It was an early morning of
packing up and moving from Parc Soleil in Orlando to Westgate Resorts Town Center Resort & Spa in Kissimmee. The grounds at Westgate Town Center
Resort are enormous. There are many room types available, from one-bedroom
studios to 5-bedroom villas to accommodate your party. There are lots of
activities to keep you busy in the resort: softball, fitness center,
shuffleboard, soccer, playground, basketball, volleyball, horseshoes, tennis,
Ship Wreck Island Water Park, miniature golf course, pools, movie theater,
swan-shaped paddle boats, train stops to get you around the resort, shuttles
for theme parks, and pavilion that includes Cordovano Joe’s Authentic New York
Style Pizza, Drafts Sports Bar & Grill, Joe’s Marketplace & Deli,
Mission Control Game Room, and coffee shop serving Starbucks®. This
resort is also pet-friendly so bring your fur babies with you.
The studio (up to 590 sq.
ft.) includes a double bed, a queen sleeper sofa in the living area,
kitchenette with small dinette, microwave, and refrigerator, and 27-inch color
TV with DVD player. The interior décor is a little dated with a Floridian
seaside 80’s motif with light wood panel furniture, tile floors, and stark
white kitchenette. The views vary due to the multiple number of buildings on
the property. The 5500 building has a nice view of a lake from the living room
area (these rooms do not have a patio, but have a slider so you can enjoy the
breeze) and view of Swan Lake from the bedroom. The bedroom is quite small for
a couple to comfortably sleep in. If you are traveling with children, the bedroom
would be quite spacious. Parents might want to utilize the queen sleeper sofa
for more space and comfort. The bathroom has a spacious Jacuzzi tub. There is a
shower as part of the tub. Just watch for water on the floor as the curtain
does not cover the shower completely. For the creature comforts of home, the
one-bedroom deluxe villa would be the best choice for next time.
After checking in, it was shuttle
bound to Celebration to catch the opening round of the Recipe Competition. Two
competitors from Southern California were competing and wanted to catch all of
the action. The first round was a structured round where the competitors needed
to use corn in their recipe. The second round was where the competitor could
showcase their talents in a recipe that they may have won with in a prior
competition.
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| Courtesy of World Food Championships |
Jodi Taffel, a.k.a. The Fabulous Bacon Babe, also hails from Southern California and is a
returning competitor to the World Food Championships after placing in the 2013
Top 10 Bacon Competition. She is an actor, playing Brenda, The Meatball Lady,
on the Disney Channel’s SHAKE IT UP and also starred on the critically
acclaimed web series, THE GALLERY. During her down times between shoots, she
loves to cook, especially with BACON! Her signature dish was Shakshuka with Deep Fried Garlic, which also won the Great Garlic Cook-Off at the
2015 Gilroy Garlic Festival. Jodi scored 85.375 (signature) and 80.75
(structured), placing her 12th.
It was time to head back to
Westgate to rest the feet and to refuel the bodies with energy. The kitchenette
was just right for reheating leftovers for lunch. Putting the feet up was uplifting
as standing and walking around on concrete all day can wear them out pretty
quickly.
It was then back to
Celebration to judge the Bacon Competition sponsored by Wright Brand Bacon. No photography or note-taking was allowed during
the judging process, but the judges had some beautiful creations and tasty
bites to judge from. The author did meet a fellow blogger, Rebecka Evans of At Home With Rebecka, during the Food Fight Write! Blogger Summit who was
competing. You can follow her journey through photos on OC Food Diva’s Facebook page.
Rebecka’s signature dish was Dutch Apple Baby with Blackberry Hoisin Bacon. She described it as “Dutch apple baby meets its
best companion with blackberry hoisin bacon, creating the perfect sweet and
savory combination. The delicate pancake is married gently to the bacon with
just a hint of hoisin and a touch of blackberry to balance out the flavors…
simply delicious.” Her structured dish was Bacon Shrimp Spiral Dumplings with
Cheesy Peas & Bacon. Rebecka said, “This recipe captures all the goodness
of Southern comfort food with a few twists and turns. Applewood smoked, apricot
candy bacon, wrapped around jumbo shrimp and dressed with a spiral of puff
pastry to form a dumpling with layers of tasty flavors. The crisp, spiral
pastry, and sweet-savory bacon, combine beautifully with the succulent shrimp,
to create the perfect bite. The tasty dumpling rests on a side dish of cheesy
green peas and bacon, to facilitate the perfectly balanced meal. For the
final touch, a sweet apricot jezebel sauce brings sweet-heat, with a drizzle of
balsamic reduction to add rich acidity.” She scored 91.75 (signature) and 84.5
(structured) and placed 8th. She went on to the Top 10 Bacon Competition
and scored 86.75 and placed 4th. Congrats, Rebecka!
With the World Food
Championships competition day 1 coming to a close, it was time to head back to
Westgate and get ready for dinner. Roy’s Orlando is a bustling location on Sand
Lake Road’s restaurant row. The atmosphere is lively with signature exhibition
kitchen.
Crispy Flash
Fried Oysters & Melted Brie served with garlic spinach and yuzu beurre
blanc. Imagine a shell-less Oysters Rockefeller. The oysters are deep-fried for
a crispy texture. The spinach adds a bright green flavor. The brie elevates the
flavor with a creamy luscious flavor and sensual texture. Rating: 4.3/5
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| Courtesy of Roy's Restaurants |
Hawaiian Martini
is Maui pineapple drenched in SKYY vodka, Soli Vanil, and Malibu coconut rum.
The cocktail has a strong coconut flavor and essence. It stays true with
tropical flavor, but would love more pineapple flavor brought to the forefront.
Rating: 4/5
Grilled Smoked
14 oz. Char Siu Pork Chop is served with crispy onions rings and Asian pork au
jus. It is grilled to perfection (medium in this case with slight pink center).
The pork is juicy from the sous vide preparation technique. The grill imparts
good char flavor. The char siu flavor could be pumped up a notch. If marinated,
the red color would be a great presentation, especially when sliced to reveal
the white pork meat inside, like slicing komoboko. The snap peas are crispy and
sweet. Rating: 4.5/5
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| Courtesy of Roy's Restaurants |
Alaea Salt
Crusted Bone-in Ribeye is served with peppercorn shoyu brandy sauce and
truffled bacon mac & cheese. The ribeye is grilled to perfection (medium
rare in this case). It is tender and juicy. The sauce imparts the proper amount
of salt to pop the beefy flavor from the steak. The truffled mac & cheese
entices you with the aromatic truffle. The bacon bits add just the right amount
of salty smoky flavor to the mix. Rating: 4.8/5
Another day of
World Food Championships competitions ahead. Stay tuned!
To see more
photos, please visit OC Food Diva’s Facebook page.
For more
information:
Celebration, FL
7700 Westgate
Boulevard
Kissimmee, FL
34747
+1.407.396.2500
7760 West Sand
Lake Road
Orlando, FL
32819, United States
+1.407.352.4844
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