FOOD: Nona Tap Bar

This past Saturday (7/23/11) was one of my fonder days of recent memories' past.

It began at 3:15am, an hour after when I was originally intended to wake up. By 4:30am, I was at Downtown Disney, in front of the World of Disney store, waiting for the Passholder Sale. In line, I met a mother & daughter from Tampa who were awake, perky, and somewhat covertly "conservative" as I picked up on their references to "Fox & Friends" plus the tone in which they encouragingly implied that someday I will get married [as in the traditional way] ... seriously, do I not put out the gay vibe? Anyways, between them and the attractive young Latin couple in front of us, 6:00am came quickly, and the madness was on.

Really, there weren't many great deals this time around, but I managed the following:

• Two full trays of Vinylmations (Toy Story and Have a Laugh),
• Four polo shirts with a Mickey on them (2 black, 2 orange),
• Four new outfits for Duffy Stitch (Australia, United Kingdom, China, and Buzz),
• Two awesome fabric, 40th anniversary jackets,
• Three girly scarves,
• Two Kermit Mickey ears, and
• One Disney kid's bank.

All-in-all, the damage came out to around $300 -- oh well, I was glad to have left the store in good spirits. Tired and depleted, I went over to Ghiradelli's and, per tradition, picked up a chocolate croissant and a small coffee -- a small breather before heading onto Event #2.

Next was the District 84 DEC Meeting at the Tupperware Headquarters. Registration at 9:30am, meeting to begin at 10:00am. I always enjoyed these meetings when I attended as an area governor last year. It was an opportunity to be part of a well-run, professional meeting. The difference this time was that I was there without any real responsibility, and there was a new generation of area governors -- it felt like I just stepped into a television spin-off. Anyways, I was there just to, during the breaks, distribute Club Ambassador forms and speak with each division to answer any questions and to get them excited about the program. The meeting was a really cool time, and I met a lot of people -- and many who I'd like to get to know better. At the meeting, I did get positive feedback from some of the district officers. I was appreciated for my energy and for taking pictures -- that communicated appreciation is what really fuels me and keeps me wanting to go back and do more.

That meeting ended about half-an-hour ahead of schedule. It was hot outside with the weather possibly changing. Instead of heading back west to the parks (dressed in slacks and a polo), I headed towards home, but not before stopping by the Lake Nona area to go exploring.

I'm a big Gowalla fanatic -- I recently reached over 2000 unique check-ins. Long story short, a Gowalla friend of mine who I never met had taken a picture, earlier in the week, while checking-in at a toll plaza, and made a comment.

His:

Rob Morris checked in at Boggy Creek Mainline Toll Plaza and took this photo.

5 days ago

• 
  Rob Morris: I tried to recreate Cedric's photo. I think I was pretty close to it.
  5 days ago
• 
  Cedric Ching: Nice timing! :) +1
  3 days ago

And here was my pic...

Mine:

Cedric Ching checked in at Boggy Creek Mainline Toll Plaza and took this photo.

3 months ago

Well, I then made it a mission for me to recreate one of his photos. I was going to pass by his area anyway, so let's have fun with it. The picture that caught my eye was one that he took of his Banana Bread Beer at the Nona Tap Room because it looked so delicious.

His (my goal):

Rob Morris checked in at Nona Tap Room and took this photo.

9 days ago

• 
  Eric Longstaff: Congrats! I keep forgetting to give my beer club card when I close my tab
  9 days ago
• 
  Cedric Ching: That looks so good.
  3 days ago

After the Toastmasters meeting, I drove over to Lake Nona and to the Nona Tap Room. As I walked up, a family was leaving. As I got to the bar and told the bartender my goal, my purpose, my mission, she told me that "yeah, he was just in here with his wife and daughter." I had given him a long look, but I didn't say anything other than "thank you." I might have wanted some recognition back... but then I remembered that my profile pic was of Stitch, and maybe 1 of my 1566 photos had me in it. Upon that realization, I felt like a stalker on one of those CBS procedurals.

Anyways, the beer turned out to be of the $15 variety... but it was my main purpose for being there, so alright. And I think that I did pretty good -- I had to get Stitch in there. What could've helped even more is if I had brought a print out to do side-by-side comparison, but perhaps that would've been even creepier.

Well, about an hour later, I receive notification of a comment on the pic, and it was Rob.

