Baked potato

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I'm writing this post so I don't have to keep looking up a recipe to make a classic baked potato. Can you believe I can never remember what temp, and for how long to cook them? Good thing I've got this blog!

The directions I use to make a baked potato were obtained from The Purposed Heart.

Here's what you need to do:

1. Preheat your oven to 400F.

2. Scrub the spuds.

3. Poke the potatoes with a fork all over the place.

4. Rub with EVOO.

5. Sprinkle with coarse salt.  (I used sea salt, but Kosher would be cool.)

6. Take the tubers and place them directly on the oven rack.  If you wanna get fancy, stick a pan on the rack underneath to catch any oozy bits.

7. Bake for 45-60 min, or until a fork can poke the potato with very little resistance.

8. Split the tater open and load it up with your favorite toppings!

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Warm butterbeer

I posted a frozen version of Butterbeer in Popsicle form back in September. Now that it is brr freezing cold out, I thought I'd share the more seasonally appropriate hot butterbeer I found over at What the Devil is Going on Here.

Blockette and I are at the part in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban where Harry uses the Marauder's Map and his invisibility cloak to sneak into Hogsmeade, where he has Butterbeer for the first time.

This version, as you can see by the photo below, is quite buttery.  The butter never fully mixes in with the rest of the ingredients, so you've got to stir it before every sip.

Mrblocko and Blockette really enjoyed their mugs, but I thought it tasted a bit too much like drinking a mug of buttermilk syrup. Buttermilk syrup is amazing and everything, but just a bit rich for my taste to drink by the mug full. (By the spoonful is a whole 'nother ball o' wax though.)

I feel the need to warn everyone that the possibility of burning yourself is quite high with this beverage. The butter acts as an insulator to the molten liquid below.  I took a tiny sip and thought my drink was potable.  What happened was I got a small amount of butter, which was cooler than the liquid below.  So, thinking the whole mug was as cool as the first sip I took a big swig.  Luckily, the butter had coated my tongue and mouth so I only burnt the back of my throat.  That is something that I highly suggest you avoid doing.  Don't be me.

Molten Hot Butterbeer from What the Devil is Going on Here
2 T butter
2 T Brown sugar
1 mug of milk
1 t vanilla
dash of cinnamon

In a pan melt butter and brown sugar together to make a caramel.  Add milk, vanilla and cinnamon, stir to combine.  Bring mixture to a boil and add to the mug of your choosing.

'11 Happy Dance # 30: DIY Harry Potter Wands

Happy Halloween from Hogwarts!

In celebration of this festive fun occasion...let's make some Harry Potter wands!  I found this cool idea over at Cut out and Keep.

First thing you need is some sort of base for your wand.  I used those disposable round pointy wooden chopsticks.   They are on the short side, but that is ok since these wands were for Blockette.

Next, hot glue on some beads and what not.  I used the glue gun to add various bumps and nodules.

As I used shiny painted and plastic beads, I needed to give my wands several coats of primer.  Spray paint would have worked well, but I just had regular acrylic craft paint, so I used that.  I painted the one on the left with a red base coat and the one on the right with black.

Next, I used a dry brush technique to apply several different shades of brown.  I thought the one on the left looked a little boring, so I added some white dots.  Finally, I sprayed them with a coat of matte sealer so the paint wouldn't wear off after a few play sessions.

Viola! There you have it, DIY Harry Potter wands.  Sure beats spending $18-40 at Universal Studios, Warner Brothers or Alavans, particularly when I already had the paint, beads and glue in my crafting stash, I "liberated" the chop sticks from a Chinese fast food place, and borrowed the Matte sealer from my best friend's husband.

Oh, and Blockette LOVES them.  The redish one with the polka dots is her favorite.  She is swishing and flicking all about the house saying things like Alohomora or Riddikulus every chance she gets.

Kickin' it HP Style

I am sort of mildly obsessed with looking at stuff on Pinterest. I don't actually have my own account because that would mean I'd need to be on Facebook, and I don't wanna do that. Plus having a pinterest account would be even more of a time waster than surfing Pinterest itself.

