let's celebrate! part 2

Now to continue my story of a mirth-filled visit to Disneyland. If you missed my last post, I suggest you take a few (well several ;) minutes and catch up as I am going to plunge right in and some of the message will be lost if you are unfamiliar with what has led me up to this part of the tale.

Once we boisterously welcomed all who came to that happy place, we quickly skipped to our first arduous task of the day... eating a gigantic breakfast surrounded by larger-than-life silly, quirky, and joyous characters. Plaza Inn was our destination, their character breakfast was our task. I am sure that pretty much everyone has seen at least one classic picture of a friend, coworker, family member, random acquaintance where there is that obligatory pose with a Disney character, be it Mickey, Minnie, Princess, Grumpy, Winnie the Pooh... or Tigger too. However, if you have never been to a Disney theme park then you are probably not aware of the toil that usually accompanies this one quickly snapped picture, nor the imaginative and incredibly talented cast members (Disney’s name for employee) that are behind those masks or makeup. The "toil" are the lines one must maneuver to meet these characters as they can sky rocket and consume most of your precious time (especially at Disney World), BUT there is a reason for it. An amazingly beautiful and heartfelt talent is given to each guest these cast members meet. For youngsters this meeting can be undeniably precious as you can see their eyes light up and the wheels turn in their head and wonder, even for just a second, if the characters from their favorite fairy tales are actually real and if those stories can really come true. The characters never ever shatter the dream that their fairy tale story is true, and in so doing they can even make adults forget, even for a second, that their story is a fictional one. However cheesy that obligatory smiley picture may look, you can be almost certain that there was a lot of imagination and wonder that accompanied it on both sides of the seemingly simple greeting. The character breakfast we participated in had delicious food and unbelievably witty and playful characters, with no lines to meet them as they came to our table. It was absolutely memorable and every one of our kiddlets basked in freely letting their imagination roam and dance with the talent that lay behind those masks and makeup, a courageous and unique feat in the time they live in.

Once some rides were accomplished, we made our way through Toon Town to meet the mouse... Mouses... Mice. Our first stop was Minnie's house, then we planned to go to Mickey's. At the end of touring each house we would be able to meet the mouse-house-owners themselves. We arrived at the open door to Minnie's house and a cast member was there to let us know when we could proceed into the humble pink, white, and polka dotted abode. This cast member's name was Kaylee, and just typing her name creates happy tears in my eyes as I reflect on how her kind and genuine actions that day shaped my sister and nieces' view of their beautiful adoption story.

My courageous nieces have endured hardship, abandonment, neglect and countless other trials in the, roughly, 7 and 10 years of age they possess. Independence, self sufficiency, and self protection were skills immediately acquired in order to simply survive when they were abandoned at ages one and four. Their exact birth names, their biological family, their birthdates are unknown to this day. The majority of life for these precious girls have been anything but carefree and child-like. When my sister took them in as her foster children she knew the trials she faced in choosing to care for and later adopt these girls, because she was adopted herself. She knew the pain it could bring her, she knew the challenge it would present, she knew it would require sacrifice, she knew it would take abundant unconditional love, she knew it would take every ounce of energy she has. She knew all of this, looked these facts square in the face and bravely chose adoption, no matter the cost to herself. I cannot think of many other acts that show a truer representation of pure love and redemption here on earth. She has not only given them every physical need but also every ounce of encouragement and emotional care they could want. The exquisite result is that they are thriving and enjoying their childhood, a childhood that could have so easily been riddled with horror upon unimaginable horror. The unfortunate truth is that, due to the unconventional nature of this particular adoption, this budding little family has experienced prejudice and adversity where celebratory support should have reined. Carin and Yvette now have educational opportunity, they now have childlike freedom, they now have considerate care, they now have every physical need met, they now have aunties (or Tia as they call me ;), they now have cousins, they now have uncles, they now have a supportive community, they now have a boundlessly loving mother, they now have hope. This is to be celebrated.

