Except a pizza from Papa Murphy's after a long day at work. Then fake cheese is much better. Wait, I take that back. Fake cheese is always good. On everything.
I'm not sure that fake cheese is good. Ever. Why do you order from a place that puts "fake" cheese on it's pizza? Are you trying to be vegan?
My parents encouraged us from very young to try new things and shared their love of travel and exotic eating from very early.
I'm trying to remember if my parents encouraged us to try new things or just wanted us to be "on board" with the things that they liked. I know Chinese was a normal part of our diet, but beyond that I think all the "adventure" came later in all of our lives.
I thank them everyday when I see picky kids missing out of the hospitality of friends, and the essence of others' cultures because they won't try new things; that makes me really sad.
I was definitely one of those kids. I was afraid of lots of food. In fact I wouldn't even eat seafood until after I graduated High School, but that summer I discovered that I really liked shellfish. It too a while longer for me to realize that fish was OK.
It wasn't until I had my own apartment (summer after freshman year of college) that I made a concerted effort at trying new things. Until then "salad" to me was iceberg lettuce and Italian dressing. I remember trying my first tomato! Later I tried sushi and soon after that I was willing to give almost any kind of food a shot.
So, given that I'm ready for a Food Adventure, I have spent a few hours looking over the Food & Wine Kiosks and narrowing down what looks good and what I'd like to try.
So my first time that I went to F&W, I made a spreadsheet and rated every single snack on a scale of 1 to 5 as to how much I wanted to eat it. Then I sorted it a couple different ways, where they were located and how much I wanted to try them. The bottom line was that I barely got to try everything I wanted, and Fran kept thwarting me by stopping at booths, I wasn't really interested in and taking up valuable stomach space by ordering entrees from places that were only meh on the list.
The next time I wasn't quite so focused on the entrees and mostly just tried to hit the places which had things I wanted to eat. But I still didn't get to everything I wanted!
There are so MANY options, and I'm pretty excited at the offerings. I know this won't be cheap, but being light eaters and that there are 3 of us, we can share and try more things.
We found that ordering 1 of each (food) and two wines or beverages would run us $15-35 per kiosk. It just depended on how expensive each one was. You should be able to share things three ways, Fran and I have no problem splitting things and some are more hearty than others.
I made up a little list of the ones I'd like to hit up before other places and go about the touring in an organized way- one only has so much time to get around the Block.
I can understand this, and with limited appetites you may only want to order one thing, but with the amount of time you might stand in line, you may want to get more thing at a kiosk, so you don't have to come back in case you have the chance to try your "b" selections.
I'm curious: For those of you who've done this once or twice, what were your favorites?
At my first festival, I love the fisherman's pie the best. When I went back the next time, I didn't like it as much as the first time. It was still good, but not as good as I remembered it. As far as desserts, the cake at Ireland is still my favorite. I really liked the savory waffle in Belgium on our last F&W, but now they are doing it with potatoes and cheese. I'm thinking of asking if they will still serve it over a waffle because it was THAT good!
Other then that, I loved lots of things, the sausage in Germany, the Pork Belly, maybe Brazil. There's loads of dishes that are just great. We're all different so what will appeal to you is different that what will appeal to me, but it's all good!
Did you just show up and cruise and got what looked good? How did you tackle this Beast?
My first time I definitely had a plan. The second time I had a loose plan. This time, I just figure we'll start our way around and eat at as many places that we want to. When it comes to the end and if I haven't gotten to everywhere I want I will make targeted attacks.
I've dumped my money into a couple of Tours this trip, so won't be doing any special events associated with F&W, but maybe after I see how this all works, maybe another year.
I can understand that. I like the special events, but they are hard to book. You have to be up early in the morning on booking day and ready to accept disappointment. Some book up really quick.
I had those parents who would say "If you order it, you eat it or go hungry" type. Don't get me wrong, I understand the money involved, but their "philosophy" on ordering, trying new foods dissuaded me from EVER trying anything outside the box! I can remember the first time my aunt came along and took me to Disney with her (I was 15 and no joke, the only restaurants I had ever been to were McDonalds, Dairy Queen, and Ponderosa) I would spend 20 minutes just asking what things were on a menu, and then she would ask what I wanted and it was always the "safe items" like fried chicken, chicken strips, grilled chicken, or mac and cheese. Then one day we were at red lobster (I had NEVER been there) she curiously asked "Why do you always ask what these things are and then never want to try them?" I told her that I was afraid I would be hungry if I got it and didn't like it. She laughed and then ordered 3 different entree's for her self. All things that I had previously asked her about. Shrimp, clams, and the fish of the day ( don't remember for the life of me what it was!). After she ordered them, she turned to me and I got ready to tell the server what I wanted and she stopped me and told the server I would not be ordering anything. I was surprised and confused, then she said "I ordered 3 different things. I want you to try them. If you find one you like, you can just have it. If you don't find one you like, well then, you haven't ordered anything for yourself yet and you can do so then therefor, you are not wasting anything, and you are not required to eat it if you don't like it, because you didn't order it, I did!" LOL boy did that open the flood gates for me to try new things. I adopted this way of thinking with my own kids. They have tried so many things that other kids have not. When we go somewhere we have let them know that if they order something and don't like it, either dad or I will trade them, or push comes to shove, we will stop somewhere else (usually their favorite fast food place) on the way home.
That's a crazy story, but I'm glad that your aunt was willing to risk experimentation on you. I was a picky kid. However as I got out of HS I started to have a desire to break out of that role. I tried seafood after graduation, and then was in a rut for my freshman year of college. However after that I started to branch out and try stuff. Too this day I have not stopped trying stuff, I'm glad you have done the same with your kids. I remember as kids, my parents would order these weird things, called Potstickers. My sister and I would have nothing to do with them. Then one day we tried them, and we were hooked. My parents were so disappointed because now we had to order two orders every time we got Chinese takeout since there wouldn't be enough with only six in an order and four of us who wanted to eat them!
What are the chances it may roll out earlier next year.
Well this year is the longest that F&W has every been, they opened it several weeks earlier than in the past and I think they may have extended it a bit from when it normally ends. In the past it opened around the 20 somthingth. So already it is opening early. It will remain to see if it is successful that they open it any earlier next year.
You're not alone. I've been "studying" Disney for about 15 years. Although the first 10 was just dreaming of Disney, and it's just in the past 4 years that we've actually been able to afford to go. I'm making up for lost time!
