when you wish upon a star

 

With the marketing machine heavily geared towards princesses at Disney, I was a little worried that our son would find the experience a little boring (yes, I was worried that Disney would be boring!)....and other than the thrilling rides, he'd tire of the "themes" (he's a little too old for "The Cars" phenomenon).


Of course, my worries were unfounded as both he and his sister enjoyed these more  adventurous, slightly educational and science-based activities...still loads of fun, but not so "fairy tale" focused.

Safari's at Animal Kingdom

Pirates of the Caribbean

Toy Story Mania

Space Mountain and Mission: Earth 

 The Festival of the Lion King show at Animal Kingdom

Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular

Star Tours (Star Wars) at Hollywood Studios

 Lights, Motor, Action Extreme Stunt Show

Simulated flying (the popular "Soarin'" ride) and spaceship flying at Epcot Centre

And of course, there's the plethora of fireworks and light shows.  

I think our son liked Epcot and Hollywood Studios the best, where they both had plenty of fast rides, and the best fireworks and light shows.  "Fantasmic" at Hollywood Studios was spectacular, and probably our favourite. Illuminations at Epcot was beautiful too.  

I think Disney World has so much to offer...and he was never bored (they even had a dragon in the Electric Water Parade, viewed from our hotel balcony!) ...the smiles on their faces were more than we can wish for.

Epcot's Nine Dragons Restaurant Honey Sesame Chicken

(recipe adapted from the book, Cooking with Mickey and the Disney Chefs)

The recipe in the book asks to cut the chicken into strips (like chicken fingers), but I thought this would be nice as chicken breasts.  We're not the biggest fan of fried foods, so I oven-baked this chicken instead, using Panko crumbs (Japanese bread crumbs, found on the same shelf as bread crumbs), and added apricot jam to bring dimension to the sauce.  The soy sauce in the marinade with the sesame oil adds enough salt content, so you don’t need to add any additional salt in this recipe.  


Ingredients

4-6 chicken breasts.


Marinade

• 2 tsp. sesame oil
• 2 tbsp. soy sauce
• 1 tbsp. chopped garlic.

Batter

• ¾ cup bread crumbs
• ¾ cup Panko crumbs

Honey Apricot Sauce

• 3 tbsp. honey
• ¼ cup sugar
• 2 tbsp. ketchup
• 1 tbsp. white vinegar
• 2 tbsp. apricot jam.
• Sesame seeds (optional)

Preparation

• Preheat the oven at 400degrees.
• Mix all the marinade ingredients in a bowl, add chicken then toss to coat.  Let stand for 10 minutes.
• Mix the bread crumbs & Panko crumbs in a separate bowl, and when the chicken is done with the marinade, coat with the crumbs.
• Place on a baking sheet, and into the oven.
• Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• While the chicken is baking, mix the sauce and heat in a pan (I used a cast iron skillet), until mixture bubbles.
• Place cooked chicken gently into sauce, to coat.
• Serve immediately.

Enjoy this out of world experience!