Kaylee heard their adoption story, and Kaylee led a Disney-fied celebration. She told us to come see her after we met with Minnie, because she had a surprise for us. Once we met Minnie, Kaylee took Carin and Yvette by the hand and said, “How would you like to meet Mickey right now? I think he will want to hear your story and celebrate with you right away!” She led our entire group through the exit to Mickey’s house (which essentially means we went to the front of the line… and the line was about a half hour long), waited and chatted with us for a few mere minutes before all of a sudden, we were greeted by Mickey and several other cast members who had heard their story and wanted to congratulate Amie and the girls on the adoption. I am quite certain that every adult eye in that room had a moment of mistiness as they saw Carin and Yvette’s eyes completely light up with joy when they met Mickey, danced a celebration dance with him, and he gave them an enormous bear hug of delight. It didn’t end here, Kaylee then took us to see Pluto, who was also in ToonTown at the time, and then she said she had something even more special for us. Off she went and quickly came back with 9 pins, each stating, “I'm celebrating: Adoption”, then she took us over to Donald and Daisy, where after a bit of a wait, they escorted Carin and Yvette, hand in hand, through ToonTown, a celebratory parade of their adoption. I don’t know how to describe the impact of these simple gestures other than to say it was pure reverent magic. It communicated something profound to my sister and her girls- their story is both stunning and unique, it is one to be honored with blissful revelry.

At every turn of our visit that day cast members would notice the pins Kaylee put together for us and they would look at us in delight and genuinely express their congratulations to Amie, and to all of us who were celebrating this new family. Their smiles gave warmth to these girls who had seen too much coldness in their young lives. Their heartfelt congratulations gave my sister a deep sense of support and encouragement for what she had done. That day, and the next, truly felt like Disneyland’s whole purpose in being open was to celebrate adoption, and this was accomplished through diligently caring cast members. The fact is that there are many, many people who work for Disney that deeply value Walt’s vision for his parks- to be “a source of joy and inspiration to all the world.”* There are incredibly intricate behind the scenes systems in place just so that each guest visiting can feel special, be inspired, and joyfully celebrate. I don’t know what all had to happen for Kaylee to drop what she was doing and lead this celebratory romp, but from what I could gather through sly eavesdropping it certainly took some well-timed logistics from not only her but also several of her coworkers. These coworkers could have dismissed the inconvenience and disruption of this romp since it was an incredibly busy day at the park, but they didn’t, and Disney the company had a plan in place for such an occasion to be embraced, how awesome is that?

My hope is that this post encourages you to take a page from Kaylee’s book and consider how to creatively celebrate someone, be it family member, friend, or 5 minute acquaintance. The impact of this sweet and kind gesture just may heal wounds that others have inflicted, and bring heartfelt cheer to your world and theirs. 

The recipe I will leave you with is a cake that I made for a jewelry and clothing party I hosted a few weeks ago, but the cake itself was inspired by my sister, Amie. While we are about as polar opposites as you can get, we both love traveling, eating incredible food, and community. I wanted the cake I made to reflect some of her favorite flavors with an added fun spin to them, and this is what I came up with. It’s a great recipe for fall and for sharing with friends and family, maybe even for a Thanksgiving or “Friendsgiving” event, which I can’t believe are already around the corner. Along with the picture of the cake, I have added some other pictures that capture the spirit, awe, and wonder these kids (and my sister, mom, and I) felt on our trip, I hope you enjoy the journey!

From left to right, top to bottom: Quickly snapped pic of the cake for the party I mentioned above, the recipe for which you will find below; me, my mom, and my daughter showing Minnie some love as we Disneybounded as her that morning; one of my prized possessions- LuLaRoe castle leggings! I wore them complete with a tiara and tutu, yay for being a kid again!; my beautiful sis, Amie; meeting Pluto in Toon Town in the middle of our celebratory romp with Kaylee; princess hugs!; sheer delight for every one of our party abounded during the Paint the Night Parade in Disneyland; Carin could not contain her gleeful excitement at seeing every one of her favorite stories come to life during the parade; happily in line bright and early to beat the crowds at California Adventure; woohoo for Cars Land!; more princess hugs!; yeah I think the picture speaks for itself :D; as does this one... which is my favorite ride of all time by the way ;); along with the paint the night parade, World of Color also drew out awe-filled wonder and joy as this nighttime show paid homage to the ideals of Disneyland, really and truly quite a thoughtful and spectacular show; our last night of the trip these cousins walked hand in hand, glowing from the bond they experienced during this trip, and the magic of celebrating the family that was brought together.

