The Harry Potter Countdown... Only 12 Hours!

If you have already read Edgy's post, you are aware that we are in the midst of planning a Harry Potter Non-Sleepover Party for tonight.

Now, like all good sleepover parties, we must have good munchies, and since this will be a theme party, we are having Harry Potter munchies. Now, because I can get a bit carried away with celebratory themes, I have tried to limit myself to an amount of food that can reasonable be eaten in the amount of time it takes to read one book. For example, I only made ten chocolate frogs. Because, as of now, only Edgy and I will be at the Harry Potter Non-Sleepover Party, and I think that five frogs each will be plenty. But, I still have chocolate left, so I might make more. We'll see how much time I have left.

I also have finished six peppermint toads. And while I didn't have high expectations for them, I am quite happy with them now.

I have been trying Butter Beer recipes for about three months, and I think I have finally perfected a formula. It has all the qualities of butter beer, except it isn't warm and it doesn't make house elves, or anyone else, drunk.

1 tsp Torani Ginger Spice Syrup
3 Tbls Torani Butterscotch Syrup
1 12 oz can Club Soda
Ice

Edgy asked for Pumpkin Pasties. I am all for making them, but I am not sure how I want to go about it. It seems, since we are first introduced to them on Hogwarts Express, that they could be sweet or savory. You know, like a little bit of lunch to satisfy until the big feast.

The pasty is traditionally a Cornish meat pie, carried by the tin miners for their lunch. It is meat, onions, and potatoes wrapped up in pastry without any gravy, and only salt and pepper. It's one of my family's recipes that has lasted crossing the ocean from Cornwall to Virginia, to Michigan, to Oregon. So, I almost want to hold to the tradition that pasty is a meal, not a dessert.

But, Edgy always imagined them sweet, and all the pumpkin pasty recipes that I have found have been more like pumpkin pie with a top pie crust. I am thinking about experimenting with phyllo dough.

I am also thinking about getting more creative and doing a kind of pumpkin/meat pasty, to be a little bit closer to the Cornish tradition of pasty, just replacing the sliced potatoes with sliced pumpkin... and maybe more seasonings. But, I would have to be able to find fresh pumpkins. And so I need to get shopping so I can fully explore my options.

There are lots of other foods to choose from. In the Harry Potter books, they mention food all the time. Like, Roast beef, milk, roast chicken, ham, tea, fried sausages, stew, pumpkin juice, hamburger casserole, casserole, tripe, pork chops, shepherd's pie, Cornish pasties, lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, steak and kidney pudding, steak and kidney pie, black pudding, rock cakes, bath buns, chicken and ham sandwiches, bread, marshmallows, lemon drops, crumpets, baked pumpkin, roast potatoes, jacket potatoes, boiled potatoes, mashed potatoes, chicken drumsticks, homemade bread, chips, Yorkshire pudding, peas, sprouts, carrots, gravy, ketchup, custard tart, apple pie, treacle tart, chocolate eclairs, jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, and rice pudding, bouillabaisse, blancmange, porridge, rolls, orange juice, kippers, eggs and bacon, toast, jam, corn flakes, turkey, chipolatas, gravy, cranberry sauce, turkey sandwiches Christmas pudding, eggnog, trifle, Christmas cake, Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, treacle fudge, chocolate frogs, pumpkin pasties, cauldron cakes, Liquorice Wands, Pepper Imps, chocolate balls full of strawberry mousse and clotted cream, Sugar Quills, tooth flossing string mints, Jelly Slugs, mince pie, brittle, nougat, coconut ice, ton tongue toffees, Fizzing Whizbees, ice mice, peppermint toads, blood flavoured lollipops, Cockroach Cluster, fudge flies, Acid Pops, sherbet balls, pumpkin tart, Butterbeer, Red Currant Rum, Gillywater, Mulled Mead, Firewhisky, and elderflower wine. And I am sure that I have missed a bunch.

I had plans to make chocolate wands, but now I can't find a reference to chocolate wands, only licorice wands. And I don't think I can get very creative with licorice wands, so, I have decided to focus my efforts on the pumpkin pasties.

Although pancakes are never mentioned, I have a very good recipe for pumpkin pancakes, so we are having pumpkin pancakes for breakfast tomorrow morning.

Pumpkin Pecan Pancakes

2 cups all purpose flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups solid pack pumpkin
3 eggs
1 cup milk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 oz. chopped pecans (optional)

Sift dry ingredients and set aside. Using a large bowl, combine
pumpkin, eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and stir
until blended; stir in pecans just before ready to cook.


Pumpkin pancakes with sausages, almost more excited than the book! Yum! Yum!

Appreciate A Dragon Day, January 16th

Appreciate A Dragon Day

I think that the best way to appreciate a dragon is marinated, or fried, or at least barbequed, or with dip, or as a cake, or as chili, or pickled, but that is for the egg part of the dragon.

