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The Merriest Place On Earth beckoned me this past weekend, and I learned All About Holiday Food at Disneyland.  

As you enter through the turnstiles, grab the one- sheet Holiday Season info pamphlet and give it a read. It's a wealth of information so that you can make the most of this spectacular time of year at the Park. One side lists the Park Entertainment, featuring Carolers, Fireworks, Christmas Fantasy Parade, Santas... both Claus and Goofy, "it's a small world holiday" with it's Nightly Lighting Ceremony, and the Country Bear Christmas Special. Oh, and the guy who sticks a fiddle bow up his nose that replaced the charming "Woody's Roundup" at the Golden Horseshoe.

The other side gives information about the Holiday Food locations and offerings, so Adrienne Vincent Phoenix and I wandered all over the Park, gathering information. I'm a foodie. My favorite TV show is Iron Chef. Just step back and let me obsess, okay?  

Cookie Decorating Locations:

Main Street Firehouse: We saw Gingerbread Men (made of sugar cookies) and Snowmen. (There may have been more; I'm just telling you what we saw.) All: 3.00

Le Petite Patisserie: (It's the spot across from the jewelry shop in New Orleans Square where they used to sell waffles on a stick.) Gators, Jester Hats, Crabs, and Moon shapes. All: 3.00

ToonTown Park: Snowmen, Trees, or Gingerbread Boys: 3.00, Mickey Kit: 5.00. Trust me. You have to do the Mickey Kit. It's his head and body parts and you decorate them and then bite his ears off. Magical!

"In Addition," the sheet proclaims: "a large variety of just- for- the- season items are available at:" We checked and I wrote down what we saw, which may not be what you will see, things are subject to change, and you know the rest of the drill.

Blue Ribbon Bakery: Eggnog: 1.89 / 2.09, Eggnog Latte: 3.09 / 3.59, Hot Apple Cider: 2.59 / 2.99, Holiday Mocha: 3.79 / 4.29. Adrienne Krock's favorite Chocolate Dipped Macaroons, drizzled with chocolate and sprinkled with cute little red and green Christmas tree candies, big cookies in the shape of a snowman, Christmas Tree, Star, or Gingerbread Man, frosted with white frosting, striped with chocolate and decorated either with sprinkles, silver balls, or M&Ms.

Gotta have it: Mint Chocolate Frosted Graham Crackers, 89 cents. They have non-mint, too. They also have 18" Christmas trees made of royal icing and star-shaped gingerbread cookies for 24.99. Now, that's a snack!

Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor was serving up Eggnog and Peppermint ice cream (Adam's so wonderful); the sheet says they also offer Pumpkin. Spiced Apple and Hollyberry yogurt were also on the menu, and the special waffle cones are dipped in chocolate and rolled in either the Christmas Tree candies or crushed candy cane.

Bengal Barbecue had Chocolate Chip Christmas Tree Cookies, Shortbread Snowman Cookies, and hot cider. They are not easy to spot unless you are on the far right, so don't get discouraged.

Hungry Bear, in Critter Country, has pumpkin torte again, as well as an assortment of holiday cookies. I have yet to try pumpkin torte. Anybody have an opinion on this?

Troubadour Treats:  (Meeko's. I know, they changed the name, but I can't help it.) Spiced Apple Cider, Christmas Tree Shortbread Cookies and Holiday Churros (Berry. I haven't seen a chocolate one this year; I may actually lose weight over the Holidays.) 

River Belle Terrace: Snowman Pancakes. So cute, even cynical, bitter old moi had to go: "AWWWW!" at first sight of these little darlings. It's three pancakes, arranged like a snowman, with blueberry buttons and all the rest. Great for the kid set. There's also Cherry Cheesecake and they have the Christmas Tree candy sprinkles on their evil chocolate cake the rest of the day.

Mickey's Toontown Restaurants: Clarabelle's: Rice Krispy Snowmen on a sitck, Mint Yogurt. Pluto's: Assorted Cookies, Rice Krispy Snowmen. Daisy's: (Daisy rocks, by the way): Assorted Cookies, Rice Krispy Snowmen.

Village Haus is offering Holiday Cookies along with their usual desserts. You might want to peek in there. I know, the food is horrible there. But the place is adorably decorated, and there are even stockings hung in front of the fireplace, with a Merry music loop adding atmosphere.  

Not mentioned on the sheet, but serving Christmas Cheer: Big Thunder Barbecue has it's Prime Rib special back, at 14.99, a great deal for inside a theme park.  

