Marceline’s Confectionery at Halloween Time

In case you didn’t know, you can find most of the handcrafted goodies from Disneyland and Disney California Adventure at Marceline’s Confectionery in Downtown Disney® District, without the cost of a park ticket. I like being able to stop in there and take the treats to go before heading home and avoid having them smashed in my backpack from hopping ride to ride.

Marcelino's Confectionery in Downtown Disney

Marceline’s Confectionery in Downtown Disney

When you step inside Marceline’s Confectionery you feel like you have stepped inside an old-fashioned candy shop, which was named after the small Missouri town where Walt lived as a boy.

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Soda & Swine at Liberty Station

Soda & Swine is a creative meatball eatery with lots of small to medium sized bites. We visited the Liberty Station location. It has a gold bar, old-fashioned looking baking area with pies on display, sunroofs adding lots of natural light, wood covered walls, a 20-foot foosball table that works as a community table, plenty of seating, and an outdoor patio with more seating.

You order your food upon entering Soda & Swine, then seat yourself and your food is brought to you. You can also order from their wide selection of sodas. On the other side of the registers are the pies, they have a couple different types of apple pies, seasonal treats and soft serve ice cream. The next stop is the bar, it is a full bar where you can order a cocktail, wine, beer (lots of local crafts), and if you are feeling funky, a champagne slushy.

We got some suggestions on what to order for lunch from the employee at the register. You can check out their menu here for yourself. Soda & Swine has several meatballs to choose from, such as, smoked pork, chorizo, chicken, beef and quinoa meatballs. You can order your meatball as a slider, submarine, spaghetti, or 3 meatballs in a skillet with sauce and cheese.  Once we picked our meatballs, we ordered some sides as well and set off for a table. The food started to arrive quickly, but not everything came out at once. We liked this system since we ordered a bunch of different items to give a try so it was like having appetizers, entrees and dessert.

Fried Pizza Knots

Fried Pizza Knots

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Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival

I had the chance to check out Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival that ran from April 1st – May 1st. It is a culinary tour of California with 8 different marketplaces to sample from and “Taste Your Way Across the Golden State.”

Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival 2016

Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival 2016

Upon arriving to the festival, I learned that there was a tasting passport annual passholders could purchase so I took advantage of that deal. For $39 you received a lanyard  with the tasting passport that had 6 tasting coupons attached to be used at any marketplace of your choosing, plus a button to commemorate the Food & Wine Festival, a couple of recipe cards from the various marketplaces, and access to the Blue Sky Cellar if you wanted to take a break and cool off indoors. Continue reading

Jean Philippe Patisserie

My husband and I were really terrible about taking a kid free vacation until two years ago. My best friend planned a couples vacation for us at Aria Resort & Casino. Since then we have made sure we get to Aria at least twice a year along with my BFF and her husband. Every trip involves multiple stops at Jean Philippe Patisserie, which is conveniently located in the casino of Aria.

Jean Philippe offers  gelato, crepes, macarons, fine chocolates, coffee, tea & espresso drinks, pastries, paninis and many other decadent treats. It didn’t occur to me until I started working on this post that we order anything and everything Nutella at Jean Philippe. Just wait, you’ll see.

Most mornings on our Vegas vacation we will start our day by sharing a Nutella crepe topped with strawberries and raspberries. They do not hold back on the Nutella and I don’t hate them for that. We prefer getting the fruit on top, but typically they make the crepes with the fruit inside. Jean Philippe isn’t all about chocolate and sweets, they also have a wide array of savory crepes.

Nutella Crepe

Nutella Crepe

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Springtime at Disneyland

Springtime at Disneyland is something very special. You can’t help but stop and enjoy all of the flowers and greenery around every corner. On our recent trip I couldn’t resist snapping pics of the touches of Spring throughout the park, as well as Disney California Adventure.

Sleeping Beauty's Castle on a Spring day

Sleeping Beauty Castle on a Spring day

I’m still mourning the loss of the Peanut Butter sandwich from Pooh Corner, but one new thing I am enjoying in its place is each month Candy PalacePooh Corner, and Trolley Treats have a special marshmallow wand. In March the marshmallow wand was Triple Chocolate, it was dipped in caramel, chocolate, covered in mini chocolate chips then drizzled with milk, dark and white chocolate. I could barely sneak more then a couple bites from my teenager, so needless to say, we loved it! Continue reading