Mine:

Cedric Ching checked in at Nona Tap Room and took this photo.“Howdy Rob, here's an attempt to copy one of your pics. :-)”

2 days ago

• 
  Rob Morris: Nice job Cedric! I think I might have passed you on my way out the door.
  2 days ago
• 
  Cedric Ching: Yes, thanks for holding the door for me.
  2 days ago

Side-by-Side:

I was proud and scared at the same time. Proud that I accomplished my goal. Scared that I was being creepy. I didn't mean to. After finishing up there -- the beer was good (not overpowering) and quite a bit (two of those glasses' worth) -- I continued on to try to complete his Local Nona Living trip (10 spots, need 5). I picked up some Walnut Shrimp from Mr. K Chinese Restaurant and a large unsweetened iced tea from Dunkin Donuts a couple doors down, but that's it. I couldn't manage any more food. I will have to accomplish his trip another time. I brought the foods over to Moss Park -- a bit of an exploration. It had a nice view of Lake Mary Jane... $3 admission, but it's going to a good cause. The break from the ordinary was nice, and it fed some of my Gowalla-ing obsession.

That's about it.

(I'm sure that I could really work to tighten up the Lake Nona visit description -- plus add more links -- but I'd rather get this stuff up sooner than too late.) *smiles*

FOOD: Pineapple-Cherry Dump Cake

[This was the first time I made a "Dump Cake", and it really was incredibly easy and incredibly delicious. I made it for today's Hawaiian-themed Toastmasters meeting, and it was ravaged! The pineapple upside-down cake I made for last week's Luau-themed meeting didn't get this much attention. Perhaps the PUD cake was "too formal" versus the non-shape-forming quality of the cobbler. *shrug*

All I know is that the dump cake was super easy and a lot less of a mess. We'll be seeing that one again soon.]

CHERRY PINEAPPLE DUMP CAKE [source: Cooks.com]

1 can (16 oz.) crushed pineapple
1 can (20 oz.) cherry pie filling
1 pkg. yellow cake mix
1/2 to 2/3 c. chopped nuts
1/2 c. butter

In a 9 x 13 inch pan, dump in the pineapple and juice, spreading evenly. Pour cherry pie filling over the pineapple, spreading evenly. Add dry cake mix evenly over the fruit. Add nuts. Drizzle melted butter over top. Do not mix. Bake 350 degrees for 1 hour.

FOOD: Chick-fil-a's Spicy Chicken Sandwich

This week (from May 31st through June 5th), Chick-fil-A is having a preview of their new Spicy Chicken Sandwich. People were able to sign-up and schedule a time to pick up a free sandwich via their Facebook page (all spots have been filled).

The day the promotion was posted on FB, I signed up. My scheduled time was 5pm-7pm today, May 31st. A co-worker had invited me to a Memorial Day BBQ, but I didn't know this when I had signed up a couple weeks ago. I decided to stop by Chick-fil-A before heading to the party (I know, not good etiquette, but we're talking about free food).
...
Anyways, the Chick-fil-A had "flame" decals on its windows, and it kinda looked like the building was on fire! I totally appreciated the theming.

Inside, although there were a lot of regular customers (though not so represented in photo below), there was an order line especially for patrons with their printed-out Spicy Chicken Sandwich vouchers.

I just ordered the sandwich and asked for it to go.

While waiting, I noticed that off to the side, there were three tables -- each with a red tablecloth -- that were reserved for those with Spicy Chicken Sandwiches (great touch!).

Then I realized what I was wearing... my red steak shirt... with the words "Make Mine Well Done" on the back (oh, the cruel irony).

Anyways, when my order was ready, I quickly took it and headed to the car. Inside the bag, I found my sandwich and a special card/envelope -- which I saved to open for later.

(note: envelope was inside bag but not in the actual food container)

Chick-fil-A's Spicy Chicken Sandwich was not quite what I expected. It was more of a buffalo chicken sandwich than Burger King/Wendy's spicy chicken sandwich. Also, the texture of the chicken was somewhere between their Original and Grilled varieties.

My overall impressions of this new offering was... inconclusive. I mean,I'm a big fan of the Original Chick-fil-A Sandwich, and also I usually shy away from foods with a "Spicy Flavor Inferno". Still, I'm open to something new twice.

And a good thing too...

When I got home, I pulled out the little orange envelope that came with my order, and inside found card thanking me for "taking the heat" plus a coupon for another Spicy Chicken Sandwich for after when it's available to the public.

