (to george): Did you ever put the nude scenes back in? There's a huge Jabba and me porn scene that didn't make it in. That's what got me into drugs (big laughter).
Jon: It's been an absolute pleasure being here today and having this conversation with all of you. George, thank you for being here, and Fans, thank you all for coming out.
(Fans Cheer)
George: None of us would be here if it wasn't for you. You are the reason we are here on all levels. I make movies for fans, I make movies for people that like to go to the movies, and uh... it's great to be appreciated.

And, finally, here's a vid of the Star Tours Shut Down Ceremony:

Tallerini & Disney's World of Color

2010-08-06T09:44:00.001-07:00

One of my east coast Aunts turned us on to this dish (Tallerini) in a get-together @ our grandma & grandpa's house, when we were kids (for those relatives that happen to read this, don't you just miss all the picture taking of all us kids on the stairs?)... It was gobbled down in an instant and has been a favorite of mine ever since...

but... before we get to the recipe...

I've followed the World of Color activities since Disney originally announced they were developing WoC as a new show @ Disney's California Adventure park in Anaheim California ... although... I haven't seen it in person as of yet :( but...

Here's the preamble in the premier, where that new Mickey character with the animated facial gestures introduces WoC:

and... here's a vid of the actual premier:

Disney took World of Color on the road with the World of Color Road Show. First stop: San Francisco (legion of honor):

then... they hit Sacramento (old town):

next stop was San Diego (on the side of the USS Midway ship):

and finally, Los Angeles (on the Walt Disney Concert Hall):

here's a "behind the scenes" and "making of" WoC vid:

and... this is trippy, WoC shot from a plane:

hopefully i'll make it down to Anaheim sometime within the following year and'll be able to check it out in person...

so...

now for the Tallerini recipe...

Ingredients:

1 Lb. Ground Turkey (real hamburger probably tastes better, but i'm thinking it's a wash)
1/2 Onion chopped
3 Cloves Garlic minced
Salt/Pepper to taste (cayanne pepper for those that like it!)
1 Can Chopped Olives
1 Package Frozen Corn
1 Can Tomato Soup
1/2 Can Water
1 Package Fettuccine Noodles (U can use those squirly noodles too)
1/4 cup (give or take) Grated Parmesian Cheese

Directions: In large pan (that has a cover):

Brown Meat w/ Onions & Garlic
Sprinkle Salt & Pepper to taste
Stir in Olives, Corn, Soup & Water
Stir in Noodles
Generously Sprinkle Parmesian Cheese over top
Cover pan, reduce heat and cook for 30 mins

The bottom center may look a little burnt cuz of the heat there while cooking... but... it's not bad... still tastes ok to me...

That's it! Enjoy!

Disneyland's 55th Anniversary - 2000 thru 2010 related Videos

2010-08-04T16:55:00.000-07:00

2000 – A brand new parade – 45 Years of Magic Parade – and a dazzling new fireworks spectacular – Believe…There’s Magic in the Stars – debuted this year. The only original Tomorrowland attraction left from park opening, Autopia, is reimagined. Combining the old Fantasyland and Tomorrowland attractions, young drivers now cruised along a modern highway through scenic forests and past shimmering waters.

2001 – This year saw the completion of the largest expansion in Disneyland history at that time, and on just the second day of the year, Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel welcomed its first guests. Shortly after, Downtown Disney opened the doors to its shopping, dining and entertainment venues, while Disney’s California Adventure park celebrated its grand opening in February. Over at Disneyland park, Rancho del Zocalo Restaurante opened in Frontierland. On July 4, guest favorite “Disney’s Electrical Parade” returned after an absence of almost five years to light up the streets of Disney’s California Adventure park.

Grim grinning ghosts celebrated the holidays with the first appearance of Haunted Mansion Holiday at Disneyland park, and band lovers celebrated “The Power of Blast!” at the Hyperion Theater at Disney’s California Adventure park, featuring brass and percussion instruments and choreography reminiscent of a halftime spectacular.

2002 – “a bug’s land” opened at Disney’s California Adventure park, offering guests the chance to see the world through a bug’s eyes. In October, the first CHOC/Disneyland Resort Walk in the Park saw 11,000 participants stroll through the Resort. After baseball’s fall classic had ended, the Resort was awash in a sea of red as fans came out to cheer the Angels in a victory celebration. The year ended with three wishes as the Disney’s California Adventure production of “Disney’s Aladdin – A Musical Spectacular” had its first performance.

2003 – “Playhouse Disney – Live on Stage!” came to Disney’s California Adventure park and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh debuted at Disneyland park. Jingles and the rest of King Arthur Carrousel’s 72 steeds were ready for guests again after an extensive refurbishment. In June the Pirates franchise was born when we rolled out the red carpet on Main Street, U.S.A. for a Hollywood-style premiere of “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.”

2004 – Over at Hollywood Pictures Backlot, guests began having hair-raising experiences when The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror opened May 4.

At Disneyland park, three Olympic gold medalists took to the water at the Disneyland Resort in a pool built in the middle of Main Street, U.S.A. during the final stop of the “Disney’s Swim With the Stars” tour. “Snow White – An Enchanting New Musical” debuted. Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel completed a renovation in June featuring redesigned guest rooms, an enhanced lobby and a new pool area with a waterslide.

2005 – A 50th anniversary celebrity kick-off event included Julie Andrews, Steve Martin and Tim Allen.

Sleeping Beauty castle underwent a beauty makeover, complete with crowns. “Remember…Dreams Come True” fireworks show made its debut. Neil Armstorng re-dedicated Space Mountain. Disneyland park was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Animation Academy and Turtle Talk with Crush premiered at Disney’s California Adventure park.

2006 – In addition to the changes to Pirates of the Caribbean, this year was also a year of firsts as Halloween Time at the Disneyland Resort debuted. Disney’s Princess Fantasy Faire and the Jedi Training Academy also debuted this year, allowing guests the opportunity to meet with Disney royalty or battle Darth Vader and Darth Maul.

