Cranberry Cravings

Hello! Greetings from Paradise :)

I know I have been away for a while (like a month!) but we'll discuss that another time.

Today I want to share my recent adventure at Epcot®, and another Evening with Ocean Spray®!
I was invited to an exclusive event, where I sampled some amazing food made with cranberries. Cranberry sauces, cranberry dips, glazes, chutneys, in everything from entrees, to side dishes, and desserts. Wow! The chefs at Epcot ® went all out for this one!

Everything was so very delicious!

Kobe Beef and Craisin Vegetable Fried Rice

Craisin Glazed Pork Belly with White Cheddar Grits
Cranberry & Sea Salt Cured Wild Salmon with Maple Sugar Crystals

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Craisin Ketchup

Two of the cranberry growers! Todd May & Peter Beaton

I have mentioned before what a big fan of cranberries I am :) I love the juice straight with nothing added, and the sparkling cranberry is very refreshing too.

Did you know the cranberry is a super fruit? It sure is! They are loaded with antioxidants. Just 1/4 cup of dried cranberries, or 8oz of juice provide 1/4 of your daily fruit needs! Besides that, they are just dang good! And now Ocean Spray® makes Trail Mix, too!

I usually just eat Craisins® right out of the bag, or make my signature Cranberry Cookies. (My kids STILL ask for these, even though they are adults.) I came up with this recipe shortly after Craisins® debuted in the early 90's, because to tell the truth I'm not a fan of chocolate chip cookies. Gasp! I know, weird, huh? I'll share my recipe with you soon, as well as everything that's been going on around here. I have so much to tell you! A couple of years ago I stumbled onto a recipe for Cranberry Cheesecake Bars, and they really are to die for! I'll share that with you too! You can find many recipes at OceanSpray.com , and become a member of the cranberry club. I did! You can share your cranberry recipes with them too, on the website, their Pinterest, and Facebook, and Instagram. You can click on those and it will take you right to it :)

I really love the fact that many Ocean Spray growers are family, and have been doing this and passing it down for generations. Ocean Spray is one big happy family of 700 growers!


If you get a chance to go to Epcot® during the Food and Wine Festival this year, you too can eat your way around the world, and drink your way around it too! My daughter did just that, starting her day with a Scotch Flight, which was 3 shots of Scotch. She said the 18 year Scotch was the smoothest. I've never tried Scotch, and won't get the chance to, unfortunately. (Darn Lupus!) She also had the Tequila Flight (3 shots of Tequila's) and various other alcohol based concoctions. Her fave food at the Festival is always the grilled
Greek cheese. She always gets this, and Friday she had it twice! I've been trying to pick a favorite, but I ate so many good things it's really hard to choose. I do have a way now to get my son Kyle to eat cooked spinach! Spanakopita!!!! Phyllo is on my grocery list :)

We didn't get to visit The Land this time (where the amazing greenhouses of Epcot® are) but we did get in to see The Sea, and Nemo and Friends. I got to ride in a seashell!!!!! I could live in that building. There are huge tanks, and small tanks, everything from coral growing, to many baby clown fish, seahorse, starfish, manatees, dolphin and rays, I even saw a shark. There's an elevator in the building for us disabled folks, too.

You've just got to go and see for yourself!

There's so much to see and do! And TASTE!

Make sure you check out the cranberry bog!

An Evening with Ocean Spray

I have been waiting all weekend to share my news. Friday evening I had the experience of a lifetime! Had I known it was possible, it would have been on my bucket list.

I was invited to attend a cocktail party at Disney's Epcot® for Ocean Spray®! Yes, THAT Ocean Spray®! Cocktails and food were served made with cranberries, and Craisins® . The highlight of the evening was the opportunity to put on waders, and get IN the cranberry bog!

Ocean Spray® cranberries are grown by 700 families. Four of the growers were at the party, and my hubby talked to one of them. He said that they have one person who checks the crops to determine when the berries are ready for harvest, and they go by color. When this guy says GO the harvest is on.

