Katie's Christmas 2015 - My Top 5 Christmas/Holiday TV Specials

It's now the first few days of my Christmas break, so before I return to my coursework, I've settled into my navy blue Christmas onesie and snuggled up in bed for a few days for my annual Christmas marathon.  This is a series of my favourite Christmas specials and films from throughout my childhood and adulthood so far, so even though some of them are aimed at children, they are ones I've grown up with and love.  This post can be used as a resource if you need to find something to entertain small children with, apart from the episode of Glee.

1. Barney - Waiting For Santa (1990) - This is the 4th video in the original Barney and the Backyard Gang video series which ran from 1988 to 1991 before the television series started in 1992, and I just realised while rewatching it that it's 25 years old this year.  I didn't actually see the full series until January 2014 when I watched it on YouTube, but this is still my favourite.  With wonderful original songs such as Waiting For Santa, Winter's Wonderful, Jolly Old St Nicholas and The Elves' Rap (led by Michael, played by the talented Brian Eppes), as well as traditional Christmas classics such as Jingle Bells, Up On The Housetop, Deck The Halls and We Wish You A Merry Christmas, you'll be sure to be singing along (cos I definitely was).  My favourite quote from this video was "The best Christmas gift you can give someone is yourself.  Being a good friend and helping others."
   
   
   
   
   
2. Barney - Barney's Night Before Christmas (1999) - Coming from the opposite end of the 1990s to Waiting For Santa, the modernisation of an extended Santa's office and toy factory is definitely noticeable.  Another new technology that Barney uses is the snow globe portal, using which Barney and the children travel to the North Pole following Baby Bop's realisation that there's nobody to fill Santa's stocking and that they should fill it themselves.  Santa and Mrs Claus show the children around the Santa's office and the toy factory via a train ride, and the children help to finish wrapping presents before Baby Bop is presented with a music box  that has a ballerina dancing to an instrumental version of Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy from The Nutcracker.  With traditional Christmas songs included similar to those in Waiting For Santa with the additions of Oh Christmas Tree and The Twelve Days of Christmas, new versions of Winter's Wonderful and Jolly Old St Nicholas, new appearances of Look into Santa's Book, Christmas is our Favourite Time of Year and Wrap It Up, and instrumental versions of Joy to the World and Silent Night, this video is also sure to have you singing along.  Although their are only four of the children included as main characters in this video, most of the rest of the children from season 5 are seen in a cameo of carol singers and handbell ringers who are visiting Hannah's house.
   
   
   
   
   
3. Glee - Extraordinary Merry Christmas (2011) - From the opening All I Want For Christmas Is You led by Mercedes (Amber Riley), to the duets of It's An Extraordinary Merry Christmas by Rachel (Lea Michele) and Blaine (Darren Criss), Let It Snow! by Kurt (Chris Colfer) and Blaine, Santa Claus Is Coming To Town by Finn (the late Cory Monteith) and Puck (Mark Salling), and My Favourite Things by Mercedes, Rachel, Kurt and Blaine, to Brittany, Santana and the Cheerios' rendition of Christmas Wrapping to the full New Directions singing Do They Know It's Christmas?, the season 3 Christmas special is even more full of popular Christmas songs than the season 2 special, A Very Glee Christmas.
   
   Characters break the 4th walls with addresses to the viewer in the black and white Judy Garland and Star Wars-inspired Christmas special (with Finn and Puck dressed up as Luke Skywalker and Han Solo) that New Directions has filmed for cable TV.  In a way, this is a Christmas special within a Christmas special, and this ends with Irish exchange student Rory (Damian McGinty) reciting the biblical Nativity story from the Gospel according to Luke to remind his friends of the true meaning of Christmas.
   
   Unfortunately, Rachel Berry does act a bit high-maintenance and spoilt for much of this episode, but this is rectified slightly later in the episode with some charitable giving.  Another unexpected act of charitable giving in this episode is Sue Sylvester's (Jane Lynch) volunteering at a Salvation Army homeless shelter and encouraging the members of New Directions to join her.
   
   
4. Winnie the Pooh - Seasons of Giving (1999) - This collection of three stories is not solely Christmas-related, but rather covers the period from mid-November through Thanksgiving celebrations to preparing for Christmas itself.
   