2007 – Two major re-imagined adventures on the high seas came to Disneyland park: the return of the submarines and the debut of Pirate’s Lair on Tom Sawyer Island. The debut of Pirate’s Lair occurred in the same year as the premiere at Disneyland park of the third installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, “At World’s End.” Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage opened to rave reviews as the subs had been missing from Tomorrowland for nine years.

2008 – Toy Story Mania! inspired by Disney•Pixar’s “Toy Story” films debuted at Disney’s California Adventure park. In Adventureland, the Enchanted Tiki Room celebrated 45 years of singing birds, plants and totem poles. The year 2008 also saw the return of a re-imagined Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough attraction. Annie Leibovitz creates Disney Dream Portrait series.

2009 – New magic was added to Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers visited the Disneyland Resort to celebrate his fourth NBA championship. Christina, Elicio, Molly, Frank, Lisa & Ricky celebrate Tina's b-day @ DisneyLand during the Halloween season.

2010 – Captain EO returned almost two decades after it first debuted. Opening day was quite a scene as fans came out in complete EO garb to see the show. World of Color debuts at the Disneyland California Adventure park. This is the year that Fayth experiences DisneyLand for the 1st time!

Disney Orlando celebrates with the "Last Tour to Endor" before Star Tours is closed to be refurbished with scenes from the Star Wars sequels...

Other Decades:

Disneyland's 55th Anniversary - 1990's related Videos

2010-08-04T16:54:00.000-07:00

1990 – Disneyland park celebrated its 35th anniversary with “Disneyland Big” and a new parade called Party Gras that featured a parade float that towered 37 feet. The Dream Machine, located in Central Plaza, gave some fortunate guests an opportunity to try their luck to win one of many prizes that included Walt Disney Home Videos, a Mickey Mouse plush or even a new car.

1991 – As the Persian Gulf War came to an end, Disneyland park honored thousands of veterans returning home from the region with a daily cavalcade from April 17 to June 17. The park also helped raise money for the U.S. Olympic Committee with Olympic Salutes, a five-mile cast member torch relay in June leading to Sleeping Beauty Castle. Elsewhere in the park, the Blue Ribbon Bakery opened its doors on Main Street, U.S.A., and those with fond memories of watching Darkwing Duck and Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers after school remember the thrill of meeting their favorite stars live at Disney Afternoon Avenue. This temporary Fantasyland attraction featured the TaleSpin stage show “Plane Crazy” at Videopolis, plus redressed rides including the Rescue Rangers Raceway (Fantasyland Autopia) and the Motor Boat Cruise to Gummi Glen (of Gummi Bears fame).

1992 – Mickey Mouse ignited the night for the first time with Fantasmic!, an epic battle between good and evil on the Rivers of America featuring water, pyrotechnic and laser effects.

Though the show begins its 19th year this summer, it wasn’t the only entertainment of note in 1992. Coinciding with the theatrical release, a live Beauty and the Beast stage show debuted on the Videopolis stage, which ran for several years and eventually inspired the Broadway smash.

Goofy also celebrated his sixtieth birthday with the larger than life parade, “The World According to Goofy,“ and opened his first restaurant as Goofy’s Kitchen debuted at the Disneyland Hotel. The park’s biggest special event was the private 60th birthday party of actress Elizabeth Taylor, featuring a performance of “Happy Birthday” led by Barry Manilow. This is the first year that Nicholas & Stephanie experienced Disneyland! (how many times can you ride the Omnibus?)

1993 – The toons finally received their very own home in Mickey’s Toontown, the first all-new land added to Disneyland park in over 20 years. Featuring a gag-filled downtown inspired by the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the cartoon-like design was influenced by the personalities of the characters living there, with Donald taking up residence in a boat while Chip and Dale inhabited an acorn tree. With Aladdin hitting theatres in the summer, a Royal Caravan parade made its way to Main Street, U.S.A., while the Tahitian Terrace in Adventureland was replaced by a new restaurant, Aladdin’s Oasis. As Mickey Mouse celebrated his 65th birthday, the “Partners” statue featuring Walt Disney that sits in Disneyland park’s Central Plaza was also dedicated.

1994 – Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin welcomed its first fares on the one-year anniversary of Mickey’s Toontown. This innovative dark ride featured vehicles that could be rotated in any direction or speed.

One of the biggest parades in Disneyland park history debuted, as “The Lion King Celebration” showcased unique Audio-Animatronics and larger-than-life puppets along with more than 100 live performers.

The park said goodbye to a longtime favorite, as the Skyway attraction connecting Fantasyland and Tomorrowland closed after 38 years of operation.

1995 – Indiana Jones Adventure (TM), the thrilling off-road journey through an ancient temple, blazed its way to Disneyland park.

On July 17, a time capsule was buried in the Sleeping Beauty Castle forecourt containing items that would not be revealed until the park’s 80th anniversary. The dance club Videopolis was transformed into Fantasyland Theatre, featuring the all-new stage show “The Spirit of Pocahontas.” The Disneyland Resort expanded to include the Disneyland Hotel’s next-door neighbor, the Pan Pacific Hotel, which was transformed into the Disneyland Pacific Hotel (and later Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel).

1996 – A record number of guests turned out for Main Street Electrical Parade before the show dimmed the lights. The new stars from Disney•Pixar’s hit “Toy Story” opened up the Toy Story Funhouse over in Tomorrowland. In Frontierland another guest experience premiered at Big Thunder Ranch. The Hunchback of Notre Dame Festival of Fools completely immersed the audience in an exciting song, dance and fun-filled extravaganza. This is the year that the Alvarez clan (Ray, Becky, Camille, Tommy, Kristen, Fue, Sone, Roy, Donna, Jason, Tara, Ricky, Lisa, Nicholas, Stephanie, Cindy, Bryce, Devin & Tammy) went to Disneyland during Christmas.

