CM Open Mouse: The DVC Villas at the Grand Floridian

To continue the streak of a good week, Monday morning I woke up to attend the Open Mouse of the new Disney Vacation Club Villas at the Grand Floridian. This event was open only to CMs to get a preview of the new Villas that actually opened 10/23. We got a commemorative button, map and water to take us through the self guided tour. Straighten your bow tie gentleman and smooth out your dress ladies, we're about to head back to the Victorian Era! Let's begin shall we? Pictures and more after the jump!

I Met My Idol!

Everyone has an idol. I have quite a few actually. Aside from family, I look up to Princess Diana, John Lennon and Buddy Valastro aka the Cake Boss. I can go on and on about my love for Diana and John (fun fact, I want my kids to be named Diana and John, I'm not even joking) but I can never meet them. I can never see them, never talk to them, never THANK them.

but Buddy? I can. AND I DID.

Yeah I'm living and working in WDW right now but I'm from New Jersey. Hoboken is actually my favorite city in NJ so when Cake Boss started I watched it and was immediately hooked. Yeah, his show is exaggerated. But you cannot deny the man knows his stuff. My aunt (another idol of mine) gave me his book for Christmas and just reading his preface alone, you can tell from one baker to another that he gets it. He knows the teeth pulling feeling of getting up before the sun, working tedious hours and having something go wrong, he knows his techniques. He started with cookies and worked his way up to wedding cakes. Carlos Bakery is over 100 years old, Buddy didn't just pick up a pastry bag to be on tv, this has literally been his whole life.

I have admired him my whole time as a baker. I've even made a trip to Carlos two or three times and can say that it is amazing and such a great feeling to be there. But I never got to meet Buddy. I wrote him fanmail once and he sent me an autographed card but I never got to physically meet him.

Last week was one hell of a week for me and it all started on Sunday, 10/14. Buddy was here for Sweet Sundays where guests pay for a breakfast buffet and food made by a visiting baker of pastry cook. That morning was Buddy's and it was...sold out. BUT he was having a book signing from 12-12:45, right in time before I had to go to work. They were giving out wristbands at 9 AM and when I walked up to the Festival Center there was already a line.

BUT I GOT A WRISTBAND! I purchased my books and went to stand around his stage to watch his presentation. Yeah my pictures are blurry and yeah I didn't get to eat the food but I got to see my idol making some of my most favorite things and I had a grin from ear to ear the whole time.

 After his demo was over, I headed over to the line to get my books signed. While we were on line a CM came and told us that to ensure enough time with Buddy, he was just going to be singing his autograph and there wouldn't be personalization. Keep that in the back of your head for later!

I get closer and closer to him and I literally start shaking. Just picture meeting your idol, someone you admire and look up to. It was happening to me! He greeted me with a hug and I just cut right to the chase. I told him that I knew we were short for time and I wanted him to know how much of an inspiration he has been to me and how I can include him in my reasoning as to why I am a baker and that I am a baker for Epcot. I talked about how my aunt and I bond over him and that I'm also from Jersey and have been to his bakery a few times. He knew where Colts Neck was, woohoo! I was so scared that maybe he wouldn't be nice or that I would see some hidden true colors or something but he was so incredibly sweet and humble. He thanked me for letting him be an inspiration to me, HE thanked ME. Then he asked me my name and how to spell it, he personalize my book for me! I was literally shaking the entire time and it was just such a high, I still can't believe it happened!

Here we are, 2 Jersey bakers in Epcot! Buddy Valastro and I at his book signing

He personalized my book!

Epcot Food & Wine: Taste Your Way Around the World..as a Guest!

While I do spend most of my time baking for the Food & Wine Festival, I also make it a point to enjoy it as a guest of course! It takes a bit of time (and quite a bit of money) to do but it's worth it. Everything I've eaten so far has been delicious and you get a pretty nice sized portion. You can easily hit up a few booths and keep it at $20.
I usually fit these in before work or on my days off. Since I'm not hitting up too many marketplaces in one day, my credit card is ok. But if you come with full intentions of hitting up as many as you can in 1 day (which people do believe me!) it's advised that you get a gift card and use that around the kiosks. You can even refill them at the register if you run out. Saves you from ordering a delicious meal and getting excited then finding out your bank is on the phone wanting to talk toyou!