How awesome was that?! Overall, from start-to-now, this was such a great promotion, and I'm ever-more proud to have a Chick-fil-A so close to home! Thank you, Chick-fil-A!
-----
The Chick-fil-A Spicy Chicken Sandwich will be available to the public on Monday, June 7th.

RUN: 6.60 miles @58:44, Home <-LL-> Stdm Pkwy Loop (CCW) + WM+ (CW), Melbourne, FL

Oh Hai. My name is Cedric, and I used to blog here. (as Jake would say)

Yeah, it's been a while... busy at work and writing assignments that are easy anxiety fodder. But tonight I went for an hour-long run and am full of blog juice, so here I go.

Today is my holiday eve... eve. One more day of work before I am free (until Jan 4). This season, I've decided to just stay in Melbourne because family plans were too much in flux, and as hinted, I have a writing assignment looming.

Work's been challenging... more in the coordination of efforts -- I'm still trying to get everyone's story straight and figuring a path to plow forward on. Stacks of calorie-intensive holidays goodies and distractions abound -- and you'd think that dwindling office numbers prompted by the prospect of family gatherings (or justified laziness) would help, and it does, except when part of the affected are the people you need to coordinate with.

(yes, I'm rambling... better than too little?)

Anyways, one more day, and I'm looking forward to making more progress and setting myself up for a win early when we get back.

Stuff I need to catch up on: I have a post almost ready about the OUC Half Marathon earlier this month (except for the pictures & video), and I may get that completed towards the start of the true holiday; also, a few Disney trip reports, which will probably come after the big report -- this past weekend, I just got done with sorting through 1700+ photos, whittling them down to a neat 770.


Okay, about tonight's run. I hadn't run since the OUC Half a couple weeks ago. The weather had turned cold, but moreso I've been putting my pressure to work on the report ahead of my own personal well-being. And when I don't let myself out to run for a couple weeks, I really start to feel it. I've been getting more sleep these past couple nights (thanks to a new friend), and I thought that I'd capitalize on the self-pointed vividness and do this good thing.

I knew that it was really cold outside, and I didn't want to under-dress, so I wore my undies, running tights, running shorts, and sweatpants... long-sleeve cotton shirt, short-sleeved tech-shirt, and sweatshirt... two pairs of socks, gloves, and a skull cap. By mile 1.5, the gloves were off and tucked in my tights, and my sweatshirt was off and around my waist. I did run with a safety light (clipped onto the cap, so that had to stay on) and music: This American Life ("#1 Party School" episode).

Instead of being focused on the course/distance, I went out time-oriented -- I was going to run for an hour. I ran up Lake Andrew and did the Stadium Pkwy loop (CCW) sans VHS (since it was really dark). I ended up tacking on a CW WM+Stores loop, and made it home with 1:16 to spare (close enough). Traffic was heavy but not too bad.

By mile 2, my chest was feeling tight -- bad endurance, and I really felt like my form suffered. I slowed it down until I felt better then got into a better rhythm. As I was running the back stretch, I was running patient, feeling really good, and almost forgot that I was running... hence, the tacked on loop with no issues.

The weather was really quite perfect, and I wasn't hungry/thirsty/anything. I didn't really sprint it home tonight because of the leftover time and because it was a pleasant run (just right). And it was a good break-in run for my new shoes: Adidas SuperNova Glide, size 9 1/2 (they're still clean!).


Anyways, I seriously ate too many so many cookies at work today. This holiday saw quite a number giving cookies away as gifts, and they've all been delicious! I was able to take pictures of a couple of the sets -- one from my officemate and the other from another coworker's family.

Fantastic!

Anyways, I've gotta get a shower and some food/beer in me, then perhaps another early-to-bed.

One more day. Woo!

Oh, here's the sweaty ceddy pics (clothes on because it's chilly... okay, one shirtless):

FOOD: Chex Party Mix

Chex Party Mix
(this is how I did it)Ingredients:

3 cups Rice Chex

3 cups Corn Chex

3 cups Wheat Chex

2 cups Pretzels (doubled up since I'm skipping the bagel chips)

1 cup of Mixed Nuts (no peanuts!)

6 Tbsp. Butter, melted

2 Tbsp. Worcester Sauce (it was new, but you don't want to know how old this was)

1/2 tsp. Onion Powder ($.50 at wal-mart)

3/4 tsp. Garlic Powder

1 1/2 tsp. Seasoned Salt (didn't know there was such a thing... next time I'm using Old Bay)

Directions (followed oven instructions instead of microwave):

Preheat the oven to 250F.