   
   
   
   
5. Lizzie McGuire - Xtreme Xmas (2003)
   
   
   
   
   
   
   NOTE: This is not a fully comprehensive resource.

Katie's Christmas 2015 - My Top 5 Christmas/Holiday Films

This is the last part of my Top 5s for Christmas, and it's some of my favourite Christmas/Holiday films.  Tomorrow or Thursday, I'll be posting the last of my recipes to prepare food for Christmas Day, so watch out for those.  Later today, I'll be watching the original Star Wars trilogy in preparation for seeing The Force Awakens with my family tomorrow (I've already watched the prequel trilogy).  I will not discuss the film further on this blog though.

My Top 5 Christmas/Holiday Films

1. Miracle on 34th Street (1994) - So much Mara Wilson being little and adorable, and also very wise for a 6 year old.
2. The Snowman (1982) - I'm including both the introduction with Father Christmas and the introduction with David Bowie here.  This is a truly magical short film, and so is its sequel, The Snowman and the Snowdog.
   
     
   
   
   
   
3. A Christmas To Remember (2001) - This is a Bob the Builder film that my brother received for Christmas when he was 3 years old (while 6 year old me received Barbie in the Nutcracker).  As well as all the usual Bob the Builder crew, we also have Bob's twin brother Tom who lives in the Arctic Circle, Elton John voicing Lazers member John, Chris Evans voicing Lennie Lazenby himself, and Noddy Holder voicing roadie Banger (which explains why he yells "IT'S CHRISTMAS!!" like you're listening to Slade's Merry Xmas Everybody.
4. Home Alone (1990) - Before a few weeks ago, I somehow did not think of this as a Christmas film, but it most certainly is, but just not as much as Miracle on 34th Street.  Also, have you seen Just Me In The House By Myself, the brand new first episode of The Moldy Peaches' Jack Dishel's new web series, in which Macaulay Culkin reprises his role as Kevin McCallister in a rather sinister and creepy look at Kevin's life as an adult following his experience as a child of being left home alone over Christmas.
   
   
5. Home Alone 2 (1992)

Katie's Christmas 2015 - My Top 5 Christmas/Holiday Songs

It's 2nd December!  This post was originally planned for 1st December so I could get really excited about it being December, but I was busy yesterday with coursework and then auditions for BUSOM's production of Back to the 80s (there were some really good auditions yesterday and I'm really looking forward to seeing more people audition both tomorrow and on Sunday).  I'm spending today at home in pyjamas, attempting to concentrate on coursework, but right now, I'm listening in to my friends Lauren and Chloe doing The Yes/No Show and the Coffee House Sessions interview on RamAir, so I thought this would be a good time to write the first of my Christmas posts for this year.  So on around Tuesday or Wednesday for the next few weeks, I'll be posting some Top 5s (like how I did my Top 5s while in America in July), and on Fridays, I'll be posting a recipe as usual but I'm going to try to make it a bit more Christmassy.  So the first of my top 5 series for the Christmas 2015 season is my Top 5 Christmas/Holiday Songs!

Top 5

1. The Pogues - Fairytale of New York ft. Kirsty MacColl - DEFINITELY planning on singing this with somebody at karaoke at uni either tomorrow or next week!
   
   
   
2. Band Aid 20 - Do They Know It's Christmastime? - Yes, I know this isn't the original version and there'll be different opinions as to which one is the best (the original Band Aid in 1984, Band Aid 2 in 1989, Band Aid 20 in 2004, or Band Aid 30 in 2014), but the Band Aid 20 version in 2004 is the version that I have heard a lot.  I will be playing both this version and the original version during my Christmas shows on RamAir over the next 8 days, so listen in tomorrow (Thursday at 11am) and next Thursday at the same time.
   
   
   
   
3. Michael Bublé - Cold December Night - Some people seem to have the impression that now it's December, Michael Bublé has suddenly come out of his Christmas lair for us all to hear his music.  I've had his Christmas album in my Christmas music rotation for about 4 years now and I still love it.  In fact, the second I stepped into the main building at uni yesterday afternoon (1st December), I heard Michael Bublé's duet of White Christmas with Shania Twain playing through the speakers.  Cold December Night has always been my favourite.
   
