Laughing Lindsay

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Grandma’s Zucchini Bread Recipe

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I tend to share recipes from time to time, like my Pumpkin Fluff Pie Recipe. Today, I thought I would share my grandma’s zucchini bread recipe!

Zucchini Bread

Zucchini Bread

It’s a tradition in my family to make this zucchini bread around the holidays. I believe its use of cinnamon along with a brown sugar/nuts topping make it the perfect addition to our Christmas spread! Now that we host the holidays, I know that it’s Christmas-time when I make the bread! It makes the whole house smell delicious!

I initially made two big loaves of this bread. However, after hosting a few years, I moved to making several smaller loaves. This allows our guests to take one home with them to enjoy later. Plus, it gives me a chance to make some with the topping and some without nuts. Personally, I prefer the bread with the topping as I think it gives it more flavor and texture with the nuts. However, I know that not everyone can enjoy nuts.

Additionally, I found these adorable holiday themed mini loaf pans at our local Walmart (not a sponsored link, just trying to help). So, if you intend to make mini loaves for gifts or want an extra holiday touch, keep an eye out at Walmart and Target for special loaf pans.

Zucchini Bread

Zucchini Bread

My grandma's recipe for zucchini bread.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 2 Loaves

Ingredients
  

  • 3 Eggs, beaten
  • 2 Cups Grated Zucchini
  • 2 Cups Granulated Sugar
  • 3 Cups Flour
  • 1 Tsp Baking Soda
  • 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
  • 2.5 Tsp Cinnamon
  • 1 Tsp Salt
  • 1 Cup Oil
  • 2 Tsp Vanilla
  • 1/2 Cup Raisins

Optional Topping

  • 1/2 Cup Nuts
  • 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease two loaf pans.
  • Sift flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and powder, and cinnamon into a bowl.
    2 Cups Granulated Sugar, 3 Cups Flour, 1 Tsp Baking Soda, 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder, 2.5 Tsp Cinnamon, 1 Tsp Salt
  • Add beaten eggs and oil. Beat.
    3 Eggs, beaten, 1 Cup Oil
  • Add zucchini, vanilla, and raisins. Mix well.
    2 Cups Grated Zucchini, 2 Tsp Vanilla, 1/2 Cup Raisins
  • Pour batter into two greased pans.
  • Optional: Combine nuts and brown sugar. Sprinkle over top of the loaves.
    1/2 Cup Nuts, 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
  • Bake for 1 hour.

Notes

This makes 2 regular loaves or 4-5 small loaves. Smaller loaves should bake around 40-50 minutes, but check on the bread as you know your oven. 
Keyword Bread

Please leave a comment below if you decide to try my grandma’s zucchini bread recipe! Do you have a family recipe that you make every Christmas?

Christmas in Orlando Theme Parks Guide

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It’s hard to believe but it’s already time to discuss Christmas in Orlando theme parks! I feel like I just did my Fall in the theme parks post, but the parks tend to kick-off the holiday season immediately after Halloween. So, it’s time to breakdown what you can expect if you visit between now and the end of the year.

Christmas in Orlando

Christmas in Orlando

It goes without saying that the theme parks go all out for the holiday season! I love visiting during this time of the year as I’m a huge Christmas fan (who isn’t?). I also enjoy the typically cooler temperatures that can be found in November and December. So, here’s a look at what you can expect at each theme park.

Christmas at Walt Disney World

You can expect to see holiday decor at every theme park and resort on property. I love seeing the uniquely themed trees around the property. Disney Springs also has some amazing trees!

You can experience the holidays at Animal Kingdom and Epcot with a regular park ticket. Animal Kingdom has a menagerie of animal puppets that I hope to see this year! Beginning November 24th, Epcot has the Festival of the Holidays with food booths and special holiday storytelling in select country pavilions. Additionally, they have the massively popular Candlelight Processional with celebrity narrators each night. A dining package may also be purchased to guarantee a seat at the show.

