Thursday, July 28, 2011

Accio Cookies!

So life has been hectic lately. Maybe not the best excuse for my absence, but there it is. Also, I was planning a party and it consumed most of my time for three weeks. In the build-up to the last Harry Potter film I decided we needed to have a themed party to celebrate...and, okay, to mourn a little bit the conclusion of a franchise that I have been invested in since I was 11 years old.

A lot of planning went into it. I painted banners, I made loot bags with tiny labels, and of course I made cookies. I can't resist a good excuse to make adorable decorated sugar cookies. And these ones turned out brilliantly if I do say so myself. Honestly, I was nearly giddy with how well they turned out.



I made the snitches using a bat-shaped cookie cutter and then attaching a round cookie over the bat's body. I was a little nervous about them before they were decorated because they really did just look like beach balls with bat wings. But, oh, they ended up looking like snitches in the end!



But the sorting hats were my pride and joy. The wands were cute, but the sorting hats. I don't really like to brag, but I wanted to preserve one for all eternity in a glass case. I didn't, of course, but it was tempting. Fair warning, the rest of these are mostly pictures of the party. I will end the post with a Butterbeer recipe (because how can I not?), but I really just want to show you how hard we geeked out at this party.



House banners, painstakingly hand-painted: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin respectively.



Hogwarts Coat of Arms. Also, hand-painted. For those of you who don't know, the motto translates into 'Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon.'



Liquid Luck, used to great effect by Harry in Half-Blood Prince. This version consists of whiskey and pearl petal dust.



Amortentia, the most powerful love potion in the world, though the most this version will do is make you squeaky clean and smelling lovely, as it is only body wash.



Loot bags courtesy of Honeydukes.



The best assortment of wizarding candy.



I had far too much fun making these.



And here we all are, bedecked in our wizarding best and enjoying every moment of it.

Butterbeer Floats

Vanilla Ice Cream
Butterscotch Schnapps
Club Soda

Drop a scoop of vanilla ice cream into a glass. Pour some butterscotch schnapps over top (about 1 1/2 oz). Top up with Club Soda and enjoy!

Many recipes call for Cream Soda, but the thought of it alone was near enough to induce diabetic shock, so I decided Club Soda would work as a good, less-cloying substitute. Everyone seemed to enjoy, so I'd say it was a success.

And for all you Harry Potter fans out there, don't forget to check out Pottermore, launching in October!