   
   
   
4. Slade - Merry Xmas Everybody - Tomorrow (3rd December 2015) is the 10th anniversary of one of my 11+ entrance exams and also my first concert with the Huddersfield Choral Society Young Voices junior choir.  It was Countdown to Christmas at the Huddersfield Town Hall and the second of about 8 times I sang there (the first being with school for the Mrs Sunderland competition when I was 8 in 2004).  Amongst our well-used Disney and Joseph and his Technicolor Dreamcoat medleys, we had a selection of Christmas songs including Bob Chilcott's Can You Hear Me (which we learned some sign language for) and, much more excitingly, Slade's Merry Xmas Everybody!
   
   
   
   
5. Barney - Happy Holidays Love Barney - Okay, this is actually a Christmas/Holiday album rather than just one song, but including classics such as Jingle Bells, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, The 12 Days of Christmas and Deck the Halls, as well as more Barney-specific songs such as Habari Gani (Swahili for "How are you?", a common greeting for during the 7 day Kwanzaa celebrations), Hey Santa Claus, It's Twinkle Time and a magical Christmassy version of I Love You, it's just a fun and at 36 minutes and 21 tracks, quite a quick Christmas album to listen to as a whole.  Even though I'm now 20 and a half, this is what I'll still listen to during car journeys with my mum and brother during the last week of term.  Having it on my iPod as well means I can listen to it while doing stuff at uni, but don't tell anyone that ...
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Adventures in the USA part 8 - Magic Kingdom, Disney World Florida

On our final day at the parks, we were at the Magic Kingdom.  The Magic Kingdom is usually the first park we visit, but this time, it was the last.  We visited the Magic Kingdom on Friday 17th July 2015, the day of the 60th anniversary of the opening of the Disneyland Resort in California, and also coincidentally my dad's 60th birthday.  Therefore, he was the one who wanted to go to the Magic Kingdom for his birthday.  My favourite of the Disney World theme parks has always been the Magic Kingdom.  There's Cinderella's Castle, so many Disney characters to meet, some of my favourite rides and attractions, and they have the spectacular firework display, Wishes Night-time  Spectacular, every night.  As a result, it's quite difficult to pick top 5s, but after some VERY careful thinking, I think I have my list of my top 5 rides and top 5 attractions at Disney's Magic Kingdom:

Top 5

• Mickey's Philar Magic - This attraction in the Fantasyland section of the Magic Kingdom is the only thing my family and I did twice (well, my brother didn't, but he was on Space Mountain at that time, and the rest of us don't like Space Mountain), and it's probably been an absolute favourite since we first went to Disney World Florida in August 2004.  Mickey's Philar Magic is a 3D spectacular that follows Donald Duck as he travels through scenes from classic Disney films such as Beauty and the Beast (Be Our Guest), Fantasia (The Sorcerer's Apprentice sequence), The Lion King (I Just Can't Wait to be King), The Little Mermaid (Part Of Your World), Peter Pan (You Can Fly!) and Aladdin (A Whole New World) in pursuit of Maestro Mickey's sorcerer hat after he touches the hat against Mickey's orders.  Expect pies, plates, champagne bottles, Flounder, jewels and flutes to be in very close proximity to your faces as the 3D effect brings everything to life!  Obviously, this isn't anywhere near as good as seeing it in person and isn't of the best quality, but if you want to see Mickey's Philar Magic outside of the park, I found a video of it to watch here!
• Tomorrowland Speedway - I may not be able to drive on real roads yet (although I am more than old enough, I'm only now about to try to start learning to drive again), I can just about manage a car on the speedway race track.  Well, slightly.  I find it difficult to steer around curves in the track, so it feels a bit bumpy, but it's less stressful than a real road.
• Splash Mountain - As someone who is definitely scared of heights (amongst many other things), Splash Mountain and its steep 50 foot drop is probably an interesting option to be on my top 5 list.  When I was 11 years old, I had my eyes squeezed shut when it came to the drop, so I look funny in the photograph we have from it.  However, while I'm still scared of heights, I can still tolerate Splash Mountain it has the lighting element that Space Mountain lacks (Space Mountain is very dark and has far too many sudden rises, drops and turns) and it also depicts animated segments from Song of the South, telling the story of Br'er Rabbit.  The drop represents Br'er Rabbit's fall into the Briar Patch.  Also, you'll get wet and also possibly soaked on this ride!