Magic Kingdom has decorations up. However, there’s also a separately ticketed event called Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, which I reviewed last year. The first party of the year is tomorrow night, November 9th. I love eating cookies and seeing the toy soldiers march down Main Street.

New in 2023, Hollywood Studios is hosting Jollywood Nights. Its first night is November 11th. Not much is known about this event. However, it seems like a highly themed after hours event. I will be attending next month and will know more about it after that.

Christmas at Universal Orlando Resort

Universal Orlando was late in announcing their holiday plans this year. However, I wrote an entire guide to the holidays at Universal Orlando last year. The highlights include a parade with balloons like the ones seen in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade! Additionally, there’s the highly sought after breakfast with the Grinch and Universal Holidays Tour. Don’t miss the holiday tribute store or themed trees at the resorts! The holidays kick-off at UO on November 17th and end December 31st.

Christmas at SeaWorld Orlando

Last, but certainly not least is SeaWorld Orlando. I posted a Christmas at SeaWorld Orlando Review last year outlining what you can expect here. Once again, you can partake in the festive activities with a regular park day ticket with special food booths and entertainment. The Christmas Celebration at SeaWorld begins November 10th and is mainly available on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays during the season.

Where are you headed?

As you can see, there’s not a bad place to experience the holidays in Orlando. So, where are you headed?

You can view my other seasonal theme park guides here:

Christmas at Universal Orlando Resort

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Having spent several days experiencing Christmas at Universal Orlando Resort earlier this month, I thought I would give everyone an overview as well as my thoughts on each offering. Thankfully, all but two of these holiday experiences are included in regular park admission!

Christmas at Universal Orlando

Christmas at Universal Orlando

Personally, when I visit a location during the holiday, I can spend hours just looking at the decor. You can certainly do this at Universal Orlando Resort. Every resort has their own themed tree! Plus, there’s a Christmas Tree Hunt across City Walk and the two parks you can do for $12! If you complete it, you earn an ornament! I didn’t do the hunt, but I did enjoy looking at all of the themed trees and garland around the parks.

Breakfast with the Grinch

One of the two add-on events you can attend during Christmas at Universal Orlando is Breakfast with the Grinch. Booking The Grinch & Friends Characters breakfast guarantees you get to meet The Grinch and Whos! Plus, it also gives you a good meal to start the day! My mom and I paid $41.99 (plus tax) each and think it’s totally worth it. You can read my full review of it in my other post.

Universal’s Holiday Tour

The other add-on event is Universal’s Holiday Tour. It’s a 5 hour, mostly after park hours, walking tour of the two parks. I wrote a whole separate blog post reviewing it last week. You can click to read my thoughts on it at the link above.

Holiday Tribute Store

Another amazing experience that happens seasonally at Universal Orlando is a highly themed shopping experience called the Tribute Store. It’s so much fun to walk around and see all of the little details. There’s also lots of Easter eggs to be found! If there’s ever a Tribute Store open whenever you visit, you must go inside to see it!

Universal Orlando Holiday Parade

This is probably the thing I saw most heavily advertised prior to our visit. Every night (around 5:30 PM), there’s an amazing Holiday Parade featuring Macy’s! It features huge balloons, like the ones seen in New York for Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade! It’s awesome to see them up-close! The parade also features characters on floats as well as other fun Christmas surprises! Think walking snowmen and soldiers on stilts! It’s so much fun! We watched it twice and noticed different things each time! It’s a must-see for sure!

Christmas in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Christmas at Universal Orlando stretches to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, in both parks! The Harry Potter lands look fantastic, regardless of the time of year. However, Christmas is extra magical. I adored the Frog Choir and Celestina Warbeck and the Banshees holiday shows! So much fun! I highly recommend picking up a Butterbeer and just walking around these areas. It is sure to put you in a festive mood! I also really enjoyed the projection show on the castle, called The Magic of Christmas at Hogwarts Castle in Islands of Adventure.