1997 – The Hercules Victory Parade traveled through the park for the first time, celebrating Disney’s newest hero. Light Magic opened, and Main Street, U.S.A., got a lot more tasty with new locations for the Carnation Café, Blue Ribbon Bakery and Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor. On Refreshment Corner, a window was dedicated to honor Bob Penfield, the last original cast member to retire. Bob was a part of “Club 55,” which was the term for those who were on the job the day Disneyland park opened.

1998 – Three new attractions transformed Tomorrowland this year, including the Astro Orbitor, “Honey I Shrunk the Audience” and Rocket Rods. Over in Fantasyland, Fantasyland Theatre received an entirely new look with a new roof and a whole new show – Anamazement – starring some of Disney’s famous animated characters.

1999 – Disney’s FastPass service makes its official debut with “it’s a small world” holiday in November. The Plaza Gardens undergoes a revitalization effort with a new canopy and stage. New faces can be seen throughout the park, such as Radio Disney DJs Just Plain Mark and Zippy, who begin broadcasting live from underneath the Observatron. Tarzan moves into a tree house in Adventureland.

Other Decades:

Disneyland's 55th Anniversary - 1980's related Videos

2010-08-04T16:53:00.000-07:00

1980 – Disneyland park kicked off a year-long Silver Anniversary celebration with a pre-parade show at the Tournament of Roses on New Year’s Day in Pasadena. Several special parades and shows followed for the rest of the year, but it was a special event in March, featuring Michael Jackson and Danny Kaye, that brought national attention to the celebration. On July 17, the 25th anniversary of the park’s opening, doors were open for 25 straight hours. In April, Family Reunion Night Celebration brought out several famous Disney faces, including Jackson, Fred MacMurray, Ernest Borgnine as well as the Carpenters, Ray Bradbury and even…Elliot Gould.

1981 – The New Fantasyland was still two years away, but a project on par with that one developed in small scale along the banks of Storybook Land in June, 1981. All of the original miniature buildings and scenery details built for the Storybook Land Canal Boats attraction in 1956 were removed and replaced with brand-new ones. Efforts were made to make the replicas as similar to the originals as possible, stressing even the most minute details. In this year, Disneyland park also welcomed its 200,000,000th guest: 26-year-old Gert Schelvis of Santa Barbara, California received a lifetime pass to Disneyland, as well as an assortment of goodies from the Park’s sponsors.

1982 – When Disneyland park first opened, guests used tickets to gain admission to individual attractions. Those tickets eventually gave way to the A–E coupons, which could be used for multiple attractions. All tickets were retired in June of 1982 and replaced with the Passport – an all-encompassing ticket providing unlimited access to all attractions and shows (except the arcades). In Frontierland, Disney Legend Wally Boag hung up his carpet bag and officially retired from the Golden Horseshoe Revue after more than 39,000 performances.

The SuperSpeed Tunnel along the PeopleMover route received a futuristic makeover and became the World of Tron, showing highlights from Disney’s big summer film release, “Tron,” on massive circular screens.

1983 – Fantasy reigned in 1983, as a whole new version of Fantasyland was unveiled in May. The new land cast aside its old facades of tournament tents and banners and became the Fantasyland of Walt Disney’s imagination: a quaint little fairy-tale village, where the denizens of Disney’s classic animated features lived and thrived. Old classics like Snow White’s Adventures and Peter Pan Flight remained, but with new technology, slightly altered names (they were now Snow White’s Scary Adventures and Peter Pan’s Flight), and brand-new facades that stressed the distinct cultural origins of each characters’ story. A new adventure, Pinocchio’s Daring Journey, joined the group. The whole Park celebrated the new Fantasyland with the aptly titled Flights of Fantasy Parade.

1984 – This year was a grab bag of special events and activities. Summer Olympic fever spread from Los Angeles to Disneyland park, and the pre-games Olympic Night Charity Benefit on May 24 brought in $600,000 to Team U.S.A. During the games, the park hosted hundreds of athletes on Olympic Spirit Weekends. Donald Duck finally got his due with a 50th Birthday Parade. The Magic Eye Theater replaced the Space Stage in Tomorrowland and premiered EPCOT Center’s Magic Journeys 3D film. Elsewhere in Tomorrowland, Circle-Vision 360 reopened with two new breathtaking films: “American Journeys” and “Wonders of China.” The Country Bears received a special Christmas makeover for the first time, and the New Fantasyland was finally complete with the opening of the refurbished Alice in Wonderland attraction.

1985 – Disneyland park’s 30th anniversary was celebrated in spectacular style. A gigantic machine called the Gift Giver Extraordinaire doled out thousands of prizes to guests as they entered the gates, including brand-new GM cars to every 30,000th guest; Disneyland park stayed open for a full 24 hours to mark the actual anniversary on July 17. A new version of Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln premiered on Main Street, U.S.A., complete with an advanced Audio-Animatronics figure. Videopolis opened, bringing teens and young adults a place to dance the night away to the latest popular tunes. And for the first time in the park’s history, Disneyland park began operating 365 days a year (before this time, the Park was closed Mondays and Tuesdays in the off-season).

1986 – With a party that lasted 60 hours, Captain EO leaped off the screen in Tomorrowland for the first time, giving guests an intergalactic musical adventure that could only initially be seen at Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resort (and nowhere else in the universe). On the other side of the park, Big Thunder Ranch opened, and for the first time, guests could visit with some of the animals from the Circle D Corral. Guests could also visit the new Big Thunder Barbecue where they could drink from a glass jar and get their food from the “chuck wagon.”

1987 – Star Tours officially opens at Disneyland park in January! A galaxy far far away was brought a lot closer as Star Tours began transporting guests to Endor in a new type of experience, combining military grade flight simulation and a first-person perspective of flight scenes. The Disney Gallery also opened its doors above the Pirates of the Caribbean and offers guests an opportunity to view unique Disney art.