Ginger and Spice Carrot Cake:

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 pound large carrots, shredded

3 large eggs, room temperature

1/3 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups sugar

1 1/4 cups vegetable oil

¼ cup coconut oil

1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¾ tsp nutmeg

½ tsp cardamom

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt
 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325ºF. Butter two 8-by-2-inch round cake pans. Dust pans with flour, and tap out any excess. 

Place carrots, eggs, buttermilk, vanilla, sugar, vegetable oil, and ginger in a large bowl; whisk until well combined.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Using a rubber spatula, fold the flour mixture into the carrot mixture until combined. Fold in the toasted pecans.

Divide batter between the two cake pans, and bake until a cake tester inserted into the middles comes out clean, about 1 hour. Remove pans from oven, and transfer to a wire rack to cool, 15 minutes. Turn cakes out onto rack; let stand until completely cool.

Orange scented Cream Cheese Frosting:

Ingredients:

2 pounds cream cheese, softened

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

3 cups confectioners' sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons pure orange extract

Directions:

Beat cream cheese, butter, and 1 cup sugar with a mixer on medium speed until combined.

With machine running, add remaining 2 cups confectioners' sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add orange extract, and beat until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes more.

Assembly: 

Note: If you are unfamiliar with leveling, cutting, or frosting cakes I would suggest checking out this tutorial before this next step. 

Level each cake layer. To get the look shown below, place about 2 cups of buttercream in to a bowl and tint it (I prefer Americolor gel food coloring) to the darkest shade of color desired for the bottom ombre layer. Take about 1/2 a cup of this tinted frosting and combine with 1 1/2 cups white frosting. Once combined then take 1/2 a cup of this lighter frosting and combine with 1 cup white frosting, you will now have 3 shades of your desired color. Fit 3 piping bags, one with a 12mm french piping tip, another fitted with an 11mm french piping tip, and the last fitted with a 10mm french tip. Fill each fitted piping bag about 2/3 full with the tinted buttercream, each bag will have one shade of color. Place the first layer of cake on a disposable cake round or cake plate. Fill the first layer with enough white buttercream to form a 1/2" layer, making sure a small amount spills over the sides evenly. Place a layer of cake over the filling. Frost the cake with remaining white buttercream, this will not perfectly cover the cake, that is fine you simply want to achieve a crumb coat. Pipe rosettes (Same method as this tutorial that shows you how to cover an entire cake with rosettes, but I used different piping tips, feel free to use the same 1mm star tips from the video if you want that specific look) along the bottom border with the darkest shade of frosting, then pipe rosettes with the next lightest shade for the middle section of the cake, then pipe rosettes with the lightest shade on the top of the cake, and viola! you have a cute and trendy rosette ombre cake!

*This is a quote from Walt Disney's opening day speech at Disneyland, found on this site.

let's celebrate! part 1

You don’t have to know me for very long before learning that while I am passionate about many activities, I am truly obsessed with two in particular. Baking, and trips to DISNEYLAND. Disneyland, Anaheim, Ca. is my home away from home. Now, please don’t misunderstand me here, I am not naive, or have an exceedingly jovial personality that completely ignores the real downsides of my happiest place on earth. Yes, there are long lines, yes it is expensive, yes, tempers can run high, yes, even I slightly cringe a bit when meeting some of the classic Disney princesses due to their bland personalities and stereotypically perfect outward appearance, yes, I am completely aware of the fact that Disney is a corporation hell bent on turning a profit, and no, I personally do not agree with every little thing they do. Ok… now that I have got that dark cloud out of the way I will now plunge in to the heart of why I LOVE this place so much. This will be a 2 part blog post, my hope is that it will provide some thoughtful insight for those who are heading to the house of mouse some time soon and a different perspective to those who are skeptical of said mouse house.