The festival has been open for almost a month already and here are the dishes I have tried since the opening! Get a napkin ready, you might start drooling!

 Garlic Shrimp from Australia-delicious! I was getting as much meat out of the tail as I could!

 The Banoffee Tart we make for Scotland (the Whiskey Cream is my favorite!)

 The Dessert Trio we work so hard on!

 Gourmet Chocolates from Desserts & Champagne. Nah, we don't make these

 Chicken Pot stickers with Lychee soda from China. I wish there was more since it was $4

 Warm Pudding Cake with Bailey's Sauce that we make for Ireland

 Altmunster Oktoberfest with Apple Strudel from Germany, das good!

 California Roll and Teriyaki Chicken Hand Roll from Japan. Of course I used my chopsticks!

 Frozen S'mores from Desserts & Champagne

 Lemongrass Chicken Curry with Coconut Rice from Singapore, one of my favorite things so far!

 Craisin Bread Pudding with Grand Marnier Sauce that we make for Hops & Barley

 Vegetarian Chili Colorado with Cashew Cheese Sauce from Terra (the Vegetarian/Vegan marketplace) SO delicious that I am most definitely going back for another and want the recipe!

 Ravioli with Bolognese sauce from...Mexico? Italy of course! The portion on this is nice!

 Chocolate Cannolo from Italy (technically canolo is the singular for cannoli, fun Italian fact of the day!)

 Fried Shrimp with Dole Sweet and Sour Sauce from the Refreshment Port

 Black Pepper Shrimp with Szechuan Noodles from China, delicious and a great serving!

 My beloved Kerrygold! A trio of Irish Cheeses with Chutney. Kerrygold Dubliner is my favorite. I'm not a cheese person but I could eat a whole block by itself if calories did not exist!

Pavlova with fresh berries from Australia. We make the pastry cream that goes inside.

And there's still so much I haven't tasted! We still have quite a bit of time to go so my taste  buds better get ready! 

Days Off: Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party

I did my first program in the Spring of 2012. Was it nice? Absolutely. The Epcot Flower & Garden Festival is stunning and the weather is perfect. But the Fall program offers a lot more, like Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. This is a special ticket event, on select nights Magic Kingdom will close at 7 and from 7-12, those with their MNSSHP tickets will be allowed to stay in the parks for this exclusive party. For Cast Members, we usually have a discounted system for the September dates but unfortunately I was working and ended up going on October 3rd. Yes, this is something you will have to pay for. I ended up paying $66 but it was worth it. I am itching to go again but know that I have to save my money (for the Christmas party of course!) Here are some highlights from my night!

I ended up going solo which was nice because I was literally running around and I got to do everything I wanted to do. There's tons to do that is exclusive to the party so this isn't really your time to go ride rides and meet characters you can meet any old time. I didn't even do everything! I didn't hit up the 2 dance parties in Tomorrowland and Frontierland but that's ok. Your main priority is characters, parades/shows, and candy. Candy? Yes! You can go trick or treating! Hey, if I'm paying all this money, I want my candy! Go with a plan, I was already in line for Jack & Sally at 5 and they didn't come out til 7 and then I ran right over to the Dwarves, just keep the parades and fireworks time in mind and you'll get stuff done!

This post is picture heavy so hit read more to see all my pics! Here's a sneak peek though! Can you guess who I am?!

Jack and Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas made their WDW debut at this year's MNSSHP, one of the best character interactions I've ever had!

What Have I Been Up To?

Hey everyone!

Running all of these blogs has been a lot more than I thought, I've even totally neglected my school blog (sorry JWU!) but everything has been so busy and by the time I get home I just want to watch TV and go to bed.

Work wise has pretty much been the same but I will elaborate on some of the things I got to do in following posts. We do the same desserts everyday so there's really nothing new. I've realized how NOT to act in a kitchen and as a person based on some of the people I work with. People need to realize baking in the industry and baking at home is totally different. You aren't Suzy Homemaker baking 2 dozen cupcakes in your AC and taking a break while they bake. It's coming into a hot kitchen, walking around, working, lifting heavy things, and all that jazz. It's hard work and if you're not ready for that, why are you here?