1988 – The celebration of 60 years with Mickey Mouse started with a visit to Disneyland park by Earforce One, a 100-foot hot air balloon. In November, five thousand children from North America and parts of Asia were treated to a day at Disneyland park to celebrate. The ’50s were also celebrated in Disneyland Blast to the Past, and the Main Street Hop filled the street with cast members dressed in poodle skirts and saddle shoes. In 1988, Disneyland park set the record for the most people hula hooping at the same time in one location – 1,527 people gathered in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle to break the record. Also in this year, Disney purchased the Disneyland Hotel from the Wrather Company, and Bear Country’s name was changed to Critter Country in preparation for Splash Mountain.

1989 – Splash Mountain debuts and is the fastest, tallest and steepest flume attraction at its time! Disneyland park welcomed its 300 millionth Guest with a new marquee in 1989. The new marquee featured a digital board with changing messages and fiber optics that helped the name Disneyland sparkle at night. “Blast to the Past” returned with Chubby Checker and 2,248 guests breaking the record for most people doing the twist in one location. In the winter, the “One Man’s Dream” show premiered at Videopolis.

Other Decades:

Disneyland's 55th Anniversary - 1970's related Videos

2010-08-04T16:49:00.000-07:00

1970 – At the beginning of this year, the Legacy of Walt Disney opens on Main Street, U.S.A., featuring a display of Walt Disney’s awards and memorabilia along with an exhibit on the California Institute of the Arts. Later in the year, the Disneyland Hotel opens the 319-room Marina Tower with a new registration lobby. “Show Me America” comes to the Tomorrowland Stage as a fast-paced musical comedy revue with more than 120 costumes and impressive backdrops built just for this show.

1971 – An amazing attendance mark was recorded when Disneyland greeted its 100-millionth visitor in just under 16 years. The lucky 100-millionth guest Valerie Suldo from New Brunswick, N.J., came through the gates on June 17, launching a summer-long celebration of entertainment called “Year of One Million Smiles.” The world’s biggest New Year’s Eve party was celebrated with 23,000 guests on hand, the largest number in Disneyland history. New in Frontierland, Davy Crockett’s Explorer Canoes were introduced as a way to see the Rivers of America. The year marked the debut of the first All-American College Marching Band. During the four-day President’s Holiday in February, the park rolled out lavish red-white-and-blue “I Am an American” ceremonies in Town Square. Sadly, the year ended with the death of Roy O. Disney on Dec. 20. Walt Disney’s brother was co-founder of Walt Disney Productions and chairman of the board. Walt Disney World showcases the Mickey Mouse Revue.

1972 – Disneyland park added Bear Country as a seventh land on the far corner of Frontierland. A new production of Walt Disney World, Country Bear Jamboree, was brought to Disneyland park, and new eatery Hungry Bear Restaurant opened.

What was to become the most popular entertainment feature in all Disney parks, the Main Street Electrical Parade, debuted as a major summer nighttime feature with millions of tiny lights creating images from Disney animated film classics. Winnie the Pooh campaigned for president with a red-white-and-blue parade and pep rally on Main Street, U.S.A. Rock ‘n Roll Reunion sparked September entertainment with Frankie Avalon, Chuck Berry, The Drifters and The Platters. Disneyland Hotel opened a $7.2 million Convention Center with a 29,000 square-foot exhibit hall and an 18,000 square-foot Grand Ballroom.

1973 – Disney celebrated the 50th Anniversary of Walt Disney Productions with the opening of “The Walt Disney Story” in April, attended by Mrs. Walt Disney, and a special tribute October 20-21 that included special parades, a cartoon festival and complimentary posters, attended by more than 100,000 guests. Disneyland Showcase, located in Town Square, displayed models and artist renderings of new attractions planned for future expansion at the park. Special events included a Viva Mexico Salute, Star Spangled Holidays, Festival Pan American Saludos Amigos, Big Band Festival and Angels-Disneyland Fun Day. Cary Grant narrated the Christmas Candlelight Procession. General Electric’s “Carousel of Progress” closed to the public on Sept. 9 in preparation for relocation to the Walt Disney World Resort.

1974 – Disneyland park was featured in two televised specials, “Sandy in Disneyland” starring Sandy Duncan, in April, and “Herbie Day at Disneyland” in July. In Tomorrowland, America Sings, a humorous musical review, opened in the Carousel Theatre with a cast of 110 comical Audio-Animatronic animals singing America’s favorite heritage folk music and campfire tunes led by emcee Sam the Eagle. It replaced General Electric’s Carousel of Progress. The Main Street Electrical Parade entertained millions of summertime visitors, as did the All-American College Marching Band and a new addition, The Kids of the Kingdom. Special events included Alice in Wonderland Days, Viva Mexico, Disneyland and All That Jazz, “Herbie Rides Again” Days, and “Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too” Days.

1975 – Disneyland park celebrated its 20th anniversary and began a 15-month salute to the U.S.A. Bicentennial with the most elaborate parade in the park’s history – “America on Parade,” which featured 50 floats and 150 giant performers at least eight feet tall, in addition to an all-new red, white and blue fireworks spectacular “Fantasy in the Sky.”

Disneyland park welcomed back Christine Vess Watkins and Michael Schwartner, the park’s first visitors in 1955. Mission to Mars, an updated version of Flight to the Moon, was an exciting journey deep into space, since man had already reached the moon in real life. Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln returned to Main Street, U.S.A. as a featured part of The Walt Disney Story.

1976 – Disneyland park welcomed its 150,000,000th visitor – Elsie Mae Houck of Tulare, Calif. It also welcomed a slew of “name” guests during the year, including Olympic gold medal darling Nadia Comaneci and Alabama governor George Wallace. On the entertainment side, a special Thanksgiving show featured singer Pearl Bailey on a Rivers of America floating stage, while Disney fans got a chance to walk down memory lane as the original Mouseketeers gathered at the park for a 20-year reunion of the Mickey Mouse Club. Adding to the magic, Jungle Cruise underwent major changes with seven new scenes and 31 new Audio-Animatronics animals. This is the year that Ricky & Lisa became a thang...

