Dining with Pot Heads

No, not that kind of pot-head. HARRY POTTER HEADS, duh! 😉 And yes, I’m completely, and painfully aware that the series is, and has been over for a long time now. However – for the rest of you die-hard fans that have been suffering from HP withdrawal, or if you somehow just never got around to watching the final hours of only the greatest series of all time – here’s the perfect post for you.

{ The Chamber of Secrets | Potter Head Essentials }

This past Christmas, my cousin received the complete Harry Potter DVD collection, and my boyfriend admitted he hadn’t seen the last three movies of the series. After a few jaw-drops and palms-to-the-forehead, we decided to remedy this issue by having a Harry Potter Marathon in which we watched the entire series in one weekend.

And since I practically leap at any excuse to get obnoxiously festive with making, and cooking things for parties – naturally, I went a little crazy. Especially since there’s a huge gap between New Year’s, and Valentine’s Day.

{ Home-Made Harry Potter Wands }

I made these wands with an online tutorial that required nothing but old take-out chopsticks, computer paper, hot glue, acrylic paint, and a bit of imagination.

After they dried, I rolled each wand up in some some old scrapbook paper and stickers to make them look like they were packaged in paper scrolls.

{ Butter Beer | Cauldron Cakes | Acid Pops | Licorice Wands }

And since I couldn’t help but attempt at recreating a few items from Honeyduke’s Candy Trolley – I put together a few Cauldron Cakes (fudge brownie cups with pistachio pudding and twizzler handles), Acid Pops (pumpkin cake pops dipped in white chocolate frosting, topped with assorted pop rocks), Licorice Wands (twizzlers with vanilla frosting and assorted sprinkles) and of course – Butter Beer (cream soda, apple cider, and a cinnamon butter mixture topped with vanilla ice cream)!

The pop rocks on the Acid Pops were my favorite. Everyone seemed to enjoy the Butter Beer a lot. It tasted like a creamy cinnamon apple soda float. 🙂

{ Karen, Casting her Patronus Charm | One of my Favorite Shirts }

Alright, so if my obsession with Harry Potter wasn’t embarrassing enough in the first place – this is where it gets even more embarrassing. We may have spent the rest of the night casting spells on each other with our new wands, and yelling ‘LUMOS!’ to turn on the lights between movies. Wondering what my wonderful t-shirt says? I’ll need to thank Pinterest for this one… “IF YOU’RE HAVIN’ QUIDDITCH PROBLEMS I FEEL BAD FOR YOU SON / I GOT 99 PROBLEMS BUT A SNITCH AIN’T ONE.”

Best. Christmas Gift. Ever.

{ Quidditch Pie }

As for dinner, I made personal Quidditch Pies (a crispy layer of pastry, under a bed of cubed steak and gravy, underneath a beef stewed blanket of corn, celery, and carrots, topped with cheesy garlic mashed potatoes), which was what Harry had for dinner before his detention with Professor Gilderoy Lockhart in The Chamber of Secrets. Since this recipe is normally very filling (as it contains nothing but meat, potatoes, vegetables, and gravy) – it was enjoyed in the ‘Great Hall’ as a pre-game dinner before rough Quidditch matches. This recipe is very similar to the traditional English Shepard’s Pie, but I swapped out the ground beef for chopped steak, and used a few different vegetables instead of the normal green peas, and onions.

Mission accomplished!

“Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light”. ~Albus Dumbledore / Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban .

Lumos!

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Butter Beer Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 Case of Cream Soda
• Half Gallon of Apple Cider
• 3/4 Cup of Unsalted Butter
• 1/2 Tbsp of Cinnamon
• 1/2 Tbsp of Apple Spice
• 1/4 Cup of Light Brown Sugar
• Breyer’s Vanilla Ice Cream