French Fry Diary 278: Whispering Canyon Café, Lunch 2011

The Bride and I had had a wonderful breakfast at the Whispering Canyon Café just a few hours before, but we previously had lunch reservations with Dom and Cindy and the kids for lunch, so here we were, back again. We were even joined by The Bride's second cousin who lives in the Orlando area.

I love this place, and not just for the bottomless milkshakes. It's interactive with the waitstaff and there's always a show of some kind, watch out though, you may be part of it. Ask for ketchup, ask for straws, and you'll see that's just the tip of the interactive iceberg here at the Café.

For the most part however it was a quiet lunch this day, as in not much interaction with the staff, but we all had a nice chat getting to know each other better. A rather tense moment was had for all in the dining room when news of an earthquake in Washington DC hit. You might remember as this happened in August, and the quake was felt as far north as New York. We had to call home to make sure everything was all right in New Jersey, all was okay though. It was a scary moment however, almost like 9/11, as everyone in the dining room was silent and on their cellphone, either calling loved ones or checking the news.

For lunch I got the Angus Chuck bacon cheeseburger sans bacon and cheese (I still had the bad taste of the bacon cheeseburger from Captain Cook's on my mind), fries of course, and the wonderful all-you-care-to-enjoy milkshakes (I had two). The burger was very good, and the fries were the Disney standard, natural cuts, good when hot.

It was a rather somber meal because of the earthquake, but good times just the same with friends and family.

Random Tater Pic of the Day #20

This one was taken by friends Dom and Cindy while on vacation with us in Walt Disney World. It's from the Norway pavilion in Epcot, where they took their little girl to the 'Princess Storybook Dining' at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall. The little princess got meatballs and green beans and gravy on a nest of mashed potatoes, with lingonberries - shades of Ikea!

French Fry Diary 277: Lay's Stax

Folks that know me personally, know, that for a variety of reasons and health issues, I take a lot of pills. It's not a big deal, and keeps me kicking, that's what counts. The problem is that not all of these pills go down easy, and some have a rather crappy aftertaste, so there are a variety of things I'll eat during taking them and afterward to kill that taste. A good jellied candy will do it, or a couple M&Ms, but sometimes I turn to one or two potato chips. The processed ones like Pringles seem to work best, but they also usually taste like crap as well.

On the recent vacation I picked up the best alternative, Stax from Lay's. Similarly packaged in a plastic can, this potato flake perfect-formed chip has two grand advantages over the Pringles. First they have weight, a little more thicker and substantial, and second, they have flavor. And if they have flavor, you kinda want to eat more. Not necessarily what I wanted in a chip on my vacation, but still a bonus.

My weapon of choice is the Mesquite Barbecue flavor, which have a wonderful smoky vibe to them. And the thickness also makes them a great dipping chip. Stax also come in original, cheddar, salt and vinegar, sour cream and onion, and ranch. They have a taste and flavor to get rid of any other bad taste in your mouth, and are a great snack anytime as well. Check 'em out.

French Fry Diary 276: Whispering Canyon Café, Breakfast

Circumstances collided and we ended up hitting the Whispering Canyon Café for both breakfast and lunch one day of our vacation. Not a problem though, we like the place. We've been twice before on our two previous trips to Walt Disney World.

For breakfast they had a very tempting, very fattening raisin bread French toast with cinnamon icing, I had to have that. The Bride ordered some potatoes, and promised I could have some. I also ordered a Coke, as I'm not a coffee drinker and orange juice just doesn't wake me up. Check the photo to see what they brought. Even being almost all ice, it was still almost as much as a two-liter bottle of Coca-Cola.

The French toast was to die for, even before the syrup, and fantastic when you get a raisin. It's not as good as say French toast made with raisin challah bread, or the Pop Shop's cinnamon roll French toast, or even the French toast my big sister used to make me on Saturday mornings for breakfast while watching cartoons, but it's damn good. The potatoes were roasted red potatoes, cut into wedges, and were gigantic -

Sorry, I had to stop writing on my iPhone notepad, someone other than The Bride needed the ketchup. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, ask for ketchup while you're here at Whispering Canyon.

As I was saying, before I got interrupted, the potato wedges are so gigantic that you have to cut them up to eat them. They are soft and hot on the inside like baked potatoes and have a nice seared outside. The maple syrup also adds a nice flavor as well. Aces on the potatoes. I can't wait for lunch.

French Fry Diary 275: Aquaman #1 2011

Anyone who knows me personally knows a big comic book geek I am. I've maintained a comic book review site, done monthly reviews of the Avengers family of comics, and I currently do a weekly vidcast about new comics. One of the most exciting things happening in the comics industry right now is DC Comics rebooting their line with fifty-two new number one issues. One of the most anticipated of those issues is Aquaman.

