The Annual Donut Party

Every year my family has a Halloween Donut Party. We invite the neighborhood, family, and friends and just chit chat and big out. The donuts are the best and homemade by all of us. It is quite the process but sooooo worth it. Here are a few snapshots from our Halloween Donut Party for 2012.

Matson took a nap with Rookie (our little dressed up Tootsie Roll)
while we labored in the kitchen. Psshhh..LAZY.

// Some Decor //

// The Donuts //

The flavors: cinnamon sugar, maple, and glazed. 

My personal favorite. The Maple!

My friend A* was a baller and took over cooking.

As always the donut party was a family hit even though we all left with a huge stench of FRIED FOOD. I hate that smell bytheway. YUCK. I think I washed my hair like 5 times and it still smelled the day after. DOUBLE YUCK.

Fall Snack // Dried Pears

One of my favorite things about fall is dried pears. I have always loved them and I do not like store bought ones, which is why I must dry my own pears every fall. It is so simple and the yummiest snack. Dried pears are much sweeter than apples (which is probably why I like them so ddaaang much).

Using a small paring knife (or whatever knife you prefer) you first cut the skin off your pears. Then slice the pears in thin 1cm thick slices. Place the slices on your dehydrator racks. Dry 6-8 hours or whatever your dehydrator's directions say for pears/fruit.

My Tips:

• Use as much of the pear as you can. I literally have the thinnest core of the pear left. Even the smallest pieces still dry to be yummy dried pears! 
• I cut and put my pears on the dehydrator right before bed, then I wake up and they are done. I then cut more in the morning and leave them there all day. Repeat.
• I bought my Nesco American Harvest Snackmaster Encore Dehydrator and Jerky Maker from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. 

You are NEVER too old for Disneyland

We walked into Disneyland before it was opened. We snapped the classic Disneyland pictures in the front of the park then headed straight to Tomorrowland.

While the boys grabbed a fast pass for Space Mountain, we got in the growing long line of Autopia. For some reason this line always gets really long throughout the day. We went there first and still waited a good 15 minutes, which was probably due to the gas go-kart cars breaking down every so often.

We went on Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. I beat Matson...I know, I am a video game baller. We also went on Space Mountain, which they changed for Halloween by adding these little red ghost like creatures. Not my favorite add in, but it was still good. I'd just prefer the original.

Me working Matson in Astro Blasters.
I was obviously taking it very seriously.

All of us waiting in line at Space Mountain

We pretty much went on almost every ride and went everywhere, we even went to Toon Town and I don't think I had been there for since I was a youngin'.

We even made it to the petting zoo. Matson's first visit here.
He thought the goats were quite funny.

Food - Pretty much our whole Disneyland day was surrounded around food. When we would eat, what we would eat, what snacks we wanted, what rides we would go on because that was by a certain food place...yeah, that's how you know you are a chubby. Planning every piece of food you're going to put in your mouth.

Cafe Orleans - We were all starving so we stopped and ate in New Orleans Square (near Haunted Mansion) for lunch at Cafe Orleans. We had a super good experience eating here and left satisfied. Matson got the Monte Cristo sandwich, I got the Mac N Cheese (not on the menu for adults, but it is so good and you just gotta ask for it since it is only on the Children's Menu), and we got 2 baskets of the pomme fries. MISTAKE. We could barely finish one basket because the meals were large but OH MAMA they were good. Fries tossed in parmesan, garlic, and parsley! Cafe Orleans is more expensive than other places in the park, but you get a full meal that fills you up which is worth the money rather than paying for a not so good pizza in Tomorrowland.

The popular Monte Cristo Sandwich. Soft fried bread around ham, turkey, and cheese and served with a berry dipping sauce and fruit. Matson loved this sandwich, although it was a little too bready.

I am a huge mac n cheese lover. This one was good and fresh.
I loved that it was served with fruit and veggies...adds in some nutrition!

The dip it is served with is deliciously addictive.

