Back from a vacation and other blogger recipes

It was one awesome long weekend for hubby and me as we headed to Orlando, Florida. We left on Wednesday night and got back last evening, so wasn’t able to get to all of your posts during that time. I’ve been at it since this morning and managed to read past 80 + posts and leave comments too.

I’ve been eager to visit Magic Kingdom ever since I’ve come to the US, and have been eating hubby’s brains on end to plan a trip. I know I sound nothing less than a 4 year old, but hey that’s me..hehe! One part of me is all about fantasy lands and fairy tales. So this trip meant a lot to me. On Thursday we visited Epcot, on Friday Sea World and on Saturday – Magic Kingdom..yeah, saved the best for last. Also because we found out Magic Kingdom is open till midnight on weekends and closes by 8pm on weekdays,so the more time we got there, the better (for me, of course!) We drove to Orlando, which was a 7 hour drive from here. It was one Happy Thanksgiving, in its own way.

I can go on about our trip, but there is just too much to share, so for now I’ll let it rest and instead share a few pics from Magic Kingdom.

S and me on Main Street in Magic Kingdom

Cinderella's Castle by night

Spectro Magic Parade

With Daisy Duck

I haven’t gotten to cooking yet, so will share some of the recipes I’ve tried from other blogs. I’ve been planning to mention it whenever I make a new post and never got to doing it!! So here goes:

(click on name of dish for recipe)

Oriya Thali from Neivedyam (Phulcobi do Piaja and Channa Dal from temple)

Egg Puffs from My Kitchen Hobbies

Methi (Fenugreek) Dal from The Budding Cook

Corn Puffs from Khana Pina -- I made these before we left on the Orlando trip, it was a tasty snack on the drive.

Methi Rasam from CookSpot

Green Moong Dal from The Bubbling Cauldron

I will be back with more of my recipes very soon!

Weekend Getaway to The Great Smoky Mountains

The Great Smoky Mountains are a major mountain range in the southern part of the Appalachian Mountains, the second ridge line forming a north-south running mountain chain from the Eastern United States and bordering the western side of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Also called the Smoky Mountains or the Smokies, they straddle the border between Tennessee and North Carolina, and are entirely west of the Eastern Continental Divide.

(Source: Wikipedia)

We went to Smokies to see the much talked about fall colours this season, and I must say it was well worth the visit. We even got to take a ride in a helicopter to get a better view of the top of the mountains. We also went on the Sky Lift.

View from top of the Sky Lift

View of the mountains from the helicopter

The city of Gatlinburg is a fascinating one with a street lined with shops, attractions and various other things to do. There is one section called “The Village” which has quaint shops and beautiful fountains. The whole city of course was geared up for Halloween.

There was a Candy making shop where we saw how Taffy is made and how its wrapped too.

Taffy wrapping machine and Taffy being pulled [ left corner]

The best place was a shop called “Sleepy’s”, tucked away in a small corner of Gatlinburg, which had a giant sleeping/rocking chair in front of the store. Inside the store were all sorts of trinkets and very funny signboards.

Hubby and Me

Some of the sign boards..read them (click to enlarge)

I bought the third one for my kitchen...hehe!

Smoky Mountain Bears

The scenic ride up into the mountains was a feast to the eyes.

Little River

It was a wonderful trip and I felt the weekend was not enough, we hope to make another trip soon :)