Skip to main content

Happy Birthday, Harry!

Harry Potter is 32 years old today.  Huzzah!

With seven books, eight movies, numerous video and computer games, and the juggernaut that is known as licensed merchandise, the odds of someone having no clue who Harry Potter is are roughly the same as the ones that I will ever meet Matt Damon.

My guess is that anyone in the world who says they've never heard of Harry Potter is lying...because for some reason, it's cool to admit it.  What a delusional world they live in...

A few weeks' ago, when I was obligated to read a couple of crummy (nicest word I can muster) books called The Marriage Plot and Fifty Shades of Grey...I turned to the Harry Potter series to help clear out the literary ickies.  And just like a Lay's potato chip, I couldn't have just one.  I reread the whole series in less than a month...and while I was at it, I watched all the movies for good measure too.

With that kind of obsession under my belt, it's no shocker that I know today is Harry's birthday.  And while I'm itching to make all kinds of Harry Potter (British, actually) goodies to celebrate the big day, ultimately, I must limit myself to what's available here in the US, and what, really, I have the time and energy to do.  Because even though it's the birthday of The Boy Who Lived (aka The Chosen One), it's still a bread-baking day for Yours Truly (aka Mom Who Provides Nourishment for Her Family).

Thus, Yorkshire puddings, Shepherd's pie, steak-and-kidney, kippers, and treacle tarts were put on hold.  Instead, I opted for Rock Cakes (Mrs. Weasley's recipe) and Pumpkin Pasties.  The links here will take you to the websites I used for reference.

So here you're looking at the rank-and-file of Dumbledore's Pumpkin Pasty Army before I marched them into my oven (upon which I'd cast the Incendio spell).  You'll notice the picture is (deliberately) too far away for you to note the five or six soldiers there that look pretty beat up.  I was just getting the hang of using my new ravioli/dumpling makers...that's why a few of them look burst.

Baking the Army (see below pic) brings out their flaws quite obviously.  But, they still taste good.  I feel like I'm joining Harry, Luna, Neville, and others on the Hogwarts Express (where the cart lady is selling nothing but sugary sweets...no fruit, no veg, nothing).

And here's the Rock Cakes, which I, when  first reading Harry Potter, thought were some funnily named teatime mishap concocted by Rubeus Hagrid.  But no, upon further research, Rock Cakes are actually a real British food, especially popular at teatimes.  They don't sound overly appetizing...I mean, the "rock" bit throws me off.  But, honestly, they're easy to make, and tasty little buggers to boot.

Makes me wish I were British.  Sometimes.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

In Which I Suspect I Have Latent Tendencies...Much Like The Hulk, Or Similar

I find in most normally functioning families, the members have a distinguishing role or legacy or skill of some kind. Like, he's the smart one.  Or, he's the religious one.  Or...she's the glue that helps the fam together.  Or, she's the savvy one, so she's the Power of Attorney. In my family, that system went something like this: My dad was The Dad.  Cantankerous, crotchety, and especially tight with daughters' curfew times.  Also, not a fan of driving in Big Cities. My mom was the long-suffering, patient, reserved one. My brother was the baby, the one who got away with murder, the namesake, and also, Frosty Hoarder. Me?  My legacy?  The Ruiner of Remote Controls.  No lie.  Although I've repressed the memories, my parents claim I destroyed at least two remotes in my tenure as Child Under The Roof.  Remote #1: milk spillage; Remote #2: applesauce spillage. So, now you see why my younger brother was the favorite. Anyway, t...
1 comment
Read more

From Government Regulations to Chicken

So, I really wanted tonight's post to be whippy and biting and highly intelligent...and I've even got the perfect topic - government wine regulations: Europe vs. the US (subtitle: European Governments Seem to Trust Their Citizens A Whole Lot More The US, Otherwise Why Don't French, et al., Wine Labels Have the Surgeon General's "Pregnant Women Should Not Drink This/This Beverage Impairs Your Brain" Warning). But, I realized that to begin a post like that, I should probably know the answer to the question, yes?  Why do American wine labels include the warning, when, I don't know, isn't just common sense?  A quick search of this very query lands me at Wikipedia, which is good enough for a rude overview, but nothing that indicates why it's a law in the first place. Hence, more reading is required.  I hope to get to it soon.  It's almost August, two-thirds of this year is nearly gone, and sometimes I feel as I am moving very, very quickly along...
6 comments
Read more

New Year's Solutions

I've never been a fan of resolutions at this time of year.  Usually, a resolution is what a person makes to "solve" an old recurring problem ( this year, I really am going to quit smoking, eat better, or stop reading Nicholas Sparks novels, etc. ). And usually, a resolution is vague.  As in, I'm going to get healthy!  But, I have no real plan of action of how to do it!! Despite my cynicism about making NY Resolutions, I do feel the need every end-of-year to come to make some kind of decisions about the year ahead - plans, goals, visions, etc.  2013 has been the year of indecision and immobility.  For me, anyway.  2014 will very likely be the year of movement...it's been looming on the horizon now for some time. I'm not much of a planner...I never really have been.  I've just sort of let things fall into my lap...and well, things have worked out okay for me, most of the time.  Professionally speaking, that is.  But now, I've been having ...
1 comment
Read more