Grinchmas

Even if you missed out on getting a breakfast reservation, you can still enjoy Grinchmas during Christmas at Universal Orlando! The Whos have decorated Suess Landing for the holidays and it’s amazing to see! They even have some special holiday foods, like the Grinch cookies and Roast Beast Sandwich. The sandwich had a really long wait. It took us about an hour to get one and it tasted just ok. We didn’t care for the sauce on the main sandwich. However, now we can say we’ve had roast beast!

If you wander around Suess Landing you may even spot some Whos to meet! Plus, you have to catch a showing of the The Grinchmas Who-liday Spectacular! It’s an adorable show featuring music from Mannheim Steamroller! The story manages to combine key elements from both the cartoon short film and the 2000’s Jim Carrey movie.

Meet Earl the Squirrel

A unique offering that only happens at Christmastime is the chance to meet Earl the Squirrel! In case you don’t know, there once was a real life squirrel that kept chewing the wiring in a tree. They named him Earl and now he’s basically the mascot for the holidays at UO. I love that he’s organically become this big thing. He’s featured on lots of merch this year. I met him wearing him on a shirt. It was a neat experience.

Mannheim Steamroller Concert

Last, but certainly not least, if you travel during the first two weekends in December (like we did), you can catch a Mannheim Steamroller concert! This concert is included with park admission and took place on Saturday and Sunday nights at 7 PM during the first two weekends of December. I really enjoyed the concert and was impressed that it was included with admission! It made for a unique and fun theme park day!

Holidays at Universal Orlando Resort

As you can see, there’s a lot to see and do during Christmas at Universal Orlando Resort! We spent two days in the parks, but didn’t ride many rides. So, if you are planning to ride lots of rides while there, you probably need at least 2-3 days to do everything. Have you ever been to Universal Orlando at the holidays? If so, what was your trip like?

Breakfast with The Grinch Universal Orlando

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Last week, I mentioned that there are two add-on experiences taking place during the holidays at Universal Orlando Resort: the Universal Holiday Tour and Breakfast with The Grinch. You can click that link to read my review of the tour as today I’m focusing on the delightful breakfast!

Breakfast with The Grinch

Breakfast with The Grinch

Everyone who comes to Universal Orlando at Christmastime wants to meet The Grinch and Whos. There is a free virtual queue you can join to meet The Grinch for free at Islands of Adventure. However, those spots go almost immediately and are really difficult to get. You may also run into some Whos wandering around Suess Landing. The only way to ensure you meet them both at the same time is by booking a breakfast with The Grinch!

The Characters

My mom and I paid $41.99 (plus tax) each to attend The Grinch & Friends Character Breakfast. We both had a great time with The Grinch and Whos. Everyone is really into character and fun to interact with. I wore a fun holiday cookie dress, which the Whos liked. The Who we took pictures with even told me that I could move to Whoville with my holiday spirit! Then, they told me that I would grow into my nose! The Grinch, however, informed me that my dress was too festive and happy! Besides, he doesn’t like sweets, such as cookies! He likes onions! Ha! Such good memories!

The Food

As for the food, we were pleasantly surprised here. It’s an all you can eat buffet, which usually means mediocre to bad food. However, that’s not the case here! I loved trying Who Hash, Green Eggs and Ham, and Green Eggs and Ham Pizza! The Grinch Punch was also tasty! I also appreciated that they had The Grinch cookie here so I didn’t have to wait in line and purchase it later in the day.

Learn From Our Mistake

The only negative thing I have to say about breakfast with The Grinch is the organization beforehand. We didn’t realize that we needed to retrieve paper tickets prior to getting in line for breakfast. So, we stood in line for several moments before having to head back to the front of the park to get physical tickets printed. Then, we headed back to the restaurant to stand in a long line outside. This line wrapped around the building and blocked the path to the Grinch show. It seems like this could be handled better. Perhaps, nix the paper tickets and have somewhere for people to sit while they wait? Once we entered the breakfast though, everything was well worth it. If I ever go back during Christmas at Universal Orlando, I will definitely book this breakfast again!