The harvest takes place from around mid September through mid November. Millions of pounds of cranberries are harvested! Cranberries are grown in sandy, and marshy acidic soil, usually near wetlands, on vines.

When it's harvest time, the bog is flooded with about 18 inches of water the night before. This is called Wet Harvesting. Cranberries have a little pocket of air in them that causes them to float to the surface. These are the berries that become your favorite Ocean Spray® products.
Cranberries in the produce section are harvested by the dry method. This is the best way to get the freshest berries. A mechanical picker combs the berries from the vines, and sends them to burlap bags at the back of the machine.

Here's a few more photos from the evening:

They also set up tables for us to have hors d' ouvres in the bog!

You know how much I love cranberries,  cause I mentioned it last year here. I made cranberry cheesecake bars 6 times last fall! I buy cranberries and Craisins® year round. I just love them! I discovered a new little appetizer last year. You can use meatballs, or mini cocktail wieners, and it has cranberry sauce in it. I like them just as much as the original version that has grape jelly in it. MMMM!

In the early 90's when I first discovered Craisins, I adapted an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe, changing it up quite a bit. I omitted the chocolate chips, substituted Craisins, added coconut, and pecans. These are still my kids (and mine and hubby's too) favorite cookies! They are soft on the inside, crispy on the outside, and we even like them crumbled in milk like a granola cereal. I can make a HUGE batch of these cookies, and they last no time at all. My family has been asking for some!

Craisins now come in a 50% less sugar version. I was given a bag to try in the 'swag bags' that were for the guests to take.

Larry Martin Vice President of Global Marketing for Ocean Spray

I tried to get everyone's name, but couldn't quite catch them all....

But, it was a wonderful experience that I will never forget! A special thank you to Ocean Spray®, and Disney/Epcot® for making this experience possible!

Hubby and I want to get back down to Epcot to enjoy a full day of the Food & Wine Festival. We sure did enjoy it last year! My October schedule is pretty full already, so maybe in November before it's over. 

I learned how to make the registered trademark in html just for this post! Who knew it was so easy?!

I'll see you tomorrow with another cool thing I attended during the weekend :)

Fun at Epcot

Hello! Are you ready for another tour around Epcot?

Shae snapped a pic of us going into the park...we are excited!

Hubby played a racing game. It was something to do with being on a mission as a spy, and catching the bad guy. He did very well, and became a super spy... or something like that!

We do like to clown around a bit, as you will see.

Hubby would have been a fierce and handsome Viking! He does have some Norwegian blood flowing through his veins.

He's a bit too tall to pass for Chinese though!

Shae spotted a pay phone....check out that expression. LOL We had no idea these still existed!

I had her complete the pose!

 Here we are in Italy...the sun was in my eyes even with my shades on...the reason for the crabby look.

 The mosaics in Morocco are phenomenal!

  Did you know they brought mosaic artist from Morocco to do the mosaic work at Epcot???
Heather enlightened us. She worked at Disney World/Epcot for 4 years, she also really knows her way around the parks!

There's a Cranberry Bog in Epcot right now...I guess for the fall and holiday season.

I love cranberries! Sauces, and Craisins, and anything you can put them in!

Hubby saw spotted this BIG toad, or frog. These lily pads are huge, too.

I'm kind of a nature nut! I see wildlife, or pretty plants and scenery and I have to take pics.

This was taken inside of Italy on our way to the Gondola ride.

Even the drinking fountains were dressed up.

I even got a couple of shots of Beast and Belle!

They look exactly the same to me. I don't think a single person moved between my shots!

 More mosaics in another area...these were really amazing, and covered both side of an entrance about 25 ft long!

This was on our way out...I look beat! Didn't get a chance to paste a smile on :)

The end of the day...aaahhhhh. I am full! bloated! and tired!

Tomorrow I'll show you around inside the greenhouse at Epcot. It is truly amazing! I sure have been rethinking my gardening strategy!!!

Have a GREAT Day! See you tomorrow!

Love,
Del