Melt the butter in a large roasting pan in the oven.

Add the seasoning ingredients and mix well.

Slowly add the rest of the ingredients.

Gently mix to coat.

Bake in oven for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

Let cool on paper towels for 15 minutes, then

Store in airtight container.

Okay, I'm already munching on the mix, and I'm really liking it. I hope that there's enough for the people at the office tomorrow. This was my first try, and I have enough cereal for a second batch (tomorrow maybe). On the back of each Chex box is a different Chex Mix recipe -- Cinnamon-Apple Chex Mix, Cheesy Ranch Chex Mix, and Chex Muddy Buddies. I may have to "Chexperiment" more often.

:)

[eop]

TOASTMASTERS: Division B Fall Contests

This morning, the Fall Contests for Toastmasters District 84 Division B were held at the Holiday Inn Conference Center, which was fantastic for me (so close). Anyways, everything ran smoothly, and we came out with our two winners.

For this event, I had both my point-and-shoot Canon PowerShot A710 (7.1 megapixel, 6x optical) camera, and a Nikon D80 (10.2 megapixel, 18-135mm lens) that my friends let me borrow.

The theme was "Fantasy". I saw a princess, a witch, a gypsy, a ship captain, a ladybug, Darth Vader, a Shriner, and a flapper.

Thai, Lady, Vader
Princess & Captain
Shrine On!
Witchy Woman &
Not an Abu Ghraib costume
Then there was me... in khakis and a white button-up... to which I just asked the other guests (using my best Puss-in-Boots voice) "Is this not your fantasy?".

Anyways, for the contest, I was a timer along with Gloria. She's such an extrovert, and it's refreshing from time to time not to worry about whether or not I'll have fun -- we always have a good time with it.

Before I get into the contesting, let me post pics of the food and get that out of the way.

The salad was tasty, as was the beef dish
(and I love pine nuts in my rice pilaf).
Then Gloria and I shared our desserts.
All was delicious! Okay, now for the contests...

First up: The Evaluation Contest.

New-to-District 84 (D84) John Sanderson was the test speaker, whose "My Life Reset" gave the audience some perspective on life changes, which he mentioned, are often prompted either by inspiration or desperation. Lisa R., from my area, Area 22, came out with the win, with Sylvia N. (also from our area but representing a different area) came in second.

Next was the Humorous Speech Contest.

There were five contestants, starting with Vladimir N. from Area 22 talking about street racing with friends and a car without brakes. Next, Bill B. gave an account of Navy boot camp, then Dan Brown discussed the differences between men and women (it's in their genes). Amy S. spoke and demonstrated the dedication of some fathers from the animal kingdom, and Fonnie B. shared some lessons she learned from her pet fish.

Amy and her Jack Hanna/Discover Channel speech are moving on to represent Division B at the District Conference in a couple weeks. Fonnie took second and Dan Brown third.

Overall, I was pleased with and agreed with the results. Congratulations and good luck to the winners.

As with many Toastmasters contests, there were raffles and a 50/50. I purchased 25 raffle tickets and went in with Gloria for another 25 50/50 tickets (the pot was about $117).


But before any of tickets were drawn, our Division B Governor Dee M. told the audience about something she saw done and wanted to do -- which was to give a gift to the person who was first to register for the event. And that was... ME! (woo!).


Upon arriving at the contest, Gloria brought me to the raffle prize table and asked which prize I liked the most -- telling me that if she won it, she'd give it to me. I had asked her the same question, and she said that she'd want the decorative candle set. Unbeknownst to me, I was being set up, and I got the prize that I wanted.

Is this not your fantasy?
In the actual raffle, I won a Yankee Candle, and I was able to return the favor to Gloria -- last year, she won the Toastmasters tote bag that I wanted and selflessly gave it to me. Anyways... we didn't win the 50/50 but we both went home with a prize and had a good time.


As for the camera-ing, I primarily used the Nikon because of its speed. It was a little bulky and intimidating, but it was good practice. Most of the picture did turn out darker than I expected, which was a disappointment, and for now, I think that I'm going to continue with my point-and-shoot.

UPDATE: again, we didn't win the 50/50 raffle, but I enjoyed drawing animals on the back of the tickets...


I love my Pilot VBall pens!

[eop]