If eggs aren't your thing, you can try Dragon's Blood. Another dragon fluid to appreciate today would be Dragon Snot.

The way that I will be appreciating dragon today will be with the ribs, marinated. And I might have an Evil Princess or maybe a Merlin's Treat, to wash it all down.

Yes, I think that the local dragons are going to feel very appreciated today... or at least we will feel very appreciative of them. Umm, Umm, Yum!

Black Cat Day, October 24th

Black Cat Day

SShhh! I am blogging on borrowed equipment, because my laptop is refusing to recharge, and I can't find my warranty information to get it fixed. I would just go into work early and blog there, but I worked 61 hours in 4 days last week. I'm not going to work today. I just won't. I'm telling people that I am going to work on GRE practice tests, to get back into grad school, but I might just watch TV all day and finish reading The End.

And for Black Cat Day I will remember my cat Ollie, my family's black cat that died this year. Ollie came to our family at Christmas time, about twenty years ago as a stray kitten, too small to have been removed from her mother. We named her Oliver, like the musical, and took turns feeding her every two hours. We named her Oliver because we thought she was a boy cat, but then found out she was a girl cat... and we were very confused about what to do. We had been calling her Oliver for two months, we couldn't just switch to Annie, what would that do to her psyche? So we decided to combine Oliver and Annie and came up with Ollie.

Ollie was a good cat, who thought she was a dog. She would run through the house skid across the floor and crash into the wall. Not a graceful cat was she. Ollie was friendly, and wanted to be around people, not like our other cat, Hannah-banana. Poor Ollie died this year, after a good long life. She never lived up to the scary black cat ideal, but we loved her for what she was... a good companion.

If you want to celebrate Black Cat Day, or if you want to get a head start on your Halloween celebrations, try making these Black Cat Cookies.

Black Cat Cookies

1 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup water
2 eggs
1 pkg. chocolate cake mix
1 pkg. M&M Minis Candies

Beat together peanut butter, eggs, and water. Gradually add cake mix. Mix well. Form dough into 1-inch balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten balls with bottom of glass dipped in sugar. Pinch out 2 ears at top of cookie.

Add M&M Minis for eyes and nose. Score face with a fork to form whiskers.

Bake at 375° for 8 to 10 minutes.

International Frugal Fun Day, Ripe Pumpkin Day, October 7th

International Frugal Fun Day

This site has lots of ideas for frugal fun... but, I think we can combine the two celebrations today.

Ripe Pumpkin Day

It's a good day to go visit a pumpkin farm an pick out that pumpkin for Halloween! And maybe even one to cook dinner in. That's right a pumpkin to cook your dinner in. (And thanks to freshman roommate Christy for the recipe!)

Dinner in a Pumpkin

1 medium to large pumpkin
1 1/2 - 2 lbs hamburger or ground turkey
2 cups cooked rice- wild rice is nice for texture
3-4 stalks chopped celery
1 chopped med. onion
1 chopped green or red bell pepper
1 cup of mushrooms or 1 sm. can of mushrooms
2 tbsp Italian Seasoning
3-4 cloves garlic minced
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp pepper
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 c. light brown sugar
4 tbsp. butter or olive oil
1 cup broth- chicken, vegetable, or beef

Cook hamburger until brown in skillet and drain. In separate skillet saute onions, garlic, mushrooms, peppers and celery with butter or olive oil. In a bowl mix together hamburger, and vegetable mixture with rice, and broth, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, Worcestershire Sauce, and brown sugar.

Cut off top of pumpkin; clean out inside seeds and strings. Wash out pumpkin. Add all your ingredients into pumpkin. Put top on pumpkin. Place on cookie sheet in a preheated 375 degree oven for 1 - 2 hours or until pumpkin is soft. Scoop out pumpkin squash with the hamburger for a hearty meal. Serves 6-10.

Homemade Cookie Day, October 1st

Homemade Cookie Day

What would life be without cookies. Cookies are an important part of life, an essential part of our histories. And no-one can argue with the fact that homemade cookies are the best.

I think that Sunday afternoons are perfect for making cookies, so it's a good thing that it's Homemade Cookie Day. I think that when most people think of homemade cookies, they think of chocolate chip cookies. And of course, the most popular chocolate chip cookie recipe is off of the the Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip bag. Have you ever wondered why different people cooking the same recipe, quite often that recipe, have have different results? Read this article to see why.

If you want to get creative on Homemade Cookie Day, you can make a homemade version of one of your favorite store bought cookie. For example, you could try your had a making Organic Thin Mints, or Homemade Oreos, or Frosted Circus Animals. It may sound like a lot of work when you can just run down to the store and get the same thing, but it's good to do something special on Homemade Cookie Day!

I not in a very special mood so I think that I am going to stick to my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe for today. My secret is that I always dump in lots of extra vanilla. Real vanilla.

Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

4 1/2-2/3 Cups Flour
2 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Salt
1 Cup Butter (not margarine)
1 Cup Butter Flavored Crisco
1 1/2 Cup White Sugar
1 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp Vanilla
1 tsp Water
4 Eggs
2 Cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 Cup other mix-in: peanut butter chips, walnuts, toffee bits, etc.

Cream butter, crisco & sugars together. Add eggs, water & vanilla. Sift-in flour, salt, baking soda. Mix together. Mix in, chocolate chips and mix-in. Bake at 375 degrees for 6-9 minutes.

Johnny Appleseed's Birthday, September 26th

Johnny Appleseed's Birthday

You know those pretty pink clouds at sunset? Those aren't clouds. They are trees, planted in heaven by Johnny Appleseed. (According to Disney.) So we should celebrate Johnny's birthday today, in honor of a man who made the American "West" more beautiful... and umm... fruitful.

To learn more about Johnny Appleseed (John Chapman) read this page, or this page. There are facts to be learned and games to be played to day!

And if you are not into that, there are apples to be eaten. I personally don't like cooked apples in general, but I do like this recipe a lot.

Apple Crunch

4 medium crisp tart apples pealed and sliced
place in 8X8 baking dish

Mix together:
2/3 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup rolled oats
2/3 cup flour
2/3 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ginger

Sprinkle over top of apples. Cook in 350 Degree oven for 35-40 minutes.

Yum! Yum! Yum!

Elephant Appreciation Day, Hobbit Day, Egg Equinox Retraction, September 22nd

Elephant Appreciation Day

Elephants are not my favorite animals. Well, mostly because I never liked zoos, because I hate monkeys. I did sort of like elephants because of the Kipling Story, but was always turned off by the smell. But after reading this web story which shows that elephants love to eat pumpkins, I now have a new love for elephants. Elephants love pumpkins; I love pumpkin food stuffs. It's almost like we are the same being! I must now say that I love elephants because they love pumpkins.

My favorite pumpkin recipes are:

Pumpkin Melt in Your Mouth Biscuits

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/3 cup butter, cold
3/4 cup pureed pumpkin (cooked or canned)
3/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Sift flour into mixing bowl. Stir in remaining dry ingredients. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Stir in pumpkin and milk to form a soft dough. Roll out on floured surface to 1/2-inch thickness. Cut out biscuits with biscuit cutter. Place on greased baking sheet. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Makes 24 to 30 biscuits.

Pumpkin Smoothie

2 cups canned pumpkin
1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
1 tablespoon pumpkin spice
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 dash vanilla extract, plus 2 dashes
1 1/2 cups crushed ice
Cinnamon for garnish
In a blender, combine pumpkin, soy milk, yogurt, pumpkin spice, juice of half a lemon, and 1 dash of vanilla extract. Blend together until smooth, and begin adding the ice while continuing to blend. When mixture is thick and creamy, stop and hold in refrigerator at least 30 minutes. Sprinkle with cinnamon

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Spread
This is absolutely the best with bagels or crackers! As good as Einstein's!

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Beat all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours. Makes 1-1/2 cups (24, 1-tablespoon servings).

And what would pumpkin recipes be without a pie?

Buttermilk Pumpkin Pie

This pie is lighter in texture and a little tangier than traditional pumpkin pie. The buttermilk flavor is wonderful. This pie is best served chilled.

1 disk, Pie Crust
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon cinnamon., 2t ginger, 1 t nutmeg, ¼ t ground cloves
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
3 tablespoons melted butter
1 1/4 cups milk + 2 Tablespoons lemon juice till curdled

Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 12 inch round. Carefully transfer to 9-inch pie pan. Press into pan. Trim and decoratively crimp edges. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Bake crust until just golden, about 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
Meanwhile, whisk eggs, egg yolk and sugar in large bowl until blended. Mix in flour, spices and vanilla. Stir in pumpkin and butter, then milk & lemon juice mixture. Pour filling into crust. Bake until set (center will puff slightly) about 45 minutes. Cool completely.

And with that we are almost ready to celebrate the Month O'Pumpkins! Woo Hoo!

Hobbit Day

If you have any bad rings laying around... please toss them into the nearest volcano, so that we don't have a dark lord and armies of orcs taking over the country... oh, wait... Who ever has the one ring, get rid if it now!

Happy Birthday Bilbo and Frodo!

Egg Equinox Retraction

After further research, I have found that the eggs balancing on the Equinox is an urban legend. Sorry. Apparently, eggs can balance on any old day of the year. It has nothing to do with the tilt of the earth. This astronomy facts website helps answer some of these questions, and guides us to further egg balancing experiments, and blames the media for continuing to do news stories that promote these rumors. Check the site out, see if you want to do your own experiments. Can you balance an egg today? How about tomorrow- Equinox? And then the day after? Be your own myth-buster!