Blue Bayou: I asked the two young teenage girls manning the podium about the "special selection of meals for the season with a dessert menu to complement." and got blank stares. They had never heard of such a thing. They didn't know what the sheet I was holding was saying. "We have a special every night all year long," one of them offered. "Oh! And we have an eggnog cheesecake dessert. But Christmas doesn't start here until December first." the girl told me, as I stood under the gorgeous Christmas decorations in New Orleans Square. I thanked them for their help and went on my way. "Remember when they had to be hand-picked to work there?" Adrienne asked. "Now you just have to be able to fog a mirror."

French Market: Pumpkin Cheesecake covered with creme anglaise and hazelnut syrup, Apple-Cranberry Crisp, and Jerk-Marinated Sirloin, which, if popular enough, might become a mainstay.  

Here's the recipe the Cast Members there were handing out:

Jerk-Marinated Sirloin

2 t. Jerk Seasoning
12 oz. Barbecue Sauce
2 oz. Diced Onion
1 T. Worcestershire Sauce
1 T. Ginger
1 T. Minced Garlic
4 oz. Vegetable Oil
4 lbs. Sirloin Steaks
1 t. Salt
1 t. Pepper
1 c. Water
1/4 c. Green Onions

Roast Jerk Seasoning in Sauté Pan. Place Jerk Seasonings and remaining ingredients (Fab's note: I'd leave out the steak if I were you!  Also, don't include the water, vegetable oil or green onions.) in a blender and puree until smooth. Marinate steak overnight in Jerk Sauce.  Heat vegetable oil in sauté pan and brown on all sides. Cover steaks with water and Jerk Sauce (1 c. of each.) Cover pan with aluminum foil and roast in 325° oven until internal temperature of 125° is reached. (Fab's note: All temperatures are Fahrenheit). Slice, garnish with green onions and serve.

Cafe Orleans substituted the confetti on their gateau chocolat with the Christmas Tree sprinkles, but that's about it.

Club 33, while booked solid for the month of December, actually doesn't do much in the way of Holiday food. Their regular menu choices are so spectacular that they make every day seem like a holiday, according to the staff. On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, traditional Holiday meals are added to the menu, as well as celebratory drinks.

Redd Rockett's went all-out this year. While they couldn't do that great pumpkin ravioli that they serve at Enchanted Evenings (they're hand-made!), they came up with a doozy: Haley's Holiday Ham Pizza. Creamy Parmesan Alfredo and Pesto Sauce (similar to the Plaza Inn's, but a little sharper), topped with Mozzarella Cheese, Sliced Ham, and Red Bell Peppers. Creamy, sweet, savory and a tiny bit spicy, all at once. It's wonderful. It's 4.99 per generous slice, or 26.99 for a whole pizza.

They also offer mini dessert pizzas in apple and cherry. Shortbread crust, streusel topping. Don't get them when you get your meal - come back for them. They are very good, like a Pepperidge Farm fruit cookie, when cooled off, but when they are warm, they are heavenly. Each pizza, about 6" in diameter, goes for 3.89. Redd's also has a few Holiday cookies available.

Outdoor Vending is in the spirit, too. After browsing through the "Disneyland For... Oh, About Another Month Or So" ...kiosks in Tomorrowland (they have Season of Song available on the machines as a nod to Saint Nick) we strolled over to the churro cart. Yes, I wanted to see if they had any chocolate ones. Am I really that transparent? They didn't. They had Cinnamon or Apple for 2.50, no Merry Berry (tastes like Crunchberries) in sight. They did have popcorn balls, though. Regular or Caramel: 1.50.

There are also caramel and candy apples, which I see in the park other times of the year as well, Mickey & Minnie funnel cakes with powdered sugar "snow" (these are also terminally cute), Snowball Cotton Candy (it's white. I asked about the sparklies they had in it last year and they said, "they were supposed to be here by now." Tony said he'd seen some earlier. They're in a warehouse in Ontario and they'll find them just in time for Easter. Mark my words.) They also have character bottle toppers, as seen below.

Also, try the Mexican Hot Chocolate if you like Cinnamon. It's not proper Mexican Hot Chocolate, but it's very nice, especially on a cold night. It's offered in an adorable mug, which depicts the Fab Five as snowmen. Snowmice? Snowducks? Sigh.

PLEASE NOTE THAT DISNEYLAND MAY BE CHANGING THE ABOVE SCHEDULED EVENTS AT THEIR SLIGHTEST WHIM. So take a few minutes to confirm your plans if you'd like to take advantage of any them by calling the phone numbers listed ahead of time for reservations and / or information.

Disneyland Christmas page

Adrienne's Holiday Fireworks review

Adrienne's Toontown at Christmas photo tour

Candlelight 2000 photo essay

Candlelight 1999 review

Goodies just for you:

Holiday Desktop Photos

THANKS to Ines Salazar jts57993@bayou.uh.edu for providing a wonderful Christmas Clip Art Page (where I got this great snowflake background) located at this link.