1977 – Openings and closings highlighted the year, as famed astronauts, including Alan Shepard, gathered for the opening of Space Mountain…and Mine Train Through Nature’s Wonderland closed after 21 years to make way for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. In addition to Space Mountain, Tomorrowland also debuted the PeopleMover SuperSpeed Tunnel, Starcade, and the Space Place restaurant. Disney’s Main Street Electrical Parade returned for the summer after a two-year break, while an all-new Very Merry Christmas Parade bowed for the Christmas seasons. This was the first time Ricky and Lisa experienced Disneyland together (w/ Nester, Nita & Tina)...

1978 – Mickey Mouse’s 50th birthday was all the rage, as special shows and parades were peppered throughout the year. The official celebration took place on Nov. 18 and 19, with Annette Funicello and other fave Mouseketeers on hand to celebrate.

New elements were added to the popular Matterhorn Bobsleds, while the Disneyland Hotel opened the 13-story Bonita Tower, the first hotel in the U.S. with a solar heating system. Grad Nite continued its popular run, growing to eight parties for 821 high school graduating classes.

1979 – Disneyland park welcomed its first birth: Teresa Salcedo was born on a busy July 4th near Main Street, U.S.A., and she was later presented with the official “Disneyland Birth Certificate No. 1.” Teresa wasn’t the only new addition, as Big Thunder Mountain Railroad took its maiden trip in September. Celebrating his 75th birthday in grand style, Count Basie welcomed several of his closest celebrity pals to a summer party, including Sammy Davis Jr. and Ed McMahon Other hot names (for the time) who showed up throughout the year included Peaches and Herb, Evelyn “Champagne” King and Buddy Rich.

Other Decades:

Disneyland's 55th Anniversary - 1960's related Videos

2010-08-04T16:47:00.000-07:00

1961 – This marked the year that the beam of the Disneyland Monorail, the transportation of the future, was expanded to reach the Disneyland Hotel. The Monorail began whisking hotel guests past the Main Entrance ticket booths and directly into Tomorrowland, where the hovering Flying Saucers debuted the same year for space travelers.

Guests could also wish for their own Prince Charming at a quaint wishing well alongside marble statuettes of the seven dwarfs at Snow White’s Grotto. 1961 was the first year a Grad Night was hosted in Disneyland Park and 8,500 graduating seniors came to celebrate their accomplishments at the Happiest Place on Earth. This is also the first year that Camille, Roy & Ricky experienced DisneyLand (ricky was scared $#|+less)...

1962 – Guests were invited to live the life of adventure by climbing and exploring the new Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, towering 70 feet over Adventureland.The year 1962 also saw the debut of the Safari Shooting Gallery – where the guns actually used real pellets! Also added in 1962: the picturesque elephant bathing pool within the world famous Jungle Cruise. Walt Disney also celebrated the 10,000th performance of the Golden Horseshoe Revue by airing it on television with its stars, including Betty Taylor, Wally Boag, Gene Sheldon and Ed Wynn.

1963– In 1963, the then-groundbreaking technology of sophisticated Audio Animatronics debuted to Disneyland park guests in an attraction that was touched by Walt Disney in every aspect of its planning. The Enchanted Tiki Room opened in Adventureland, featuring colorful singing birds, delicate singing flowers and powerful tiki gods. With its infectious songs and lovable hosts — Fritz, Michael, Pierre and Jose — the Enchanted Tiki Room is still a favorite with park guests of all ages. Walt also hosted a press conference to explain his upcoming Audio Animatronics exhibits for the New York World’s Fair the following year.

1964 – Although the 1964 New York World’s Fair didn’t actually occur at the Disneyland Resort, many of Walt Disney’s exhibits for the fair found their permanent homes in Disneyland park after debuting for enthusiastic Fair audiences. Walt used the opportunity of presenting at the Fair to fine-tune and perfect his technologically advanced Audio Animatronic figures through four exhibits: “it’s a small world,” “Progressland,” The Magic Skyway and “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.” Of course we all know that Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln and “it’s a small world” are now classic Disneyland attractions, but “Progressland” also came to the park as The Carousel of Progress, and The Magic Skyway utilized omnimover technology, which was used in many Disneyland classics including The Haunted Mansion. Disneyland also hosted more than 400 American athletes heading to Japan for the 1964 Summer Olympics. Events included a tribute show on the shores of the Rivers of America, featuring Bob Hope and a cast of Hollywood stars.

1965 – Disneyland park marked its first decade with a yearlong “Tencennial.” Celebration elements included parkwide decorations, a grand parade and numerous special events throughout the year. To help represent the park during the busy year, the role of Disneyland Ambassador to the World was created. Tour guide Julie Reihm was selected as the first “Miss Disneyland” — as the position was originally called — and she spent the year traveling throughout the United States and the world as the official emissary of Disneyland park. 3D Jamboree debuted at the Fantasyland Theater starring Mouseketeers. The film was presented in 3D, a technology that wouldn’t be used again at Disney Parks until Magic Journeys was produced for Epcot 25 years later. Also in 1965, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln found its permanent home in the Opera House on Main Street, U.S.A.

1966 – Walt Disney brings an attraction first developed for the 1964-65 World’s Fair to Disneyland park and presides at the opening of “it’s a small world.” A spectacular new geometric facade and giant animated clock with figures representing the children of the world parading each hour are designed for the attraction’s new home.

In June, the Disneyland Hotel adds the Sierra Tower annex with 150 rooms and The Plaza Building shopping complex opens a few months later. In July, Primeval World Diorama, a world of gigantic dinosaurs, is unveiled as a major addition to the diorama along the Santa Fe and Disneyland Railroad. Also in July, the first new land in Disneyland park – New Orleans Square – opens its initial phase with a re-creation of New Orleans’ French Quarter, featuring typical belle-epoch architecture for shops, restaurants and musical stages, in addition to a new waterfront area along the Rivers of America. The colorful dedication is one of Walt Disney’s last official ceremonies before his untimely passing in December.

