Warner Brothers has announced that the US release of Order of the Phoenix will be July 11th rather than the originally-scheduled July 13th date. Not as creepy as Friday the 13th - but two days earlier is pretty cool.
It’s just been announced that a Harry Potter Theme park is in the works!
The plan, which will be a joint venture between Warner Brothers and Universal has been blessed by J.K. Rowling.
The park is set to open in 2009.
We’ll have to feed these hungry readers! What to serve as a “main dish” at our book release party?
Well, as we’ve decided, the party is going to be July 20th - which, for those of us in the northern hemisphere, is the middle of summer - and it’s, most likely, going to be hot. So we don’t want to be spending hours over a hot stove with the oven heating up the whole house - so I think that a dish that can be prepared outdoors will be our best bet!
As Hogwarts is closed during the summer months - there isn’t much going on in the kitchens at that time - but we do have some clues as to wizardly fare by our time at the Burrows. Mrs. Weasley congers up a variety of dishes, including ham and chicken pie, salad and strawberry ice cream. As we’ll be outside for the party (did I tell you we’ll be outside?) with not much seating area, easy-to-eat food will be our best bet.
Sandwiches - it seems like the perfect solution - easy to prepare and easy to eat.
Keeping with the Potter theme - we’ll serve cold chicken and ham sandwiches and warm roast beef, but slice it so it can be eaten on bread.
chicken sandwiches:
1 rotisserie chicken (easy! get this at the grocery store/deli)
mini pitas (or mini roll of your choosing)
roasted red pepper spread (store bought or made by pureeing (in a blender or food processor) roasted red peppers with garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper until a thick, but smooth paste)
8oz sharp provolone cheese (cut into sticks)
Leaf lettuce
Pick all of the meat off of the chicken (can also use baked chicken breasts if chicken picken isn’t your favorite task.
Slice the mini pitas to open.
Spread red pepper sauce into each pita
stuff with chicken, cheese and lettuce
Serve any extra pepper sauce on the side
Ham sandwiches:
1 lb deli ham, sliced thinly
3/4 lb cheddar or swiss cheese, sliced
1 english cucumber, sliced (you guessed it) thinly
1 package party rye
deli mustard
toothpicks
Assemble the sandwiches by spreading 1/2 of the slices of bread on a tray. Spread mustard on each of the slices of bread. Next, add the ham, cheese and cucumber. Top each sandwich with a second slice of bread. If necessary, secure each sandwich with a toothpick.
Warm roast beef sandwiches: This recipe can be made outside on the grill top or outdoor stove.
2-3 lbs sliced roast beef (you can buy this at the deli counter or cook the roast yourself)
2 au jus gravy packets
8 oz shredded sharp cheddar cheese
mini kaiser rolls
horseradish (hot or creamy)
-In a large saucepan or dutch oven, prepare the gravy per package directions.
-Once the gravy is done, add the sliced beef - cook on low heat until warmed through
-Serve on mini kaiser rolls with gravy, cheese and horseradish.
While I don’t have time to knit up house scarves for all of my Potter Pals before the end of July, I do have time to knit one scarf to give away as a sort of “door prize.”
The contest could be:
- a guessing game - have a large number of pennies (un-inflated balloons, ) in a container and the person who guesses closest to the number wins;
- a trivia quiz that you create (or borrow from the internet) and the guest with the highest score wins;
- a random drawing of your guests’ names in a hat (a sorting hat, of course).
But, back to the scarf…
There are a multitude of Harry Potter inspired knitting projects on the internet (and, of course the new knitting book, Charmed Knits) and the most popular (and researched) item is the House Scarf. Knitters have, for years, discussed and debated the structure of the scarf, the number of rows, the height of the rows, the pattern (mostly influenced by the movies), and the color choices (the most bitter battle of all - book versus movie color schemes).
The general consensus, however, is that the original house scarf is long, has large stripes and is “knit in the round.” Knit in the round means that you use circular needles and, basically, make a long tube of color. The huge benefits of this method are that you can use just the knit stitch (no purling required) and your color join seams and weaving in are hidden inside the tube!
For colors - I’m going to make a Griffyndor house sweater in washable wool. I really like the colors from the movies - so I’ll use a burgundy and a yellow gold.
Materials: size 8 (or whatever size is recommended for the yarn you choose) 16″ circular needles
2 100g skeins of burgundy wool (about 400 yards total)
2 100g skeins of yellow/gold wool
stitch marker
crochet hook (for fringe)
yarn needle
Cast on 70 stitches with first color - place stitch marker at beginning of round.
Knit in the round for 23 more rows (total 24); switch to second yarn and knit another 24 rows. Knit as many stripes as you like - but do an odd number of stripes so that you end up with the blocks of the first color on either end of the scarf. Weave in ends as necessary.
For fringe - add fringe in alternating colors, again with an odd number. Trim fringe to even.