Growing up in the Palm Springs, California area I was the daughter of a pastor. My family was not middle class, if anything we were scraping the bottom of lower middle class and edged in to being a low-income family once my dad became a missionary and we moved to Mexico. We never had the trendiest clothing, we ate cheap imitation brand foods, and anything new or fancy was usually given to us by friends or family. Despite our lack of funds, my parents made an effort to use what little extra we had to create family memories through short trips to locations close by. We went to naturally beautiful destinations such as Oceanside, Idyllwild, and Big Bear Lake, but none were as memorable to me as those handful of 2 hour road trips we took to Disneyland. A trip to Disneyland was synonymous with a celebration, and Disneyland's seemingly sole purpose in living was to  celebrate with me and for me. They would wholeheartedly celebrate imagination, celebrate joy, celebrate love, celebrate memories, celebrate family, celebrate milestones, celebrate creativity, I could keep going but I think you get the giddy school girl picture. For the be-speckled, imaginative, and vivacious little girl that I was (and still am, really) it was a symbol of blissful harmony, outrageous possibilities, creative beauty, and joy at its purest. Fast forward to today and after countless trips back that lovely picture still remains resolutely intact.

To capture this blissful essence of celebration I need not go any further than gifting you with the little treasure of a story that is my latest trip to Disneyland. In June my sister, Amie, who lives in Quito, Ecuador, was able to finally make legal what had been official In her heart for years. She legally became the mother to her foster daughters, Carin and Yvette. This process had taken three and a half long years due to several unconventional factors surrounding their particular adoption situation. I knew that when this momentous event was finally finalized we simply had to go to the one place where this new little family would be loudly celebrated with sheer delight. Once the adoption was final, my nieces' visas were in place, and their stateside trip to visit friends and family in order, we planned the dates for our long-awaited celebratory visit to Disneyland. Initially just my mom, me, my sister, and her two girls were going to go on this trip but I wanted to add some youthful joy and cousin bonding time for my new nieces while they were here in the States. So three weeks before our trip, at Carin's small family birthday party, I surprised her as well as her sister and their cousins by letting them all know that they would be celebrating the adoption all together. It was a truly magical moment as the cousins (my daughter and brother's 3 children) were not only thrilled to go to Disneyland, they were also honored to be included in this amazingly festive celebration of their newly adopted cousins.

Three weeks flew by, and my plans were all in place for our 4 day trip and 2 marathon Park day adventure. My 5 year old daughter, 12 and 11 yo nieces, and 8 yo nephew (my brother's children) all flew out with me early in the morning. I had decided to get settled at our hotel and then sprint to the hallowed Disney Park property right away. We were all itching to hear that mystically endearing park theme music, discover secret hidden Mickeys on random pavement tiles, and skip happily along the esplanade. In true Charin fashion my eyes became sappily misty the second we crossed the border in to Disneyland property. I can quite literally sense that child-like fun and adventure await me every time I cross that unseen border in to wonder... er I mean Disneyland. As we went through the security checks, the cast members/security guards greeted us with a happy grin, bid us a magical day, cracked innocent jokes here and there and made me realize that not every security guard in the world is like every one I've met at O'Hare airport- Grumpy. Off we galavanted to Downtown Disney for our only adventure for that day- shopping!

First stop was the colossal Lego Store in which my nephew, Ezra's dream came true. Unlike that of (most) grown adults, Ezra's dream is quite simple- be surrounded by legos, play with legos, and maybe... Just maybe... Add a Lego set to his prized collection, and that is what we did. And Ezra rejoiced. Thoroughly. I will also add that that kid sure deserved his dream coming true right at the outset of our trip as he was the only boy in our party of 9, and he was an absolute peach of a prince to us ladies throughout our wild adventure.