1967 – On March 18, Pirates of the Caribbean opens in New Orleans Square as the first mega-scale, indoor ride-through adventure and it gets rave reviews. The Blue Bayou Restaurant featuring Cajun-inspired cuisine also opens inside the attraction.

Later in the year, Club 33, Walt Disney’s private dining establishment, opens to members for the first time, and that’s not all! Tomorrowland adds SIX new attractions to the park: Rocket Jets, the centerpiece of the new Tomorrowland; Carrousel of Progress, a show featuring the memorable theme song, “There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow;” America the Beautiful, an all-new film journey across the United States; People Mover, a perpetual-motion transportation system of the future; Flight to the Moon, a reality-based simulation of flight into space...

and... Adventure Through Inner Space, an omni-mover trip exploring the inside of molecules and atoms.

1968 – Following a massive year of new projects in Tomorrowland and New Orleans Square in 1967, construction in this year concentrates on the Main Entrance complex for improved guest ticketing and major changes in the guest parking lot. Special events include a record-breaking New Year’s Eve Party, Spring Fling, Old Fashioned Easter Parade, Angels-Disneyland Funday Doubleheader, the first Cinco de Mayo Fiesta and first St. Patrick’s Day Parade at the Park.

1969 – Haunted Mansion opens after 15 years of planning and features a doom buggy tour through a mysterious ante-bellum home complete with 999 ghosts. Also in 1969, a new Disneyland Monorail station is completed to accommodate a larger, new generation of Monorail trains, the Mark IV.

Other Decades:

Bico (filipino sticky rice dessert) and 3D Disney Park Videos (crosseyed)

2010-08-04T13:11:00.000-07:00

My grandma use to make this dessert during the holidays and on special occasions (the hard way). It's made with that glutinous rice (not regular rice that you eat w/ dinner). This dessert isn't anything like rice pudding if that's what ur thinking, but more like some type of a sticky chewy gooey candy (but better and not overly sweet)...

Ingredients:

5 cups Glutinous (Mochi) Rice (again, you can find this at one of those Asian stores)
5 cups Water
1/2 Teaspoon Anise (optional, licorice tasting spice for those that like it)
14 oz Can Coconut Milk (when i mentioned the "hard way" above, my grandma used to grate real coconuts over this weird spiky thing that you sat on, to make the milk)
1 & 1/2 boxes Dark Brown Sugar

Instructions:

Rince the rice a couple of times, add cold water & cook in a rice pot (just like u'd cook normal rice)
In a saucepan, combine coconut milk and 1 box of the brown sugar.
Cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens.
Spoon rice mixture into 13 x 9 pan
Reserve 1/2 cup coconut milk mixture (later, for the top)
Stir the rest of the coconut mixture (and Anise, if desired) into the cooked hot rice (mixing well)
Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees
Spread the remaining 1/2 cup coconut mixture on top of the rice
Sprinkle the remaining brown sugar on top (some folks also sprinkle sesame seeds on top too)
Broil for another 5 minutes to melt the sugar on top

That's it, enjoy!

Disney Videos to view in 3D (cross-eyed)

3D pics are cool, once you get used to focusing the right way. If you haven't viewed 3D cross-eyed images B4, before you try the videos, you might want to practice with static pictures first...

Staring at this picture, slowly cross your eyes until you see the 2 pictures turn into 3 pictures, and try to focus on the middle picture until you see the 3D effect

(click "here" for more detailed instructions).

To practice on other static 3d pics, "click here". and... if you want to go crazy, have at it: "click here"...

Once you've masted seeing the 3D static pictures, check out some of these Disney 3D videos i found on youtube... you view them the same way you did for the pics above...

It's a Small World in 3D:

Main Street Electrical Parade in 3D:

Space Mountian Simulation in 3D:

Epcot Imagination Fountains in 3D:

Monorail in 3d:

Fantasyland in 3D:

Main Street USA in 3D:

Illuminations in 3D:

California Screaming backwards in 3D:

Tron Spoof in 3D:

And here are some links to a few more:

trippy stuff, huh?

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies & Disney tilt-shift videos

2010-07-23T09:22:00.001-07:00

These are killer for those who love both oatmeal & chocolate chip cookies. They look & taste just like the $3 ones you can buy from a nice Downtown Disney bakery (haha... try baking two little balls connected to a regular sized one)... you can find the simple recipe below...

On a different note, have you checked out the Disney Parks blog tilt-shift videos? it's a special way of filming (focusing) that makes everything look like it's happening in a little toy town (or environment). It can also look to some like watching a colony of bugs doing their daily work.

I think the way Disney created these are pretty way cool (w/ pretty upbeat background music)... anyway, here're some links to the ones they've created so far:

A model day at the Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom

A model day at EPCOT

A model day on a Disney Cruise Line ship

There was a model Disney Christmas day parade tilt-shift video but mayhaps they've locked it away until next Xmas??? Update: they added the 2010 Disney Parks Christmas Parade Tilt Shift:

and one from Disney World's parade:

another update: here's one from Disneyland Paris:

haha... speaking of Paris, this one isn't Disney but it's cool all the same:

Also, here's a disney parks blog article on the "making of the magic kingdom tilt-shift video"...

And... if you want to mess around w/ converting one of ur own pictures into a tilt shift, check out this LINK...

now... on to the cookies (i tell ya, these are killer, to die for, artery hardening goodness)...

Ingredients:

2 cubes butter (or margerine 4U wusses, safolla tastes best)
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs well beaten
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
3 cups quaker oats
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 pkg Semi-Sweet Chololate Chips (can substitute 1/2 pkg butter scotch chips too!)

Directions:

Cream shortening and sugars.
Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.
In separate bowl, mix flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon.
Add to first mixture to second and mix well.
Mix in chocolate chips, nuts and oats.
Lightly grease cookie sheets
With your hands, roll the doe into 2 inch balls (size of a medium meatball)
Place on cookie sheets 2 inches appart
Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes.

