As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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I know I'm early BUT: I have no clue whatsoever what to cook for our big Christmas dinner. I want to make something special but not so special that I'll end up messing it up
So, tell me about your favorite holiday dinners, please!!! (I assume either Thanksgiving or Christmas dinners since they fit the season)
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I love ham - and it's very easy to cook. Many of the ones we buy over here are precooked and you're just heating them up. I serve it with sweet potatoes or au gratin potatoes, a green vegetable (we're fans of green beans cooked with bacon and onion, some kind of a salad and rolls. Dessert varies, but might include Christmas cookies, pineapple upside down cake (my DH's favorite) or a fruit cobbler. Oh I'm getting hungry just reading this.
We usually have turkey, but one year I made Lasagna and it worked out very well. I made it a day or two before and then just heated it up on Christmas. Plus, I was able to make one with meat and one without so the vegetarians were happy.
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We usually have a spiral ham...quick and easy to put out. Oven baked beans, potato salad, sweet potato casserole and cucumber salad and ambrosia. When that's not the menu, then lasagna is! Like JoanneS does, I make it the weekend before, then freeze it. Serve with salad, seasoned olive dipping oil for the rolls and tiramisu (also made in advance). I love to have a hearty meal, but also an easy one so I'm not spending the day in the kitchen or on clean-up while everyone else visits.
Like Lesley, we usually have ham for Christmas dinner. I buy a cut here called a "teardrop ham." It is shaped as the name suggests, is pre-cooked, and is easy to carve. I mix up crushed pineapple and apricot jelly and glaze it for the last 30 minutes of its baking time. I usually make scalloped potatoes from an Emeril Lagasse recipe from Food Network along with a blueberry salad, rolls, and a veggie.
I make a prime rib for New Year's Day with baked potatoes, and salad. Prime rib here is easy to cook as I buy them pre-seasoned and the bone is already removed but tied to the roast. I just follow the roasting instructions and carve when done after a brief resting period.
I've created a menu plan that allows me to pre-make most of our Christmas dinner, so I have very little to do on Christmas Day.
- We get a Honey Baked Ham (no cooking, just served room temperature)
- If we are having a bigger group we also get a Honey Baked Turkey Breast
- I make Asian Sweet and Sour Meatballs for an appetizer. They can be pre-made up to the point of putting them in a pan with the sauce to go in the oven. Very easy on Christmas day.
- My mom makes green beans with bacon and onions, takes her about 15-20 minutes.
- I will be making new this year Honey Glazed Baked Carrots. We have had them at a restaurant and they are so good. I will pre-cut the carrots and then just make the sauce and bake them.
- We will also have mashed potatoes, my mom also makes these and we prep them the day before as much as possible.
- For dessert we will have a mint ice cream pie (can be made a month in advance)
I like having recipes that can be pre-prepped and ready to go. We have a tiny kitchen and I would rather be visiting than hiding in the kitchen all day. I also make sure all the recipes use different dishes so I don't have a problem with two items needing the same pan or dish.
Good luck! You will find it's not as hard as it seems.
We are big traditionalists Christmas day is roast Turkey, trifle or Sticky Toffee Pudding, New Years day is roasted Sirloin of beef trifle or chocolate mousse. Think that is at least 15 years i have been doing the same meals.
Green beans with bacon and onions are on my list for this year's Christmas dinner, too.
Honey glazed baked carrots - that sounds amazing! Do you have a recipe for those?
I haven't actually made the Honey Roasted Carrots, but I did search out a recipe online and all the ones I'm finding seem to be pretty much the same and look a lot like the ones we get at the restaurant where I tried them.
8 carrots, peeled and sliced lengthwise
3 TBS olive oil
1/4 cup honey
salt and black pepper to taste.
Put carrots in a baking dish, and drizzle with olive oil. Mix until the carrots are completely covered with olive oil. Pour the honey on carrots, then season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix until evenly coated. Bake in oven preheated to 350F until just tender or cooked to desired degree of doneness (40 minutes - 1 hour).
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Turkey for us. But I have been tempted to BBQ, and might on the 25 and leave the turkey for the 26 since we might go downhill skiing on the 25 instead. Still debating it.
The ideas here sound amazing though
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