Now onto the food!!! I did have to alter my plans to limit my intake of gluten and sugar. Not that you would've guessed with the way I ate that troll horn but I really did try hard so I avoided a lot of the sweets and would occasionally take bite (or two) of what R was eating. There were a lot of foods that I wanted to try that I decided just wasn't worth the risk this early in the trip. If I had planned Epcot later in the trip, I would've gone for it. Plus, I still had 'Ohana planned for Thursday so I really had to be careful because that was our #1 dinner.
First stop was Flavor Full Kitchen. I had the Roasted Beets, Cashew Cheese, Micro Herb, and Lemon Oil Dressing with the Blood Orange Aqua Fresca. This dish wasn't bad but it wasn't amazing either. It was beets. Kinda hard to mess or or make exciting. But I love beets and I felt like I was getting a serving of veggies that I had been lacking up to this point. I absolutely LOVE blood orange so this drink was made for me. I wanted to go back and get another before leaving the park but never did. Like I said earlier, the sun was baking my brain at this point.
Then we were off to The Honey Bee-stro, which was my favorite last year, and was my #1 again this year. We had the Roasted Cauliflower with buckwheat honey carrot puree, wild rice pilaf, asparagus, honey blistered grapes, sunflower brittle and coriander flowers. The Honey Tandoori Chicken Flatbread with white cheddar cheese, charred veggies, clover honey sour cream, and micro citrus greens. And the Wildflower Honey Marscapone Cheesecake with Orange Blossom Honey Ice Cream with Fennel Pollen Meringue Kisses and Petite Lavendar Shoots. Everything was fantastic!! R loved the flatbread and it turned into one his favorite food items all trip. I just love everything about this outdoor kitchen.
Next we went to the Citrus Blossom for the Lobster Tail with Meyer Lemon Emulsion and Grilled Lemon. Unfortunately, there is no picture because apparently I ate it before taking a picture of it. But the lobster was cooked perfectly and wasn't over done. It had the Meyer Lemon flavor without overpowering the flavor of the lobster. This is another one that I would have again. In fact, we both wanted to come back for seconds but by the end of the day we needed a break from the sun and never did.
We went to La Isla Fresca, so I could get the Sugar Cane Shrimp Skewer with steamed rice and coconut lime sauce. I loved this last year and it was still good this year.
There were a few kiosks we had to skip, that R originally wanted to try, because it was just too hot to enjoy some of the food. Next time we go to this event, we will make sure it's in early March so it's not too hot. We really wanted to focus more on the food but the weather prevented that. Our best trip so far was still early March 2014 and that was because the weather was perfect for us.
We went to Primavera Kitchen because I had heard it was better this year than previous years. We had the Pizza Toscana a rustic Italian flatbread with sweet sausage, caramelized onion, mozzarella, asiago, and Parmesan cheeses. And the Zeppole, ricotta cheese fritters, powdered sugar, raspberry sauce, and chocolate hazelnut drizzle.
I thought this flatbread was better than the one at Honey Bee-stro but R disagreed. I wish I wasn't on a diet because I would want this all for myself. This was one stop that was seriously tempting my willpower. I had a few bites of the flatbread and about 3 of the zeppole because R was getting full and I didn't want them to be thrown away. At least that was the justification I used because, after all, I do hate wasting food
Blame it on living with my Grandma who grew up during the Great Depression - some lessons just stick.
I wanted Key Lime everything - tart, funnel cake - but was doing my best to limit sugar so I did manage to control that at least. But it was hard.
Then we went to Hanami, because I wanted R to try to famous Frushi, fresh pineapple, strawberry and melon rolled with coconut rice, sprinkled with toasted coconut, whipped cream with raspberry sauce. He loved it!!! He said it was the perfect thing to eat on a hot, summer's day.
We took a short break from the Festival because I was determined to do something I've wanted to do for many years. Go to Tangierine Cafe. I ordered the Chicken Shawarma as a salute to Tony Stark (Avengers 1 reference) and it was amazingly good.
I loved everything about this! The chicken had great flavor and wasn't dry at all. R actually liked it enough that even he ate some - and helped himself to most of the bread because I wasn't supposed to have it. Said he was doing me a favor -ha! Yet again, him eating my food LOL. We also scored a table inside in the AC so that was very enjoyable. I will definitely be doing this again.
My last must do item was at Northern Bloom for the seared scallop with French green beans, butter potatoes, brown butter vinaigrette, and applewood smoked bacon. So good. Scallops cooked perfectly.
My only regret is that I did this during the hottest part of the day because this actually did me in. Even though I had multiple large cups of free ice water, I had to go back to the resort. R said he was fine and could spend more time at the Festival, I think even he appreciated going back to the resort to nap in the AC. I think the burns were also affecting me because I saw how bad some of them were when I got back to the room mainly on the back of my legs and shoulders. This is when I wish I had a bath tub because I would've soaked in that Aveeno oatmeal bath that I brought with me!
But because I'm sensitive to most medications, he wants to postpone doing the official dye test because he's worried I'm going to have a similar reaction to what my Mom had - and she wasn't sensitive to medications etc. like I am. So before we even go that route and discuss removal, he wanted to see what diet changes would do. I added the ACV on my own after my body kept craving pickled beets. My husband asked me one day, "what if you're craving those beets because your body just wants the vinegar?" Then I had my own lightbulb moment. Once I added in the daily ACV, the cravings went away and pain got better. If only I can control the desire for creamy, dairy based sauces!!! Sometimes I just can't control the urge to have a good alfredo sauce 
That trip was very last minute and I hadn't done any kind of research but I did get some ADRs. When I got back home, I was hooked and started reading more about it. When I saw pictures, and showed R, both of our minds were blown. So when we went back in 2014, the first thing we did in World Showcase was explore Mexico. And that was the last time we rode the Three Caballeros, because 2015 and 2016 were during Food and Wine Festival and it was just too crowded for us. We didn't spend much time in the World Showcase in 2018 with the inlaws so we skipped over it then too. My husband actually had no memory of this ride.
Magic meetups are awesome.