Gordon Brown, the UK Prime Minister to be, has announced that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is on his “summer reading list”, although he will take his seat as PM on June 27th.
Brown, a personal friend of J.K. Rowling’s, told BBC Radio 4 that he plans to read the book “hoping that my sons will want to read later.” Brown’s sons, John and Fraser, are 3 and 1 years old, respectively.
HT to The Wizard News
Let’s see where we are so far on the planning our Harry Potter Party…
We’re going to have a book release party on the evening of Friday, July 20th. I’m thinking 5:00pm as a start time.
We’ve decided to make a trifle and chocolate covered pretzel wands.
We’re going to have an activity of bookmarker making during the party.
Now we need to make up a guest list and decide where to have the celebration.
Who to invite? J.K. Rowling? She’ll most likely be busy that evening. Perhaps a list of people we actually know would be more logical… The best bet is to invite people who are (at least somewhat) excited about the release of the book and their families (be it their children or their parents!). I’d limit the size of the invitation pool to 20 or under (you don’t want to have too much to tidy up - there will be reading to do!). For our party we’re going to invite adults, as well as children.
Now where? I think the easiest venue will be at home, although, if you have access to a local library (and want to, perhaps, expand the scope of your fete) that would be a great location as well. Another idea is to check for discounted prices for hotels (I really like expedia.com for hotel searches) near your book store; many hotels offer rooms with kitchenettes and/or suites so you’ll have plenty of room to move around. As I have pre-ordered my copy of the book through the internet and will be waiting at the door all day Saturday for my “guaranteed day of release delivery” I think we’ll host our party at home.
So far, our shopping/to do list is as follows:
grocery:
cake for trifle
custard mix
raspberries and raspberry preserves
whipping cream
pretzel rods
melting chocolate
sprinkles!
craft shop:
felt
fabric glue
glitter and other embellishments
fabric pens
to do:
make prototype bookmarker(s)
cut out blank bookmarkers
Next week? Invitations - to evite or not to evite?
More party treats? Sure!
How about some Magic Pretzel Wands?
ingredients:
pretzel rods
3 to 4 squares of almond bark; semisweet chocolate chips (add some shortening or whipping cream); melting candies (these come in a variety of colors and are, generally, found at your local craft supply store); basically, any yummy meltable candy!
Festive sprinkles
Melt candy in a microwave-safe dish on 50% power for 30 second increments, stirring in-between, - until fully melted.
Dip pretzel rods into candy to coat top half. Shake off excess.
Roll candy coated section in sprinkles.
Lay dipped pretzels on wax paper. Chill or freeze until set.
Make enough “wands” for each of your guests.
Display the pretzels in tumbler glasses, or, for fun, you can play like it’s Oleander’s shop and designate different wands for different people!
So, we’re going to have a party - so, I thought we might begin researching activities and decorations.
Since we intend (no spoilers) to invite friends of all ages, it’s a good idea to have some games/activities planned for those party goers who won’t be satisfied (albeit just a few) with just standing around and speculating about the fate of each and every character. One fun idea is to have the younger fans create and decorate bookmarkers for themselves, and the other guests. Everyone is going to need one (and maybe more than one). You can choose from a variety of mediums - card stock, foam, felt. I recommend that you have the “markers” pre-cut and have a bunch of items for embellishment: stickers; markers (washable, of course); fringe; beads; the possibilities are nearly endless.
In celebration of the release of the final Harry Potter book, the UK is releasing a set of Harry Potter stamps! According to Julietta Edgar, the Royal Mail’s Head of Special Stamps (sounds like a post at the Ministry of Magic!), the seven stamp series (seriously seems super) will feature artwork from each of the novels. Additionally, there will be a “miniature” set of stamps depicting Hogwarts and each of the 4 houses.
The stamps are set for release on July 17, 2007.
With the release of the fifth Harry Potter movie less than 2 months away -
I ponder, which is better - an “adapted” film or one that stays true to the book(s)?
The first 2 Potter movies (Sorcerer’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets) were very much like the books. The texts themselves were shorter - and, thereby lent themselves easily to a 2 hour screenplay. Of course there were differences and interpretations - but they really did stay very true to the original works.
As the books got longer, the film makers had to decide which aspects they would focus on. Of course, there were also director and cast changes with movies 3 and 4 (Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire) but “by the book” fans had to take a leap of faith and accept the films for what they were - adaptations of the stories. Not bad, just different.
I will say, however, in the world of literary film - the makers of the Harry Potter series have attempted to make the movies companions to the books rather than artistic interpretations.
The book, Order of the Phoenix, was a huge read - and it will be interesting to see how it plays out on the screen. The early trailers and teasers suggest that it is going to be action packed! Due out in theaters on July 13th (in the US) - I’m sure it won’t be a disappointment.
Planning, Planning, Planning.
So, we’re going to have a Harry Potter party. The first thing to decide is when.