Anyhow, I found this posting that took me to a link that lead me to this You tube video.
It's a Parody of Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night(TGIF)" The video isn't the most creative compared to some parodies, but the lyrics are pretty awesome. OK. Awesome if you are freaky on HP.

Then I started looking at more Harry Potteresque videos on You tube and came across this one:

It's not a parody, but contains scenes from the movies set to Ke$ha's " Blow." The video is edited really well. Not to mention the song pretty much rocks.

For my husband

Cornelius Fudge-sicles

YAY! We finally saw the Harry Potter movie! I was pretty jazzed and would love to see it 12 more times. Although, I will have to wait until Christmas when it comes out on DVD to watch it a second time.  So, instead of seeing the movie again, let's make Cornelius Fudge-sicles!

Who in the blazes is Cornelius Fudge you ask? He was the Minister for Magic, a sort of Prime Minister for the Magical Folk, for most of the series.

That's his picture up there. What a looker, eh?  Well he was about as good a Minister for Magic as he was handsome.  His failure to see what was right in front of his face caused a lot of undue damage.  Funny how the little things can bring about our down fall.  Sort of like these Fudgesicles.

Oh, they sure don't seem like much, what with only a 1/2 Tablespoon of chocolate chips and 5/8 Tablespoon of cocoa powder per popsicle. How could they possibly taste rich and fudgy?  And I made them with plain old ordinary skim milk too.  Merlin's beard, they are rich and chocolate-y as all get out.

One thing that surprised me about these pops was that they were not rock hard after spending a day or two in the freezer.  Most of the time the frozen treats I make in ice pop form are strictly lick only, unless you want to crack your jaw off, or sit in the hot sun for a while.  (I don't know about you, but I prefer to eat my frozen concoctions in the serenity of my nice air conditioned home.)

See?  Even Blockette can bit the popsicle with her slightly wobbly/loose front tooth.  She doesn't even like to take bites from her ice cream cones, so I was surprised that she chomped away at this frozen confection.

Pop on over to smitten kitchen for the recipe for fudge popsicles and make them right away. Do it! Do it Lupin!  Do it for Fred!  Do it for Dumbledore, for pity's sake!  You know they'd want you to.

(The recipe makes 4 popsicles in the Tovolo star pop molds.)

Fudge Popsicles from Smitten Kitchen
2 tablespoons  semisweet chocolate chips or chopped semisweet chocolate
1/3 cup  sugar
1 tablespoon  cornstarch
1 1/2 tablespoons  unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 cups whole milk
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 tablespoon  unsalted butter

In the bottom of a medium saucepan over very low heat, gently melt the chocolate chips, stirring constantly until smooth. Stir in sugar, cornstarch, cocoa powder, milk and salt and raise heat to medium. Cook mixture, stirring frequently until it thickens, anywhere between 5 minutes (for me) and 10 (suggested in the book). Remove from heat, add vanilla and butter and stir until combined. Set aside to cool slightly then pour into popsicle molds. Freeze 30 minutes, then insert popsicle sticks. Freeze the rest of the way before serving.

Quik Magic Crystal Potion

Are the wizards and witches in your house hankering for something refreshing this summer? Why not try this Quik Magic Crystal Potion. It's sure to quench your thirst after a long hard day of casting magical spells. 

2/3 c crystals
1/3 c rock dragon scales, ground into a fine brown powder
pinch of white rock from the sea

Combine crystals, scales and rock into a fine powder. Add 1-2 T of powder to 1 c unicorn milk and stir. Drink with a spoon and straw.

Or head over to Sugar Bananas for the "muggle" version of homemade nesquik.

P.S. Mrblocko says this is a tasty addition to a nice hot cup of coffee too.

P.P.S. I can't believe I'm waiting over 24 hours to go and see the final Harry Potter movie.  I used to go to the midnight screenings.  I must be getting old!

Harry Potter Deleted Scenes

So I think it's pretty obvious by now that I'm a Harry Potter Geek. Part one of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is set to be released on DVD in just over a week. I came across these deleted scenes that I dearly wish they had included in the original release of the film. They are meloncholy tidbits from the book that make you not hate Aunt Petunia and Dudley, at least not quite so much.