Cinderella's Castle



Cinderella's Castle from a bit closer.



A statue of Walt Disney with Mickey Mouse.

• It's A Small World - I think this is another ride to have changed in the past 5 years, and it now includes the famous It's A Small World song being sung in different languages as you see the puppets throughout the boat ride.
• Wishes Nighttime Spectacular - Normally, we see this from the actual Magic Kingdom, standing near the Walt Disney Railroad at the entrance to Main Street USA.  This time, we saw my favourite fireworks display ever from behind Cinderella's Castle, from our table at the California Grill at Disney's Contemporary Resort.  Before now, we didn't realise how far behind the castle the fireworks were actually set off, and it was interesting to see it from a new and different angle.  We even had the restaurant lights dimmed and soundtrack to the display playing in the restaurant, so we could hear what viewers in the park itself could hear.  In fact, I stopped eating my starter at the restaurant to grab my camera and take 50 photos of the fireworks, my favourites of which are below!



Cinderella's Castle at night from the California Grill at Disney's Contemporary Resort.







Wishes Night-time Spectacular.













In case that's difficult to see, it's a golden firework shower.

For my dad's birthday dinner, Mum tried to secretly make a reservation for the California Grill at Disney's Contemporary Resort, which is only a short monorail ride away from the Magic Kingdom.  However, this reservation appeared on the My Disney Experience app that Dad had downloaded onto his smartphone (this app is useful for booking Fast Passes in advance), so it was no longer a secret.  Something I have discovered recently is that I find eating 3 course meals very difficult and I can get bad tummy ache.  Instead of having a heavy starter and a heavy main course, I opted for the House-Made Potato Gnocchi Salad for mains and the Artisan Romaine Salad for starters, for which I have recreated the recipe below!

Ingredients

4 large romaine lettuce hearts per person
croutons
sun-dried tomato pieces
roasted garlic dressing (recipe below)

Instructions

1. Wash and arrange the four lettuce hearts on each plate.
2. Scatter the sun-dried tomato pieces and croutons amongst the lettuce.
3. Drizzle with roasted garlic dressing and serve.

Roasted Garlic Dressing Ingredients (to make 1/2 cup of dressing)

1 large head or 2 small heads of garlic
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons balsamic or red-wine vinegar
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/8th teaspoon salt
freshly-ground pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius or 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Rub off the excess papery skin from the garlic without separating the cloves.  Slice the tips of the head (or heads), exposing the ends of the cloves.
3. Place the garlic on a piece of foil, drizzle with 1 tablespoon oil and wrap into a package.
4. Put in a baking dish and bake for about 40 minutes to 1 hour until the garlic is very soft.  Unwrap and let the garlic cool slightly.
5. Squeeze the garlic pulp into a blender or food processor (discard the skins).
6. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons oil, vinegar, lime juice, salt and pepper and blend or process until smooth.
7. Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

Artisan Romaine Salad

This post marks the end of my Adventures in the USA series, so we'll be back to normal in the next few weeks.  This week, I've been volunteering with packing Team Bradford bags in preparation for Freshers week, so there's been a couple of achy arms and trying to avoid papercuts from putting all the paper into bags.  I'll be starting my final year of university on Monday (well, next week is Freshers week and lectures start the Monday after that, but I'm volunteering during Freshers week) and some other very exciting things will be happening this year as well, so stay tuned!