The Order of the Phoenix movie release is July 13th (in the US) - it might be fun to have a party before going to see the movie; or schedule for all of your party goers to see the movie at a matinee (probably Saturday the 14th) and then meet afterwards to “discuss.” This sounds like a fun idea, but July 14th is Bastille Day, so you may have a bunch of “Liberte - Egalite - Fraternite” parties to go to that weekend (of course you could work in a Beauxbatons theme…).
A countdown to the book release party sounds like a fun time - if you and your friend are planning to head to the bookstore on the evening of July 20th (to get in line, of course) - you could host a simple dinner party before you queue. Timing could be a problem here if folks are going to different bookstores.
Another possibility is to have a party after the release of the book to celebrate and discuss the final chapter of the series. You could schedule the party for the evening of July 21st or a week or two later when your guests have had a chance to read (and re-read) the text. One problem here is if you want to invite folks who maybe appreciate a good party, but haven’t (yet) read the book - you don’t want to host a spoiler party!
What to choose? What to choose? Where is the party sorting mitten when I need it?
My choice is option number 2. I can host the party in the early evening so all ages can attend, and, while we won’t have the new book to devour, we can serve up some tasty treats and let the speculation run amuck. Also, I can invite friends who maybe haven’t yet reserved their copy(ies) of the book and/or haven’t yet seen the film (horrors!).
So much to plan - next tasks? Who to invite and where to have the party - invitations should go out soon!
So, to kick off the planning for our Potter Party I vote we begin with - Dessert!
Trifle to be exact. The Trifle is an ancient (okay, maybe 1600ish) confection which has many variations. I once made a trifle with left-over chocolate stout cake; I added, custard, butterscotch syrup & liquor, toffee bits and whipped cream - Just a light snack.
Our party is scheduled - well - we haven’t picked a date yet - but I know it will be in July - so I think a fruity trifle would be delightful…
Easy Raspberry Trifle
Ingredients:
1 4.4-ounce package custard dessert mix (such as Jello- brand)
3/4 cup raspberry preserves
2 10-ounce packages frozen raspberries in syrup, thawed, drained, 1/4 cup syrup reserved
1 16-ounce frozen pound cake, thawed, crust trimmed, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
3/4 cup cream Sherry (in the alternative, use a citrus simple syrup)
1 1/4 cups chilled whipping cream
1. Prepare custard mix according to package instructions. Place in freezer until cold, stirring often, about 15 minutes.
2. Mix preserves and 1/4 cup reserved raspberry syrup in small bowl.
3. Line bottom of 8-inch-diameter glass bowl that is 4 to 5 inches deep (about 15-cup capacity) with layer of cake, trimming to fit. Brush cake slices with 1/4 cup Sherry.
4. Spread 1/4 cup preserve mixture over soaked cake.
5. Reserving 12 raspberries, sprinkle 1/3 cup raspberries over preserves, then pour 1 cup custard over.
6. Repeat layering 2 more times. Cover; chill 2 hours.
(Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled.)
7. When ready to serve, beat cream in large bowl until stiff (but not dry) peaks form. Spoon cream onto trifle. Garnish with 12 raspberries.
Original Recipe source: Bon Appetite at Epicurious.com
Over on Tiny Treasury, children’s book reviewer and recommender extraordinaire, Kelly, has posted a question…
So, check it out and let your opinion be known!
Also, be sure to check out her review of Troy CLE’s Marvelous World - Book One: The Marvelous Effect.
to quote Albus Dumbledore.
Through August 31st, the Charmed Knits Blog is sponsoring a “knit-along” inspired by the hat patterns in Charmed Knits Projects for Fans of Harry Potter by Alison Hansel.
A “knit-along” is when a group of, you guessed it, knitters gets together and chooses a pattern to “knit along” with one another. Each crafter knits his/her own projects - but as a group they check in for updates on progress, materials, trouble spots, variations, and, finally, results.
For the Charmed Knits knit-along, the blog is supplying the pattern and instructions for materials and then all of the projects are being donated to the charity, Warm Woolies.
Per the website, Warm Woolies is a non-profit organization whose volunteers knit warm clothing for poverty-stricken children who would otherwise suffer from cold. Their mission is to provide the very neediest children with wool sweaters, vests, hats, mittens, and slippers.
You can sign up for the knit-along and post your progress and projects. As the beanies and berets are a “quick knit” you can easily conjure up a basketful!
Well, according to J.K. Rowling’s official site, it’s Professor Sprout’s birthday as well.
It is amazing how much “back story” and personality Rowling has created for each of her characters. She’s devised (at least for herself) a full history for each of her characters.
Harry Potter’s birthday date is July 31st (such a busy month!) - interestingly, this is J.K. Rowling’s birthday as well.
For other Harry Potter trivia visit The Harry Potter Lexicon.
Hogwarts Herald is here to document the press surrounding all things Harry Potter.
Hogwarts Herald Author(s)
» Cindy-Crouch