We strolled through a few stands here and there, buying a dainty tiara for Maddy (my 12 year old niece) and I to share, as well as a "gypsy Minnie" pin for nana (my mom). The golden moment of that whole day, though, happened at my favorite shop of any theme park I have ever been to, WonderGround Gallery. This small shop features Disney inspired art by professional artists, many of whom are local to California. If you did not know, many Californians are like me in that, Disneyland holds a sacred gleeful childhood piece to their heart. So you can imagine if renowned local artists are creating pieces for somewhere that holds such a precious emotional place, the artwork will inevitably be truly and beautifully inspired. That's what it is. Every time I walk in to this shop I am in awe at the new takes and interesting perspectives these artists have come up with for classic, and new Disney/Pixar stories and characters. Truth be told, while I like classic Disney movies, it is Pixar films that hold my heart and inspire me. The artistic and thoughtful approach I see reflected in the artwork in WonderGround Gallery always makes me think twice about the depth a classic Disney character may have though.

My 11 year old niece wants to work for Disney some day, and in particular wants to be a story board artist for Disney. She is truly in love with all things Disney, and she truly is a talented young artist. When she walked in to this store her whole being lit up to see every array of artistic possibility you could take to the characters and stories she knew so well. She bounced cheerily from one artist showcase to the next, awe inspired at each, but when she reached the center of the room she stopped, mesmerized at what she saw. An actual real, live Disney sketch artist sketching a scene from one of her favorite movies, Up. For this inquisitive and ingenious youthful artist it was enough just to watch and be inspired by the talent that lay before her. She drew closer with longing admiration and exclaimed sweetly, "That is SO AWESOME!" The artist looked up from her work, smiled, thanked her, and asked her name. "Alaska!" She happily replied, still fully mesmerized by her handiwork. The artist finished up her sketch, and at the top she wrote "Alaska". She turned to the stunned little lady and handed her the piece of art she had just finished. To put it plainly, Alaska was beside herself with sheer joy. She could not believe she got to keep a professional piece of artwork from someone who had her dream job. She also could not believe that this piece, professionally framed and worth about $40 (which would have taken her months of scrimping and saving to collect by herself), was purely a gift, no strings attached, but it most certainly was. No ulterior motive, no gimmick, no hoop we would have to jump through, it was just a lovely gift from one artist to another. This, my friends, in the Disney parks fan world is called "Disney Magic" and it's a cheesy way of saying "random act of amazing kindness", and it is really beautiful to be a part of, not only on the receiving end, but also on the end that gives the Magic too. Alaska eyes watered up with joy, as did mine, and as did her older sister Maddy's, as we all knew this was a completely beautiful and inspiring moment for Alaska, our beloved niece and sister, the gifted, talented, and dream-filled artist whose hope was to one day accomplish the art that she now possessed at no cost to her.

Unbelievably, that Magic did not cease here. That night my 2 newly adopted nieces, sister, and mom arrived. The next morning all 9 of us awoke bright and early and made our way to Disneyland as the sun was rising in front of us, and soon after we arrived at the gate one of my Disneyland visit dreams came true. Whilst not-so-quietly holding in our thorough anticipation for the park to open, a cast member came up to us and asked what was written on our t-shirts. Someone replied, "It says, 'We're celebrating the adoption of Carin and Yvette Youngren!'" "Well how wonderful is that, congratulations!" The cast member said in return, "How would you all like to help me open the park today? When I give the go ahead you will all come through the gates and be the first to enter Disneyland today, then you will stand in the middle of the entrance and eagerly lead a countdown to when we officially open the park, once the countdown is done you will holler, 'Let the Magic begin!!!' Does that sound like something you would like to do?" "Uh... This has been something I would like to do since I was 7 years old, sir, that's 24 years of waiting for this precise moment, so... YES FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS MICKEY, YES!", is what I said in my head but outwardly I replied, "Yes, yes we would LOVE to do that." and then frantically tried to save my giddy 7 year old childlike jump for when he walked away back to his very important magical work. In case you are new to this whole theme park world, this task is given to one lucky family every morning. Everyone that goes to the park at opening time must line up and stand behind gates, once it gets to park opening time these lines usually form a sea of people anxiously gazing past the gates in to the lush greenery of Disneyland, eagerly waiting to be let in. One family is chosen by cast members before the park opens to be the family that does exactly what was spelled out to us. I know it sounds weird to be excited over opening a park that is open 365 days of the year... Eh, who am I kidding, it is weird, but it's a good weird, it's a me weird, and it's the weird that I love about myself. I have wanted to be a part of the family that opens the park for so long simply because it is a moment when you, a park-goer, get to share Disney Magic with your fellow park goers that day. We waved, smiled, and clapped at complete strangers, we yelled that countdown like it was up to us to shatter the windows of Main Street, and we did our absolute best to rile everyone up and give them some joy for their day at Disneyland. I had seen other families do this and felt oddly connected to them as we were both so thoroughly excited to experience moments of basking in being a carefree kid for that one day. It was our duty to spread that sunshine and sincere love in that very first moment of the day and boy did we ever take on the task with heartfelt revelry.