Adventures in the USA part 7 - Disney's Hollywood Studios, Disney World Florida

Day number 8 (Thursday) of our 10 days in Florida actually started with my observation that my bow-drawing arm (my right arm, seeing as I'm right-handed) hurt.  To actually see if it was still aching at various points during the day, I actually positioned my arms as if I was holding a bow and drew my right arm back as if preparing to shoot an arrow at an imaginary target.  You can probably see how excited I was already to start properly going to archery at uni in September!  Anyway, although I didn't encounter any Disney character who was experienced in archery (such as Merida, Robin Hood or even Mulan) while I was there, my day at Disney Hollywood Studios was actually the first day that I'd really encountered characters in the parks (although I'd briefly seen Pluto while entering Epcot on Monday).  This was the day of many Frozen sing-alongs as various areas of the park were struck by Frozen fever!  In light of this, Frozen attractions will appear in my top 5 for Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Top 5

• For the First Time in Forever: A "Frozen" Sing-Along Celebration - Before seeing this show, my brother had managed to avoid seeing Frozen or really hearing the story of it.  Obviously, he'd heard Let It Go and Do You Want To Build A Snowman multiple times (like on the radio or from my iPod or from me just singing them), but for the times I'd seen it, he'd been a) at school when I first saw it in cinema (I saw it the day after finishing my first set of uni assessments in 1st year), at home while I saw it at my uni's student cinema with my friends, or just in another place in the house when I'd watched it on DVD at home.  He has now watched Frozen since coming home from Florida, but this 30 minute abridged version of the most recent film in the Disney Princess franchise was actually his first experience with it.  This version told the story of Frozen in 30 minutes using two narrators, the newly appointed historians of Arendelle, actors playing Anna, Kristoff, Olaf and Elsa, and was punctuated with a screen that showed clips from the movie for each song and had the lyrics of the songs for the audience to sing along.  Of course, my brother was not happy to have me sitting next to him as I excitedly sang along to Let It Go, Love Is An Open Door and the other songs.  In the evening was "Coolest Summer Ever" Dance Party, a DJ-led mini disco which included Uptown Funk and YMCA, followed by the Frozen Fireworks Spectacular accompanied by even more singing along to the songs from Frozen!

Grass sculptures of Elsa and Anna.

• Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular - This show based on Raiders of the Lost Ark invited volunteers from the audience to learn a few low-level stunts and participate in an Indiana Jones stunt show that included falling from building into soft beds, acrobatics from a Cairo marketplace set, staged fight sequences, a giant boulder chasing Indiana Jones, explosions, and fires.
• Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show - There are little changes to this ride between times of seeing it, but the premise stays the same - cars do stunts including flying through the air off a ramp, driving across the roof of a "fruit stand", high-speed car chases, cars changing behind the scenes (ssshhhh), motorbikes driving through a line of fire and the cyclist being extinguished, and a remote control being handed to a member of the audience so that they "control" a seemingly empty car.  On a previous visit, the well-known Disney car that visited in this show was Herbie (The Love Bug, Herbie Rides Again, Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, Herbie Goes Bananas, and Herbie Fully Loaded), but this time it was Lightning McQueen of the Disney Pixar film Cars.
• Walt Disney: One Man's Dream - I think this is a new attraction in the past 5 years, because I don't recall having seen it before.  It's an exhibition of both original and replica artefacts used by Walt Disney himself (including a school desk) or clips and items used in landmark Disney films, short films and television shows, including new camera and motion techniques, the development of Mickey Mouse from an earlier version of his appearance to the appearance that we know and love today, merchandise, the Mickey Mouse Club, and the promotional programmes surrounding the opening of the Disneyland Park in California (which celebrated its 60th birthday on 17th July 2015, while I was at the Magic Kingdom park in Florida instead).  The exhibition actually charts most of Walt Disney's life, as well as plans for the developments of the parks after his death (including the different parks at Disney World Florida, Disneyland Paris, Tokyo Disney Resort, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, and Shanghai Disney Resort (due to open in 2016).
• Fantasmic! - This fireworks display is a story told through the colourful imagination of Mickey Mouse as the Sorceror's Apprentice (as seen in Fantasia).  The audience sees scenes from Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan, Cinderella, Aladdin and The Little Mermaid through Mickey's imagination, but when Mickey encounters Disney villains including Maleficent, the Evil Queen, Cruella De Vil and Scar, his dreams quickly turn into a nightmare.  Disney's animations projected onto walls of water, fireworks and laser lights bring this show-stopping performance to life as Mickey fights against the villains of Disney films past.

It's very dark, but a statue of a 1930s movie director
 using the viewing scope on his camera.  More information here.