Tiki Juice Bar by Dole - You can't go to Disneyland without having a Dole Whip. Seriously, so yummy. Even though the line is rather long (we waited in the second sneaky line inside the tiki room entrance/waiting area, that was long too), it is so worth and very refreshing. We were in line for about 20 minutes in early October...just to give you a little idea of how long it takes.

We shared the Dole Whip Float. The pineapple soft serve on top of the pineapple juice. 

Corn Dog Truck on Main Street - We ended our time in Disneyland with a corn dog from the red corn dog truck right off main street. for a somewhat sort of/kind of dinner (we shared since our lunch and dole whip filled us up so much). We just had to. They are not your usually corn dog. They are so fresh and so delicious. We just got the corn dog, even though the menu only has the option of ordering it with chips or apples and a drink. You can just get the corn dog.

We gobbled this thing right up, I barely got a picture. 

Disney's Cars Land

Our first day in California we headed to California Adventure. We waited in the front of the park for the park to open, while my brothers waited in the Fast Pass line for the new Radiator Springs Racers Ride in Cars Land.

Our plan of attack was to head to Cars Land before it got too busy. Since it is a new part of the park we used our speed walking skills to the max. Overall the best thing about Cars Land is the amazing details. It looks just like Radiator Springs in the Cars movie. Disney did it again, everything is perfectly themed - from the amazingly painted rock features to the all things come in a cone food at the Cozy Cone Motel.

1. We went straight to the line for Luigi's Tires. It is a slower moving line since there are only a couple of people that can ride at a time. Yet, we went there first so it was only a 5 minute wait. It is sort of like bumper cars, yet you are floating on air. Not the most thrilling ride, yet a very cool concept.

2. We had a couple hours until our Racers fast pass, so we left Cars Land for a while to go around the rest of the park.

3. We came back right before our fast pass time to try the delicious food at the Cozy Cone Motel cones. 

The Chili Con Queso. Total man food. My one bite he would let me try was good.
The soft bread shell it was in was good and fresh. 

Red's Apple Freeze. The passion fruit foam was not my favorite,
but overall a yummy, refreshing drink!

4. Radiator Springs Racers lived up to all the hype! It was such a great mix of a ride. You get the story in really great graphics and detail (you feel like you are driving around with Lightning McQueen and everybody) AND you get a fast thrilling roller coaster-like feel too!  Even though we had a fast pass, we waited in line to go on it a second time. Well worth it!

Waiting for the ride to start.

Ride pictures are the best. You all know you love my hair in the front middle.

5. At night, we came back to Cars Land to see it lit up. It really was a cool, different feel. Definitely worth going back at night.

6. While there at night we went on Mater's Junkyard Jamboree. The line moved very quickly since there are two tracks they are feeding people onto. I thought this would be a total kids ride, but it was seriously so much fun! I was laughing the whole time while getting swung back and forth!  

Matson and my brothers waiting in the line.

Matson on the ride

Cars Land was a hit including the rides, the food, and the atmosphere. It would be even more of a hit for a child who lovvvvess Cars the movie.

More Bounce in California

We went to California for a couple of days at the beginning of October. We had some free miles from our trip to Cancun last year that we needed to use so we went with T* and N* to meet up with my brother who lives in California. It was a fun trip. We went to Disneyland, California Adventure, and Six Flags Magic Mountain.

We arrived at Long Beach and headed to Fashion Island for some fun and dinner. I seriously wouldn't have minded if we just spending our whole vacation there...Matson and our credit card bills would have to disagree. It literally is a fashion island of paradise. So many shops. I gotta go there with my mom and sister sometime. We'd have a hay day. 

Anyway...we ate at R+D Kitchen for dinner. They have a small menu and I would say it was about $15-$20 per person. YET, the food was really good and I got a burger (which never happens, that's usually Matson's role) that was dayyy-yum good and HUUuuuuge. Let's just say my brother ate my other half for me. Matson ordered the french dip and loved it even more than the burger I ordered. The hand-cut fries were also pretty good.

My Big Burger. My mouth could barely fit that in it...and that's saying something.

After dinner we shopped around a little. Then headed to our hotel to just relax and get some sleep for our next full day of Disney fun!