From Winter Garden to Summer Africa

I had a very relaxing weekend. I didn't do much except play catch up with my school notes and hit the gym.

Sunday, however, was a fun-filled day of Orlando exploration.

I headed up northwest to Winter Garden to check out Sweet Traditions. I had read reviews on it and was excited to go there and enjoy a nice cup of coffee and perhaps a snack (or two).

The bakery was situated in a cute little neighborhood with red brick roads and lots of people on bikes and walking around . When I first walked up to the bakery, I was so happy to see a bunch of people enjoying a Sunday afternoon brunch outside on the patio. When I walked in, I was in awe by the showcase filled with pastries.

People were laughing and chatting. You felt right at home in an instant. It didn't take very long for someone to come up to me and ask me if I needed help. I declined her offer politely seeing as I needed a few more minutes to take in all the goodness the bakery had to offer.

You know you're having a great day when you start out with a chocolate breakfast! I couldn't resist the urge to order a CHOCOLATE BISCOTTI and CHOCOLATE NAPOLEON.

"Man cannot live on chocolate alone; but woman sure can."

I was even more psyched TODAY when we learned how to make Napoleons in class (stay tuned for pastry school updates...lots of great things to share).

As I enjoyed my "breakfast", I chatted with some of the folks at the tables next to me and Yasmine, this sweet gal that works there only on weekends. She was so friendly and so gracious enough to tell me more about Winter Garden. I continued to enjoy my bottomless cup of coffee and play with my DSi (they had free wifi there...so I didn't fail my twitter fans) as I waited for Renee to get out of work and meet up with me. We had plans for lunch at a nearby Thai restaurant (Savitre was craving some serious spicy food!!!)

It was a gorgeous day. Not a single cloud in the sky..... BUT THEN....

good o'l Orlando doesn't fail to just dump all this rain on ya! *frown* Renee arrived as the rain started coming down. We waited a moment for it to clear (hence not seeing anyone outside in the first two photos). Once it cleared, we hit the road to the Thai restaurant...and AGAIN the rain comes down (that's me taking a picture while driving as the rain nearly blinded me)! HRUMPH! *look of frustration*

When we finally made it to the restaurant...it was closed!!!! (of course, because that's my luck)

So we tried to go to this other Thai restaurant that I saw as we left the bakery...

the sign was so honk'n huge, it was kinda hard to miss. Of course when we got THERE, they too were closed. *sigh* So what do you do when everything is closed? You settle for a quaint little Mexican joint. The food did not fail!

Did this end my day of funness? But of course NOT!!!

An hour later, I headed out to Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge to meet 9 complete strangers for dinner. Yes, Savitre CAN eat within one hour apart!!!!

I had never been to the Animal Kingdom Lodge before (and if you love animals...this is definitely a place to check out!), so when I was offered an invite, by a fellow blogger friend, Justin (which you've probably already heard me mention a couple of times in other posts), I could not pass up the opportunity. Boy oh boy am I glad I didn't! To save some redundancy here...please refer to the comment I added to his blog, Just Keep Goofin'. Since he posted a nice pic of us, I will post the usual Bake Cake and Run pics....FOOD!!!!! *cheeky grin*

We ate at Boma. It's a buffet situated on the bottom floor in the Jambo House (not Jamba Juice, which is what I kept thinking it was for the longest time) I had never had flavors of Africa before, so I KNEW this was going to be lots of fun! I tried new foods like mealie bread, fufu, Geelry's rice, and Bobotie. Remember, I just eat, I don't cook, so please don't ask me what all is in it. *chuckles*

My salad plate included:

(starting at the top and going clockwise)

1) Carrot, Coconut, Pineapple Salad

2) Avocado, Papaya, and Grapefruit Salad

3) Lentils and Hearts of Palm Salad

4) Pasta Salad

and of course Pita Bread in the Middle

My starch plate included:

(again with the clockwise)

Corn and Spinach Pudding

Sambal (hot sauce) :o)

Cous Cous Marakesh

Geelry's Rice

Fufu

As you can tell, I had so much to eat today, I never made it to the dessert bar. Boo hoo!!!...but it looked good though. Here are some samples:

Before we left, I managed to get a picture with Justin, Krystal, and their two little cutie pies!

TAKE ONE!!!
OKAY...TRY AGAIN...TAKE TWO!!

PICTURE PERFECT!

See ya in September....and don't foget to bring your "A" game!!! *laughs*