Long have I heard about smoothies or homemade juices with carrots in them, but I've not tried it in person before.  This may be about to change.  In the past year, you've probably seen me go from only drinking water (and the irregular cup of coffee or tea) to really getting into my smoothie recipes, which is thanks to Ally Sheehan and the smoothie bike at uni.  This time, I have found a smoothie recipe on the Disney Mickey Check website that I found while in Florida, and it's probably sure to leave you with plenty of orange energy as it has both carrots and oranges!

Ingredients (serves 2, but may only serve 1)

1 cup orange juice
2 cups strawberries
1/2 cup carrots
1 orange, peeled
1 medium banana

Instructions

1. Cut up strawberries, carrots, orange and banana.
2. Pour orange juice into the blender and then add the cut up fruit.
3. Blend until the smoothie reaches your desired consistency.

Adventures in the USA part 5 - Epcot, Disney World Florida

On our 5th day in Florida (Monday), we were off to the second Disney theme park of the four main parks (we weren't visiting the water parks), Epcot.

Top 5

• Test Track - In a new and improved version of a ride I've visited in the past, you can design your "own" car to be driven around the test track.  You can choose what the strengths of your vehicle are, including its performance in adverse weather conditions, and its speed.  This information is then stored on your Disney Magic Band for use later in the ride.  When you board the test track car, you scan your Disney Magic Band for your chosen car's information to be loaded.  As you zoom around the track, your car then competes with the cars of the other passengers of your test track car in a series of tests measuring the performance and endurance of the cars.  Some cars may perform better in some tests than in others.  At the end of the ride, you enter a showroom full of Chevrolet cars (the Test Track ride is sponsored by Chevrolet), and you can, scanning your Magic Band again, design an advert for your car, choosing the music style, presenter's voice and the location of the advert, which you can then email to yourself.
• Soarin' - This is also one of my all-time favourite rides.  Board a "glider" and fasten your seatbelts for a virtual flight of a lifetime, as you take-off from the ground and whoosh over the landmarks, mountains and other sites of California.
• Living with the Land - a boat ride through greenhouses with real fruit and vegetables and fish tanks.
• Spaceship Earth - this ride seems to have been enhanced in the past 5 years, and each cabin now includes a touchscreen feature where riders answer questions and then at the end of the ride, the magical computers inside the ride build a little video about how your life would be in a futuristic world (including living under the sea).  During the ride itself, you learn about history, including the Ancient Egyptians, The Stone Age and eventually the age of movies and going into space.

Spaceship Earth as viewed from the World Showcase Lagoon.

The Morocco Pavilion

The pagoda at the Japan Pavilion

• IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth - Epcot's fireworks show that showcases the wonders and cultures of the world.

Fireworks during Illuminations: Reflections of Earth at the World Showcase Lagoon.

While I was watching Disney Channel, I saw a programme promotional advert where they were making Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Waffles.  Nutritional information for this and for some of the meals served in Disney World restaurants could be found by visiting disneymickeycheck.com.  The meals listed were recipients of the Mickey Check and met Disney Nutrition Guidelines, developed by health experts to align with federal dietary guideline recommendations.  They had a page for recipes, so I decided to look through them for some fun and relatively easy recipes.  I've been looking for a while for a vegan-friendly version of sushi that all my family will like (and which is easy to make at home without having to go out and find nori wrap, etc, so the first recipe from this website to catch my eye was for Sandwich Sushi.  With the exception of one ingredient (alfalfa sprouts), we had bought all the ingredients required while at Winn Dixie, so I put it forward to my mum as a lunch or dinner suggestion.

Ingredients (to serve 4)

12 slices whole wheat sandwich bread, crusts removed
4 tablespoons hummus (you can use the recipe here)
3 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4" by 1/4" by 2" sticks
1/2 a cucumber, cut into 1/4" by 1/4" by 2" sticks
1 bell pepper, cut into 1/4" by 1/4" by 2" sticks
1/2 cup alfalfa sprouts

Instructions

1. Place crustless bread on a large cutting board.  Using a rolling pin, flatten the bread so it spreads slightly and is as flat as possible.
2. Spread each slice with a very thin layer of hummus, about 1 teaspoon's worth per slice.
3. Lay a piece of carrot, cucumber and bell pepper lengthwise on each piece of bread, staggering and stacking them slightly so they take up as little space as possible.
4. Top with a few alfalfa sprouts and then roll tightly into a spiral towards the opposite side.  Press on the seam to ensure that the bread sticks together.
5. Repeat with the remaining slices of bread.  Slice into 4 "sushi rolls" and serve.