And I've really gotten a taste on egos in the food industry. Fortunately for me at the Polynesian I never ran into issues and my job back home is perfect. But here, I've definitely learned how to leave your problems at the clock in counter but that's how it should always be, you should be able to come in and work with everyone whether you personally like them or not. It has been an experience for sure!

But overall? I'm still loving what I do. I love coming to work, I love the people I work with and what I get to do. It's been great!

Diversity Event: Oktoberfest

Several weeks ago (so far back I can't remember if it was September or August, woops! Pretty sure it was September though!) DCP housing hosted a Diversity event. What that is is a housing event that focused on sharing a specific culture with us. This one revolved around Germany and was titled Oktoberfest! Luckily for me, work ended just in time and I was ready to head over with my roommate to Chatham where it was held!

 I heard rumors that Dopey would be there so I went prepared but alas, no Dopey :(

 This is pre-MNSSHP so this was my first time meeting Flynn Rider, YES

 They appreciated my pin collection, even baby Dopey :)

 They described it as German Mac and Cheese. Well, I don't like American Mac and Cheese but I liked this more! They had other things like bratwurst and sauerkraut

 Apple Strudel. They also had German soda!

 At Chatham we have character meet and greets outside too!

 There was eating, dancing, and some very excited German ICPs all night!

I cracked my iPhone case right before this but Mickey can still make me smile!

I'm Alive! oh...and Food & Wine!

Running all of these blogs at the same time is a lot harder than I thought it would be. Especially lately since I'm working from 2-10:30 and by the time I get home all I want to do is eat and go to bed. I will keep posting those dining reviews periodically (I mean heck, the vacation is long over!) but I just wanted to kind of fill you guys in on a few things, mostly about Food & Wine!

A few weeks ago I switched from morning production to Food & Wine training. We had to get more training to learn all about the festival, the menus, alcohol policies, and all that jazz. It was actually kind of fun though. We got to take a different tour of Epcot, we did different memory tests on our recipes, played a spice game and really got into the start of the festival. We also got our new hats which was exciting!

 You can buy our hats in the festival marketplaces this year!

Packets of all the dishes for Food & Wine that we had to study

Then eventually, Food and Wine started and it was time to bake for it! It has been fun and definitely a learning experience. We've already run into a night where we ended up staying til midnight and dealing with busy nights. I was placed at our PEO bakery to make lava cakes and we pump out thousands of those a day. I think 1 tram made us nearly 1,300 cups or so. There are so many different components to each dish but they are all great fun and delicious too! Here's a look at some of the things we are doing for the Desserts & Champagne, Ireland, and Scotland Marketplaces so far:

 The Dessert Trio available at the Desserts & Champagne Marketplace

 Banoffee Tart: Chocolate Tart Shell, Bananas, Toffee Sauce, Whiskey Cream, Chocolate Curls and Shortbread Crumbles at the Scotland Marketplace

 Look at all the Chocolate Orange Cupcakes!

 Hazelnut Cheesecake with Frangelico Sauce

 Chocolate Orange Cupcake with Cream Cheese Butercream (I put Hidden Mickeys on some of my cupcakes so keep an eye open!)

 Pistachio Mousse with Morello Cherries

 Chocolate Pudding Cake with Bailey's Ganache from the Ireland Marketplace

Cut Open

I really do enjoy baking for the festival and the crew that I do it with for the most part. While on this program I have learned how mature I am compared to some and what it's like to bite your tongue just to work with someone. A few weeks ago shortly after my mom and brother left my depression hit a wall and I found myself having a mental breakdown fully dressed in my costume in an empty tub. You have rough days in Disney and everyone you work with isn't a Princess or well mannered Prince, that's how it is everywhere. But I've grown and learned from it all, it's never a total 100% negative thing. I can already tell that at the end of the festival I will look back on it and be proud. When you go to our marketplace most of us making these desserts are interns. There's us and our 2 chefs, we are students cranking out these desserts and that's cool. It's an experience I will already cherish, and this is just working, I haven't even gone to eating around the world as a guest yet!