This story will continue next week with even more celebratory episodes of our adventure (one in which my nieces got to lead an impromptu procession around ToonTown hand in hand with Donald and Daisy to celebrate their adoption), believe me you won't want to miss out on the rest of the story. For now, I will leave you with a celebratory and fun cake recipe, the cake that I made for my niece, Carin, on her birthday. It is a sweetly fun and childlike cake, much like the story I am telling you, I hope you enjoy and see you next week for part two!

Sprinkle Me Pink Celebrate Cake (aka funfetti cake)

Ingredients: 

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for pans
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/2 cup Rainbow "Jimmie" Sprinkles

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour two 8" round cake pans, tapping out the excess flour.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. With mixer on low, beat in eggs and yolks, one at a time, fully incorporating with each addition. Alternately beat in flour mixture and buttermilk mixture beginning and ending with the flour mixture; mix just until combined. Very VERY carefully fold in the sprinkles. This should be done in no more than 4 folds as the colors do run very VERY quickly.

Divide batter between pans; smooth tops. Bake until cakes pull away from sides of pans, 32 to 35 minutes. Let cool in pans 10 minutes. Run a knife around edges of pans and invert cakes onto a wire rack.

Vanilla Buttercream

Ingredients:

1 ¼ cups sugar
5 large egg whites
2 cups (4 sticks or 1 pound) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into pieces
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (I recommend using a higher quality extract for this, like Nielsen Massey or make your own!) 

Directions:

Place egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Whisk until sugar has dissolved and egg whites are hot to the touch. Test by rubbing the mixture between your fingers; it should feel completely smooth.

Remove from heat, and pour mixture in to a stand mixer bowl. Using the whisk attachment, beat on high speed until mixture has cooled completely and formed stiff and glossy peaks, about 10 minutes.

On medium-slow speed whisk in the vanilla until completely incorporated. 

Add the butter, one piece at a time, and beat until incorporated after each addition. Whisk until smooth.

*Disclaimer- I do not own these recipes. They are recipes that I adapted from Martha Stewart recipes for vanilla cake and vanilla buttercream.

Assembly

Note: If you are unfamiliar with leveling, cutting, or frosting cakes I would suggest checking out this tutorial before this next step. 

Level each cake layer. Place about 1 1/2 cups of buttercream in to a bowl and tint it with your choice of food coloring (I prefer Americolor gel food coloring). Repeat this process with another color of your choice. Fill 2 piping bags, one fitted with a 12mm french piping tip, the other fitted with an 11mm french piping tip, about 1/2 full of the colored buttercream. Place the first layer of cake on a disposable cake round or cake plate. Fill the first layer with enough white buttercream to form a 1/2" layer, making sure a small amount spills over the sides evenly. Place a layer of cake over the filling. Frost the cake with remaining white buttercream. Pipe rosettes (Same basic method as this tutorial that shows you how to cover an entire cake with rosettes, but I used different piping tips, feel free to use the same 1mm star tips from the video if you want that specific look) along the bottom border and top edge of the cake. Lightly sprinkle the top with your choice of sprinkles/edible tiny decorations/fairy dust. That's it, munch away on this fun little beauty, it tastes delicious and is great for both kids and kids at heart.