Adventures in the USA part 4 - Universal Resort Florida

On Days 4 and 6 in Florida, we were off by taxi to Universal Orlando Resort (missing Ally Sheehan and Jen Converso's visit there by just 12 days).  Our main reason for going to the two theme parks there (Universal Studios Florida and Universal's Islands of Adventure) was because of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter areas based on Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley, but we also went to visit plenty of other rides and shows.  This post will combine my top 5 things to see overall at both parks as well as a recipe!

Me getting a photo alongside a stunning Marilyn Monroe impersonator.

Top 5

• Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts (Diagon Alley at Universal Studios) - this was an indoor 3D mini-rollercoaster that did leave me squealing a little bit (I'm not a rollercoaster fan).  Bill Weasley is your guide as you journey through Gringotts Bank following the story of Harry, Ron and Hermione's visit to the bank in The Deathly Hallows where Hermione impersonates Bellatrix Lestrange in an attempt to enter Bellatrix's volt.  At times, it felt like your rollercoaster cabin would stop for a bit of the story, but then you'd speed off in the direction and because it was dark, you didn't know where you were going and it was a bit weird.
  

  

  The depiction of London at the entrance to Diagon Alley.

  
  

  

  The Knight Bus

The exterior of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes

The fire-breathing dragon above Gringotts Bank

The entrance to Knockturn Alley

Inside Gringotts Bank

• Celestina Warbeck and the Banshees (Diagon Alley at Universal Studios) - I saw this mini-show for the group who are famous throughout the wizarding world in the Diagon Alley area while drinking butterbeer.  I'd describe the group's style as uplifting, energetic, glamorous and similar to Diana Ross and The Supremes.
  



Celestina Warbeck (far left) and the Banshees with a guest.



• Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey (Hogsmeade at Islands of Adventure)





A snowman in Hogsmeade



The Hogwarts Express!



Dawn French portraying the lady who guards the door to the Gryffindor common room.



The entrance to Hogsmeade



Hogwarts!







Snow (fake) covering the roofs of Hogsmeade.






Inside Hogsmeade



• Popeye and Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges (Islands of Adventure) - my experience of this ride was a bit like my experience at Kali River Rapids at the Animal Kingdom.  It was a water ride, and I got absolutely SOAKED!  I was also the only one in my family to go on this ride as my brother wanted to go on The Incredible Hulk Coaster, and our parents didn't really want to go on either ride.  Therefore, I was in the raft with a group of strangers (they were nice though).  The girl next to me thought it was a good idea to wear a poncho on the ride to stop her from getting too wet.  Well, by the end of the ride, she, like me, was also soaked to her T-shirt.  It took a LONG TIME after getting off this ride for my T-shirt, shorts, socks and trainers to dry out - I had to take off my socks and wring out the excess water for them to even be vaguely wearable for the rest of the day.  In any case, it was a fun ride.
• Poseidon's Fury (Islands of Adventure)

One well-known treat to be found at both the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando Resort and at the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London - The Making of Harry Potter is butterbeer, a sweet soft drink that was served in the series at the Three Broomsticks Inn and at The Hog's Head in Hogsmeade and also known to be sold at the Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley.  In the film and book series, butterbeer is known to have a very slight alcohol content, but the versions sold at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and in London are both non-alcoholic and are sold either cold or frozen as a slush drink.  After having a cup of butterbeer on both days at the parks, I was left wanting to be able to recreate the taste at home.  After looking around for vegan-friendly homemade butterbeer recipes, the easiest-looking one I could find was actually on the PETA website.  This recipe contained vegan margarine (such as Pure), but I'm omitting this because I just tried this recipe with Pure and there ended up being a little blob of it at the bottom of the glass when I was done and it just tasted gross.

