Vacation Anticipation in the Kitchen

Thursday, April 28, 2011 - 
I love getting excited for vacations.  I especially love the anticipation of a Walt Disney World vacation.  I'm a Disney brat - love everything about the place. 

I'm not kidding - I really do. 

I expressed my love in my first blog post.  I've had great vacations and have made many memories with friends and family.  My love (maybe an obsession, I'm willing to admit this) got stronger after hubs proposed to me under the Disney fireworks in 2006 - our engagements story was published in a Disney newsletter too.  And for the record, Alice is my favorite (which is apparent from this past Halloween party) with the villains, especially Cruella, following her very closely after.

I can't help it.  I love it.  If you are my friend, you know I love Disney.  Even if you are a virtual friend of mine and read this blog, you know I'm a Disney fan from my many random Disney ramblings throughout the blog.  There is always happiness streaming out of my pores.  Happiness = love.  Disney = love.   

See this little girl?  She was probably just waiting for mom and dad to get in the car and take her to the Happiest Place on Earth.  No kidding.

So when hubs and I decided to use our timeshare in Orlando this May, we invited some friends and arranged for our Disney travels.  I say Disney, others say Florida (it is all one happy place to me.)  My anticipation has officially leeked into the kitchen.  I'm a fan of buying cookbooks on my travels, and of course, there is a Disney cookbook in the library.  So, we are cooking up Disney for the next few weeks to continue the anticipation build.

This week - we had the Kona salad from the Kona Cafe at the Polynesian Resort.  Yum - it is a citrus based vinaigrette that is lightly dressed over some great ingredients.  We used the little gen romaine from our CSA as the base and topped it with bleu cheese, walnuts (versus the almonds that are in the original recipe), red onions and anjou pears.  Plus, hubs cooked up a chicken breast with simple seasoning and we split that on top. 

Simple, and delish.  Plus, made me crave Disney a bit more!

We plan on having a few more Disney inspired dishes this week and in the weeks to come as we prepare for our vacation.  It will be fun incorporating our CSA veggies into these recipes too.

How do you build up your excitement for a vacation?