I'm Coming Back!

I know, I know.

It's been a while.

Which I can explain!

The last time I posted, July 28, over 2 months ago, I was living with my aunt in Texas, and I was really homesick.  When I'm sad or upset or stressed or just about any negative emotion, I go to Disney.  Disney makes me happy.  (I go to Disney when I'm happy too, but I don't need it to cheer me up when I do.)

So I was going a little Disney-crazy to combat my homesickness.

One of my major projects during this time was a pair of Rapunzel-themed pajamas!

I posted this picture to Facebook, and a friend of my mom's (completely jokingly) made a comment about me taking the Disney obsession a little too far.

It broke my heart.

Like I said, I was homesick and I need that as my outlet, but I felt embarrassed and horrified and discouraged, and I needed a break from the pressure of coming up with ideas and posting to the blog.

Fast-forward to now.

A few weeks ago, I was doing some homework and needed some background noise.  I went to my favorite Disney-music site (dcot.com) and on a whim turned on the music to the Festival of Fantasy parade.

It was like the Disney-fire within me relit, and suddenly I felt like my heart was going to burst with excitement.

I looked up a Disney vacation package.

I put on my Disney hoodie.

I called my fiancé and he could just hear it in my voice.



I've missed blogging, and even without posting at all the past 2 months, my blog is still getting views everyday!!  Which is amazing, and I thank those of you viewing it!



So, that means
I'm coming back!

I'm going to start posting on the blog again!

However, just to be clear, this isn't going to be on the same day every week.  It might not be every week at all (though I'm going to try!!)

It's my senior year of college, and I'm looking in to Physicians Assistant school -- as well as keeping up my grades, studying for the GRE, working 16 hours a week, and maintaining a long distance relationship.

I'm busy, but that doesn't stop my love of Disney.

So I will be posting much more frequently, but maybe not every week.



I've missed you all so very much <3




I'm going to try to keep up with my Young Adult Disney Twitter (@YADisney20) and update my Pinterest more often as well!

But, don't forget to check out my Etsy page, Main Street Crystal, for Disney-themed crystal jewelry.  Through all of this nonsense, I have kept up with that!

 (You can even like Main Street Crystal on Facebook and find me on Instagram--@mainstreetcrystal)
SO MUCH SOCIAL MEDIA!






I can't wait to start posting on here again.  It's been too long!
Love, Sarah

Dole Whip Recipe

I feel like this post has been a long time coming!  There are so many Dole Whip recipes on the web, and this might not be the first that I try because, like this recipe, they are all so easy.  However, this is where I found the one that I used this time!

The Dole Whip is a Disney staple!  It's basically a cult following, with t-shirts and twitter accounts dedicated to this sweet and refreshing delight!

Of course, that means that if you're anything like me, you're going to crave this delicious (and vegan!) dessert at home!  If so, here's a recipe to try it!

To make one Dole Whip, you will need:

• 1 1/2 cup frozen pineapple (it won't fit exactly in the cup, but that's accounted for)
• 1/8 cup almond milk (or, really, any milk)
• A splash of honey OR 1/4 cup whipped topping (Cool Whip)

You will also need a really high powered blender, or a food processor.  I originally tried to use a Magic Bullet and that did not pulverize the pineapple as necessary, so I pulled out the food processor and, though it took a while to blend it all smooth, it worked beautifully.

All you need to do is put the ingredients in the food processor or blend and blend until smooth.  I put about 1/4-1/2 tsp. of honey in for a little extra sweetness, but you could put more or less based on your taste preference.  Also, if they pineapple isn't blending well, you can add 1 tbsp at a time extra almond milk.

At the end, you will have a soft-serve texture!

Edit: I made the Dole Whip again 3 days later (it was delicious and I am obsessed) but tried it with Cool Whip instead of honey.  IT WAS MAGICAL.  I highly recommend this version, as it did taste more like the Disney version to me.

I put the pineapple mixture in a piping bag with a star tip to squeeze it into my bowl to make it look more fun and fancy, but it will taste just as delicious just scooped into a bowl!

It was SO GOOD.  I reached the end of the bowl before I realized it.

Next time, I might add a little cool whip, since it doesn't have dairy, but you could easily add just a little bit of whip cream as well to make it a little more creamy.

You could also add some coconut rum or spiced rum over the top like they did at the Flower and Garden Festival this year and are beginning to do in Animal Kingdom!

I plan on doing so for my roommates once I go back to college in a month :)

Still it hits that craving for many people's favorite dish at Disney World!

And be sure that you follow me on Pinterest,

And Twitter! (@YADisney20)

Olaf's Carrot Cupcake

If you remember from the Princess Red Velvet Cupcakes, I used to be quite the cupcake baker.  And when I saw the Olaf carrot cake cupcake being featured at Disney, I knew it was something I was going to have to try my hand at.

The version I'm trying to replicate is from the 24 Hour Rock Your Disney Side event earlier this year (2014) and since then they've updated to a version with a piece of white chocolate for Olaf's head.  If you want to get fancy with the chocolate, you can always try that instead!



For 28 Carrot Cake Cupcakes, you will need:

• 2 1/3 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 cups pureed carrots (about 4 medium carrots)
• 2/3 cup milk

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Begin by mixing the dry ingredients, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, together in a small bowl and setting aside.  Next, cream together the sugar and butter, adding the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla.  Before combining the wet and dry ingredients, puree the carrots until smooth.  I recommend adding the milk in order to smooth out the puree.  Alternate adding the dry ingredients and carrot puree into the wet ingredients, mixing between each addition.

Fill the cupcake liners 1/2 to 2/3 of the way full and bake for approximately 16-20 minutes.

For the cream cheese frosting and face designs, you will need:

• 1 package (8 oz) cream cheese (softened)
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter (softened)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 4-6 cups powdered sugar
• 2-4 teaspoons milk
• Dark food dye
• Carrots
• Chocolate bar

To begin, cream together the cream cheese and butter until the two are completely mixed.  Add the vanilla and mix.  Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time until the desired consistency is reached.  If you add too much powdered sugar, add milk to thin the frosting out a bit, one teaspoon at a time.  I think that the Olaf structure of the icing would be easiest to attain with a stiffer icing, however mine was not and I thought it looked okay, so it's up to you!

Yum!

Allow the cupcakes to cool.  Get the largest round piping tip you have (or cut the corner out of a plastic bag) and create 3 tiers using the cream cheese icing.  Set some aside and color it with black or other dark colored food dye.  Use a very thin piping tip, or a toothpick (that's what I did) to draw on Olaf's mouth, eyes, and eyebrows.

Cut carrots into small points to use as Olaf's nose.  If you want, you could also use an orange taffy or fondant and design the nose using that.  Carefully cut shaving off of the chocolate bar to use for the hairs on his head.  Assemble the face of your Olaf and you're done!

So will you try to make the Olaf cupcake yourself?  Let me know in the comments how it turned out!