Ingredients (serves 1)

2 small scoops of vegan-friendly vanilla ice cream
2 dashes of cinnamon
1 dash of nutmeg
1 pinch of ginger
cold apple juice
additional cinnamon

Instructions

1. Place all the ingredients, except the apple juice and additional cinnamon, in a glass.
2. Pour the apple juice over the ice cream and spices.
3. Sprinkle with additional cinnamon and serve immediately.

Butterbeer in Diagon Alley

Adventures in the USA part 3 - Animal Kingdom, Disney World Florida

Day 2 of exploring in Florida, and we're at Disney's Animal Kingdom.  Unfortunately, we went there on a day with shorter hours (closing at 5pm), so there are things I would have liked to have seen but I missed (things that I've seen in the past though).  I think that this time though, I had a larger appreciation for the wildlife aspect of this theme park, especially with the recent killing of Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe, the conservation and protection of such majestic and special creatures is even more important.  You may question if you should support Disney's Animal Kingdom or not out of concerns about animal welfare, but from what I can currently tell, the organisation takes good care of the animals, allowing animals to not be on display to the public if they seem distressed, keeping them at a safe distance from the public, and keeping the park's closing hours early to give the animals some peace and quiet.  If anyone reads this and disagrees about Disney's treatment of animals, please send me links to educate me in the comments.  Now, onwards to my top 5 of things to see and do at Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park:

• Festival of the Lion King – This indoor attraction has been a family favourite for many years now. It’s a sing-along, acrobatic celebration of The Lion King.  In preparation for the show, audience members are invited to learn the sounds made by lions, giraffes and warthogs, and learn the Swahili names of the main performers.  As puppeteer-controlled moving platforms carrying Simba, Pumbaa, Timon and a giraffe move into the arena, the festival begins with the use of the previously-learned sounds to greet the animals.  With favourites such as The Circle of Life, Can You Feel The Love Tonight (with a dancer flying in the air as Nala) and Hakuna Matata (complete with a hand-jive from the acrobats), you'll be singing like one of Simba's pride in no time! 

• Kilimanjaro Safaris – It probably hasn't been my favourite part of the Animal Kingdom park before, but it certainly seems like it this time.  On this tour that takes about half an hour, you are driven with other visitors in a safari bus into the depths of the park, where you can see a wealth of animals from a safe but relatively close distance.  During our mini-safari, we saw elephants, giraffes, a hippo (completely out of the water, which is unusual for an animal that spends most of its time below the water's surface in order to stay cool), zebras, flamingos and lions, and although I am currently non-vegan (but still trying to cut back on my animal product intake), I did find myself looking at and taking photographs of these beautiful creatures and wondering why anyone would want to harm them and other animals. 

• Flights of Wonder

• Kali River Rapids – Kali River Rapids is a water ride where you sit in a circular raft complete with safety belts and a central compartment for the storage of bags and valuables during the ride. This was the first ride we had a Fast-Pass for, which made waiting time MUCH shorter. Fast-Passes can be organised through the My Disney Experience app available in the iTunes and Google Play stores. I’d suggest to ride on Kali River Rapids quite late in the day, as you WILL get wet!
• Maharajah Jungle Trek

If you've not already noticed, I find taking the time to eat breakfast every day very important - especially if you're going to school or university or work - to keep your mind and body nourished and energised for the day ahead, and a day at a theme park should be no different.  After all, you'll be running around to go on as many rides as possible and see the animals.  This recipe for a "banana breakfast dog" is one I found on disneymickeycheck.com, which identifies it as a nutritious option for kids.

Ingredients

whole grain hot dog bun
peanut butter (may use sunflower butter as nut alternative)
sunflower seeds (shelled)
banana
low-sugar jam

Instructions

1. Open the whole grain hot dog bun and spread peanut/sunflower butter on the bottom half.
2. Sprinkle sunflower seeds onto the spread half.
3. Peel a whole banana and place on the bun.
4. Add a small amount of low-sugar jam on top of the banana, add the top half of the bun, and enjoy!

Look back next week for part 4 of my Adventures in the USA series, in which I share my favourites from the Universal theme parks in Orlando!