We’ve reached the end of April, so you know what that means…farewell, Harry Potter menu! A sad farewell indeed, but I think we can safely say our mischief was managed. 😉
Butterbeer Trifle: An Alison’s Wonderland Original Recipe ©
Man oh man, I had so much fun developing this recipe! Harry Potter features so many fantastic foods, but butterbeer is by far one of my favorites. It’s incredibly versatile–I’ve seen butterbeer cupcakes, cookies, and ice cream all over Pinterest. My original plan was to make butterbeer cupcakes, like those made by The Curvy Carrot, but since I recently made cupcakes for Alice in Wonderland, I decided to try a different route. The goal: something classically British that still captured the essence of butterbeer. And what’s more classically British than trifle? 😉
Special Easter Post!
Happy Easter!
(fun fact: Easter is actually eight days long, so you can get away with saying “Happy Easter” all of this week!)
I hope you had a wonderful holiday! At our party this weekend, my family got a great surprise: my little niece from Ohio AND my brother (who is in the Navy) were able to make it! We feasted on cracked china deviled eggs and light ‘n fluffy strawberry cake roll. Officially the best Easter ever.
“Leeky” Cauldrons: Leek Soup in Pretzel Bun Bowls
So often I feel like we overlook side dishes as an opportunity for creativity. I’ll admit, I’m the queen of zapping frozen peas in the microwave and calling it done. But since this dish was going to represent all the magical goodness that is Harry Potter, I felt honor-bound to push my boundaries and turn a simple soup into something special. Luckily, I think I succeeded!
Pan-Seared Steak with Mushrooms and Onions: A Hogwarts House-Elf Specialty
When I decided to do a Harry Potter menu, I knew I wanted to feature at least one recipe from the Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook. It has the most iconic Harry Potter foods (pumpkin juice, cauldron cakes, etc.), but it also has some lesser-known Potter recipes. I’ve spent ages drooling over the recipes in this book, and now is the perfect time to break one out! The scotch collops (aka pan-seared steak with mushrooms and onions) stood out to me from the rest. This is the dish that Harry, Hermione, and Ron are eating at the start-of-term feast when they find out all the food is made by Hogwarts house-elves. As you may recall, Hermione stops eating in protest, but the boys have no problem finishing their steak. After tasting it myself, I have to say, I’m on Harry and Ron’s side. 😉
Savory Snitch Cheese Balls
Welcome to our new Book of the Month! I’ve been looking forward to doing Harry Potter for a long time. I love the books, so it was really important to me that this menu do them justice. Several drafts later, I’m proud to say I’ve planned a menu that I think even Snape would be unable to resist; it’s fun, magical, and (of course) incredibly tasty. So let’s get started!
April Showers Bring a New Book of the Month
Goodbye, March. Hello, April! We’ve got warm, sunny weather here in Chicago, and I couldn’t be happier. The fierce wind is the only thing keeping me from serving dinner outside today. I can’t leave winter behind fast enough!
Dragon Scale Madeleines
Today, we reach the end of our Hobbit journey. It’s been a fun ride: we’ve shared nut bread with Beorn the bear-man, supped on woodland fowl with the elves, and even had escargot with the friendly thrush. But the party ain’t over yet–we haven’t even had dessert! Luckily, Smaug’s been kind enough to provide it for us.
Parmesan and Thyme Escargot
Please forgive my Pi Day ADD from last week. I promise to never deviate from the pre-determined menu again…unless of course it’s for something super awesome. Like Halloween. Or the Fourth of July. Or Bring Your Potted Plant To Work Day…which I’m sure is a holiday somewhere.
Happy Pi Day!
For those who haven’t heard of it, March 14th (3/14) is National Pi Day, a day set aside in honor of the number pi (which is commonly abbreviated as 3.14). It’s kind of a big day at my house. The Mister wears his pi shirt, I bake a ton of pie, and we invite a bunch of friends over to watch Waitress (a movie about pie). Tragically, this has been a really busy week for us, so I haven’t had time to make truckloads of pie. In fact, I only had time to make one super-quick pie, so I knew I had to make it count. And that’s where this little beauty comes in…