I've heard that folks add other misc stuff that suits their whatever (e.g. coconut flakes, M&Ms, chopped up snicker bars, etc.)

That's it! Enjoy ur cookies and tilt-shifts!

Lumpia & the Disney Dream Cruise Ship

2010-07-17T16:19:00.000-07:00

Below you'll find an easy recipe for Lumpia but... first, i'd like to spill a few thoughts on a cruise ship i'd like to check out some day...

I recall when the Disney Blog was just about to announce it, wondering what disney was up to this time... The new Disney Dream Cruise Ship is about to make its debut in 2011, and it combines 3 things i count as being kinda cool, into what to me is an ideal vacation: disney, a cruise & innovative technology you can mess with (it'd be 4 if it debuted as a european cruise)...

update Jan 4, 2011: Disney Dream Arives at Port Canaveral and is welcomed to its new home (along w/ a great Mac & Cheese recipe!)...

One of the fun looking things it's gonna introduce is a water ride, circling the whole ship, called the "AquaDuck"... here's a simulation of what it's gonna feel like to experience it:

It would've been kinda fun if our kids were pre-school'ish again, cuz it'd be real cool to see the expressions on their faces when they checkout the animated portholes in the staterooms:

Another cool thing on the ship is the @mousephere in the Animator's Palate restaurant, which transforms while you eat. Here's a walkthru of what it'll look like:

Some of the other fun new innovative technologies on the ship will include enchanted artwork (e.g. the pictures in the hallways come to life), an interactive play floor (you might've seen these in malls, at the Metreon, etc.) and other cool technological innovations with a disney context:

I'm not sure if/how teens will take to this but they even have a SPA, called "Chillax", just for them (college kids and ancients, like moi, will be jealous)...

and... i'm not a bet'n person but... if i were, i'd bet it's gonna have some killer shows too...

here's a link to all of the Disney Blog entries on the disney dream (so far)and here's another for the cruise line in general...

if you want to see how much it's gonna cost ya and/or want to book a cruise on it, click here... and... here's a link to more vids on it: click here

we always joke about about borrowing a younger niece/nephew (or grand-niece/nephew, uhg... getting old sucs), so we'd have an excuse to take a cruise like this thing's gonna provide... oh well...

now... back to the other unrelated thing in this post...

Lumpia Recipe

for those of you who don't know what lumpia is, it's a Filipino version of an egg roll (and if you don't know what an egg role is, haha... dude...).

my grandma used to make these things totally from scratch, even the wrappers (too much work 4 me) and all the grand kids use to just gobble 'em up (kinda sucs after all of her pain staking hard work :)...

Ingredients:

3 Packs of Lumpia Wrappers - You can usually find these at an Asian grocery store (do a google search to find a local one). You can also use wonton wrappers but... they don't taste as good (in my opine).

2 tbls oil
1/2 medium sized onion, minced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb ground turkey (all right, all right, you can use hamburger if you want...)
1/2 cup soy sauce
Pepper to taste (can use cayenne too)
1 can garbanzo beans, drained
1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained & sliced into slivers(like almond slivers)
1 head cabbage, shredded (chopped up like "shreads", the shredded lettuce U use in tacos or... cold slaw, yeah, like cold slaw)
1 egg beated w/ 1 tbls water

How to Prepare the Filling:

in a big big pot, saute the onion and garlic in the oil
add the ground beef and cook until it's browned (chopping up w/ a spatula as it cooks, duh)
stir in the soy sauce and pepper, bring to a boil, then lower heat and let simmer for 15 mins
stir in the garbonzos and water chestnuts, then remove the pot from the heat
let cool for 30 mins
stir in the un-cooked shredded cabbage

now UR ready to wrap the buggers (other than the prep chopping, this part takes long... just think how much longer it would take when my grandma had to make the wrappers from scratch also)...

How to Wrap 'em:

if the packaged lumpia wrappers are frozen, make sure they're defrosted first... also, they'll be stuck together so... you'll need to separate them first (haha... my grandma used to say "see-por-rree-tim" with the "r's" rolled)... be careful while you do it, they rip kinda easy if UR not careful...

get the beaten egg ready in a small bowl or cup cuz you'll use it to seal 'em...

place a wrapper in front of you, positioned with one of the tips pointing at you (like a diamond)...

place about a tablespoon of filling right about below the middle of the wrapper...

take the tip closest to you and fold it over the filling, tucking that tip a little under the filling

now gently pull the tucked part of the wrapper towards you until the wrapped filling kinda gets shaped into a tube

now roll it away from you until it's rolled a little past the half way point of the wrapper

fold the exposed left & right tips of the wrapper towards the middle of the rolled part

now continue rolling away from you covering the tips you just folded, until about an inch of the last tip is still showing

dab some of the beaten egg on that tip and roll the lumpia the rest of the way...

the trick to wrapping them is to roll 'em as tight and compact as you can, w/o ripping the wrapper... otherwise, there'll be pockets of grease in 'em after you fry 'em (yuck)...

that's it (for the wrapping).

How to Cook 'em:

these are fried (haha... not baked) so... add enough oil to a frying pad so it's about 1/4 inch deep...

heat the oil until it's fry worthy then... lower to about a 4 setting (a little under the middle setting on a stove top burner)

fry until golden brown on one side then flip 'em over and fry until they're golden brown the other (about 7 mins per side, depending on the heat, more or less)

remove and place on a double paper toweled covered plate (to cool and let the excess oil drain)

How to Eat 'em:

depending on your tastes, you can use different types of dips w/ your lumpia...

our family used to crush a few garlic cloves and mix 'em with 2 tablespoons of vinegar and one tbls of soy sauce (we called this "sow-sow").

my current family likes that sweet-n-sour dipping sauce you can pick up at any supermarket in the asian food area.

some of my in-laws like dipping them in that spicy banana ketchup stuff which you can also find @ those asian stores...

How to Store 'em:

If UR gonna fry them up and eat 'em today, g'head & store 'em in the fridge...