I love Aquaman, and I'm not the only one. If you don't believe me, check out my friend Rob Kelly's terrific website, The Aquaman Shrine. Joke if you like, non-believers, but the man's time has come, Aquaman is cool. Of course, I've always known that, and now that the rest of the world is catching on to that, DC Comics has given the king of the seven seas a brand new series, and brought on two of the industry's finest to produce it - Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis. Trust me, these guys are superstars in their field.

Aquaman #1 came out this past Wednesday, only days after the character's 70th anniversary, and in my opinion was the absolute best of all the new fifty-two comics. Of course, you might wonder why I'm writing about Aquaman here on French Fry Diary, besides my obvious passion for the comics and the character. Oh trust me, there is a method to my madness.

In the sequence pictured here, Aquaman visits a diner he and his father frequented when he was a kid. He orders fish and chips. Yeah, baby, that's right, Aquaman likes French fries. I knew there was a deeper reason I loved Aquaman.

And if you think that's odd, think harder about it. When Aquaman lived on land in his youth, he would've eaten the same things most humans eat, and that would include fish (and French fries!). And when he took on his destiny as King of Atlantis, really, what do you think Atlanteans eat? Of course they eat fish, there's only so much seaweed and kelp you can eat. Protein is needed, ya know?

Seriously, Aquaman rocks. Buy the comic. Visit the website. After all, the man likes French fries.

The Sandwich King's Favorite Fried Food Recipes

Recently I talked about last year's winner of Food Network's "The Next Food Network Star," Aarti Sequiera. Today I'm talking about this year's winner, Jeff Maura, the Sandwich King.

On recent episodes of his new show, ironically called "Sandwich King," he made, yeah, you guessed it, the favorite fried food. Here are his recipes for Roasted Potato Wedges that I recently shared on Twitter, and also his Sweet Potato Fries too. Check them out!

French Fry Diary 274: Captain Cook's Snack Company 2011

French Fry Diary has visited Captain Cook's Snack Company at the Polynesian Resort before, waaay back in 2008, and it seems that things have changed a little bit. We came here on this trip to meet Dom and Cindy and family for a quick dinner - and for the promise of the perfect grilled cheese - that got The Bride on board. One lightning stormed boat and Monorail trip later we arrived at the Polynesian Resort, and Captain Cook's Snack Company.

I declined the grilled cheese because computer touch screen could not deliver a plain one, so I went with the Angus bacon cheeseburger, and fries, of course. I also grabbed a bag of BBQ potato chips - Disney brand chips, oh yeah!

The fries were the standard Disney park fries, natural cuts good when hot. The burger was good but the bacon too crispy and it was on a grain bun. Not one of my favorite meals on this trip.

Now the chips were Disney Kettle Cooked BBQ Potato Chips. Add to that a red silhouette of Pluto and the words "barkin flavor" on the and how can you lose? They were regular chips, kettle cooked with a nice crunch. The seasoning is light and sweet with brown sugar. On the good side they're gluten free and have no transfat.

Another nice night with friends at dinner. We talked "Torchwood," the behind the scenes tour that The Bride took, and, believe it or not, how Disney is on the decline. Despite that last bit, we still all love Disney, and we still all had a great time.

Random Tater Pic of the Day #19

This pic was yoinked from friend @gailyw on Twitter. Also be sure to check out her blog here.

See, French fries are a great side for anything.

French Fry Diary 273: Roaring Fork, Wilderness Lodge

From the Disney Dream, we continued our vacation in Walt Disney World, with a stay at the Wilderness Lodge. We had been there twice before to have dinner at the Whispering Canyon Café. I was so blown away by the gigantic lobby of this hotel that I decided, if we could, someday it would be fantastic to stay there, and especially get a room on the lobby. We did it this time. It might cost a bit more, but it was more than worth it, I have a new favorite hotel at Disney.

The Roaring Fork is the quick service 'restaurant' at the Wilderness Lodge, as opposed to the main restaurant, the Whispering Canyon Cafe. I've heard it's more of a breakfast place but I hit it for lunch one day of my stay, and I got, what else, French fries.

At first glance they appeared to be the same natural cuts available most everywhere in the Disney properties, but these were a little different. Fries of course sometimes depend more on who's cooking than how they're cooked. This might be the case with these.

These natural cuts are just a bit more golden brown and crispier than the Disney standard, and, for me at least, a little yummier. However the cost if the place without the Disney Dining Plan is pretty extravagant, especially for a counter service. So, worth it for 'free,' but not if you have to pay for them. You're better off at the other two restaurants at Wilderness Lodge - the aforementioned Whispering Canyon Café or Artist Point.

Marni's Tater Tots

Good friend Marni sent this picture along as an entry for Somebody Else's Fries. These are Sloppy Joes with Tater Tots that she made for dinner recently. Enjoy. And for the record, there is no sexual innuendo whatsoever in today's blog entry title, even if you know Marni.