Book The Grinch Breakfast Early

It appears that breakfast with The Grinch is filled up for the year. So, I highly recommend booking it early next year if you want to experience this amazing breakfast! It’s definitely worth the money.

Christmas at SeaWorld Orlando Review

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Having just returned from a fabulous 5 days in Florida, I am ready to give an overview of Christmas at SeaWorld Orlando! For starters, it’s a special event held on the weekends mid-November through early January. The nice thing about this event is that it’s included with your regular park admission! So, you don’t have to pay extra to enjoy the seasonal offerings, unlike at Walt Disney World where you have to purchase tickets to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party to really enjoy the holidays at the Magic Kingdom.

Christmas at SeaWorld Orlando

Christmas at SeaWorld Orlando

Being a 2022 passholder to the park, I’ve been lucky enough to experience SeaWorld Orlando Spooktacular Halloween and now Christmas at SeaWorld Orlando! Christmas is similar to the Halloween festivities, but with a holiday spin. You can expect special foods, shows, meet and greets and décor around the park! As a passholder, I also appreciated my free ornament (seen in the second photo in my Instagram post below). It’s a great way to remember this trip as it hangs on my tree.

Festive Food Offerings

One of the big things SeaWorld advertises for their Christmas Celebration is their food sampling lanyard. However, it’s not worth it if you are going for just one day or with just a couple of people. We discovered that the food booths did not open until 4 or 5 PM. So, that does not leave much time to actually use the lanyard. We tried the Doughnut Chicken Sandwich, which was a tasty blend of spicy and sweet!

Another odd thing with the food offering add-ons is the very limited availability of those events. They advertise a Sesame Street Christmas Breakfast as well as Dinner with Santa. However, neither of those events were offered on the Sunday we went. In fact, it appeared to be a mostly Saturday or late December offering. So, I can’t speak to either of those events and was disappointed to learn of their very limited days.

Meet and Greets

Another thing they advertise is the ability to meet certain special characters during Christmas at SeaWorld Orlando. You can get photos with Santa or meet Rudolph and Friends! We didn’t meet Santa. However, we did visit Rudolph and Bumble, which had a huge hiccup. They don’t post an estimated waiting time for the meet. We showed up and saw a relatively short line. We incorrectly assumed it might be as long as half an hour wait. Long story short, it took us an hour to finally meet them! Some employees apologized, but did nothing to make up for lost time or the terrible waiting experience. So, I would caution you before getting in line for this. Is it a neat experience to meet Rudolph and Bumble? Absolutely! Just make sure you’re ok giving up an hour of your park day to do it!

Holiday Entertainment

Christmas at SeaWorld Orlando has several holiday shows to enjoy. In fact, I would consider this to be its biggest strength. However, most of the shows don’t start until sundown or so. We enjoyed watching “Elmo’s Christmas Wish” during the day as it’s a cute and really short show held at various times all day long. Sea of Trees is a nighttime show held several times on the trees in the water synchronized to music. It’s a must see and easy to view.

I would say the highlight of the night for us was the Winter Wonderland on Ice show. My mom and I have watched ice skating on tv ever since I was a little girl. I surprised my mom by not telling it was an ice skating show and she was very pleased with the surprise! We loved seeing all of the different skaters and tricks. It was a lovely way to end our day at the park.

They also do a Holiday Reflections: Fireworks Finale. However, we’d been in the park for 8 hours and decided we were too tired to stay for it. I’m sure it’s a great show. However, it was just a little too late in the day for us. We also didn’t get to experience Snow Flurries at the Waterfront, but it looks cool online.

SeaWorld Christmas Celebration Overall

While I really appreciate that everything is included with regular park admission, I wish things started earlier in the day. My advice would be to sleep in and show up later in the day to fully experience Christmas at SeaWorld Orlando. Then, pay attention to the park schedule to see the shows that interest you the most. It’s a nice event with some high points and some puzzling ones. Overall though, it’s a good family event.