Otherwise, store them uncooked in ziplocked bags in the freezer... they should keep for a couple of mos or so...

that's it! Enjoy!

Disneyland's 55th Anniversary - Videos (from 1955 thru 2010

2010-07-10T18:34:00.001-07:00

The disneyparks blog created a summary of significant Disneyland events throughout it's 55 years. Did some searching on youtube for related ride videos and attached them to a copy of the disney blog summary, below...

1955 - Disneyland debuts

Other Decades:

Chicken Empanadas and fun sites to mess with ur photos

2010-07-09T09:07:00.000-07:00

I love these things... and... that's why they're probably not good 4U... we used to buy bags of this stuff from Lisa's relatives... anyway, here's a simple recipe...

Crust:
8 rolled pie crusts (e.g. that w/b 4 boxes of the pb doughboy kind) cookie cutter'd into 4 inch circles (re-squish-n-roll scraps to make an extra circle from each roll)

Filling:
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 onion, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb chicken breast cubed
1 small potato, diced
1 small carrot, diced
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup frozen green peas
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup soy sauce
Pepper to taste (cayenne is good too)

Instructions:
Sauté onions & garlic for about 3 mins in the oil & butter.
Add the cubed chicken and stir-fry until the chicken is no longer pink.
Add potatoes, carrots, peas, raisins, broth, soy sauce, pepper and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat & let simmer for 15 mins.
Turn off heat & let cool for 30 minutes or so...
With a slotted spoon transfer the stuff to a bowl (letting excess liquid drip first por favor)...

Spoon about 1.5 teaspoons of Filling into the middle of each pastry circle.
Fold the circle so the edges meet and filling is sealed.
Press the edges of the pastry with the tines of a fork.
Combine lightly beaten egg with 1 tablespoon of water.
Brush surface of each folded puff with egg mixture.

Bake:
Preheat oven to 400°
Arrange on a greased baking sheet.
With a knife make 2-3 slits on the surface of each puff.
Bake for about 20 minutes (until lightly browned).

or... Fry:
You can also fry 'em until they're golden brown on both sides (tastes better but probably not as good for you as bake'n 'em... woof...)

btw, prior to baking or frying, you can freeze 'em in a sealed plastic bag for a couple of mos... and pop a few out here and there for a quick snack when ya have an inkling...

also, also, if you have any left over filling and happen to have some lumpia wrappers available... speaking of lumpia... naw... i'll save that for a future journal entry...

thats it! Enjoy!

and... here are a few links to sites that let you have fun with your photos:

18 Photo Editing Websites Make Fun, Crazy and Beautiful Photos

20 Great Online Image Editors

25 Websites To Have Fun With Your Photos - Web 2.0

28 Online Photo Editing Websites To have Fun With Graphic and Web Design Blog - Inspiration, R

Adobe Photoshop Express

ArtWeaver

BeFunky.com

Bling Easy

Blingee

CloudCanvas

DrPic.com Free Web Picture Editor and Image Host - Crop, Resize, Text

Dumpr

Faceinhole

Fake Magazine Cover

Festisite Personalized money generator

Flauntr online photo editor

FlauntR

FOTOCRIB - Online Photo Editor

FotoFlexer

FotoTrix

Frontpage

Funny Photos

FunPhotoBox - make funny pictures online

FunPhotoBox

Genopal - pic2graphics

Gimp

Glass Giant Fun Photo Editing

Graffiti Creator

Group Story -- Recreate. Remember. And Share!

HDR photos createhdr.com

Hetemeel.com - Dynamic images

Homokaasu Rasterbator Posterize Pictures

Imagechef

imageGenerator.net - image generator

in20years - Meet the older you! Make your face old for FREE

In4mador! Generators

Lightbox Image Editor

LoonaPix

LunaPic

Magazine Cover Generator

Magix Xtreme Photo Designer 6

Magmypic

MagToo

Make your own Magic Eye 3D Stereogram - Easy Stereogram Builder

MakeMeBabies - What will your baby look like- Make babies with partner, friends and HOT celebs!

Montagraph

My Live! Cam

myImager.com - Your Everything Online Image Editor

online generators » xtort.net

Online Image Editor .com

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Online Image Merger - Combine your photos, pictures and images together

Paint.NET

Phixr - Online Photo Editor

Photo Editing Games

Photo Editing Websites

Photo2Text

Photo505

PhotoFiltre

PhotoFunia

photomosaic

Photoscape

Photoshop.com

Photovisi

Picascii

Picnik

PicTreat - Free one-click photo retouching service

Picture2Life - Welcome - Edit, Collage, Animate and Share Photos-Pictures Online FREE

PikiFX

PikiPimp.com

Pixenate - Edit photos online, fast and easily - No plugins required.

pixer.us -- online photo editor

Pixia

pixisnap

Pixlr.com

PiZap

Scrapblog Online Scrapbooks

Serif PhotoPlus SE

Shape Collage

Slim your Pictures - Photos - slimpic.com

Snipshot- Edit pictures online

Splashup

Sumo Paint

The Generator Blog

tiltshiftmaker.com - Transform your photos into tilt-shift style miniatures

TiltShiftMaker

Tinker Bell's Pixie Prints

Twibbon.com - Start Something!

Ultimate Paint

VC VicMan's Photo Editor

Web Resizer - Crop & Resize Images Free Online - Optimize images for websites and email

Webpaint - get rid of objects in pictures

Welcome to Aviary

Welcome to funnycollage.com

Write On It

Yearbook Yourself

ZingFu

Hey there...

2010-07-05T09:16:00.000-07:00

Not sure if I want to start journaling (haha... blogging) yet... I might need to mellow out just a tad more (w/ age)... we'll see...

most of my web type tinkering can be found on my website ...

btw, here's some 3d pics i've been playing with (need to go crosseyed until you see three pics, focus on the middle one until it shows a 3d effect): 3D pics on dropbox

oh yeah, and... i'm a avid disney geek (i don't think i'll ever grow up)