Tuesday, January 1, 2019

Harry Potter Christmas Feast



As requested, I'm sharing some photos from our family's 
Harry Potter Christmas Feast on Christmas Eve, 2018.
Lots of photos, so be prepared. Grab a warm 
beverage and enjoy!




Our granddaughter had a list of things to help get
ready, and she did a few things each day
 preceding Christmas Eve. She pasted
the emblems on the house banners, colored the 
labels for the Potions, mixed the potions, 
(had a grand time mixing water and food coloring!)
and helped cut and glue wings to the flying keys.
 On Christmas Eve, she was the one
to set the table and decorate each place. Pretty 
impressive for a 9 year-old, I think!




Each person got a golden snitch, made from a
foil-wrapped Ferrero Rocher chocolate, with gold 
wings (cut from a gold plastic poinsettia) hot-glued
onto the foil to create the 'wings.'




The jars of Honeydukes sweets were placed down
the center of the table, and Christmas crackers were
placed on each plate. We had a fun time popping
them, and everyone was pretty cooperative
about wearing their tissue-paper crown and
reading their jokes! Our granddaughter even made
Place Cards for each person, with their name 
and a little Harry Potter drawing on each. There
was a lightning bolt (scar) flying broom, snitch,
and a 9 3/4 sign, to name a few.




I just picked likely-looking candy to place in each 
Honeydukes candy jar. The 'Cockroach Clusters'
 were peanut-butter chocolate Munchies, 
and the 'Nougats' were Cookies and Cream
Munchies.  The acid pops are Caramel Apple suckers,
and of course the Licorice Wands were red licorice 
sticks. My daughter also made chocolate covered
pretzel 'wands,' but I didn't get a photo of her chocolate
and sprinkled goodies...they disappeared pretty
quickly!




The 'Every Flavored Beans' were just gourmet
jelly beans -- no vomit or earwax flavored beans
in this jar!  Gummy worms were 'Flobber Worms'
and plain old Salt Water Taffy.  My mom was 
delighted to discover the pink taffy was
cinnamon flavored!  Coons Candy is where I
purchased the taffy and Zots. (I buy sugar-free 
chocolates for my Mom from this delightful family-run
 candy makers every year) Zots is a candy that 
fizzes in the mouth, so that's why I chose it for 
the 'Fizzing Whizbees'.  No levitation occurred,
however!  I refrained from buying the actual 
Ants in a sucker, or the crunchy 
crickets that Coons Candy sold! 

One nice thing for the feast
 was being able to re-use many of the 
various-shaped glass jars and bottles that
we had used as decor at our daughter's wedding!




The potions lined up on the kitchen counter, in
front of the row of candles. I had a lot of tapers in
holders, but forgot to light them before dinner!
The mad rush to get everything ready, you know.




The granddaughter colored these labels, and chose
what to put in each bottle. She had fun choosing
the colors for the contents.




She used scraps of silk flower leaves in the jar of
Gillyweed, and the Mermaid tears had black glitter
in the colored liquid. (black glitter being the only 
color I had, leftover from Halloween!)




Golden Snitches are the magical flying balls that are
the object of the game Quidditch. Young wizards fly
around the Quidditch pitch trying to catch the Snitch
to win the game. There's more to it than that, but
I'll spare you the complicated details!




We had fairly normal food for our feast which included
roast beef, turkey breast, mashed potatoes, gravy,
green beans, a relish tray, and sausage, cheese,
and crackers. Pecan pie is the granddaughter's 
favorite, so it definitely had to be on the menu,
along with Treacle Tart.




In the Harry Potter books, Treacle Tart was said to 
be Harry's favorite dessert. This is my second try, and
I must say I am rubbish at the topping! I couldn't 
manage the lattice crust, so I tried to do Harry's
round glasses frames and the lightening bolt.
There's a star thrown on there too, and even though
it looks very messy, it tasted very good. I was careful
not to overwork the crust this time, and it was more
tender. We don't have Golden Syrup where I live,
and instead of ordering it online (which is a bit 
pricey) I used Karo syrup, a tablespoon of molasses,
and a couple of tablespoons of brown sugar in the
lemony filling. Tasted quite good if I do say so
myself.  Just gotta work on that topping, or
leave it off completely!



The Hogwarts Wizarding School
House Banners: Hufflepuff, Gryffindor,
Slytherin and Ravenclaw. Just drawn
and cut from cardstock. I used images from 
the internet to draw from. The Grandkids decided
to hang them from the curtains. Please 
excuse my dust!





Flying keys were hung from the 
kitchen/living room pass-through.
Flying keys were one of the challenges that had
to be solved in order to reach The Sorcerer's Stone,
in the first Harry Potter book.




View from the kitchen, candles lit, Potions behind
the array of food. This only shows the desserts,
cheese and relish tray. I didn't get a shot of the
main courses, (buffet style on top
of the stove) as we wanted to eat it while it
was still warm! I don't know how my mom 
has successfully done all those family dinners
for 30 plus years, and get everything done at the
right time! My son helped a lot with the cooking,
so that was key to getting it all done. Oh, and
we had the stuff to make Butterbeer (Creme
soda and ice cream floats) but everyone
was too full!  The grandson did enjoy the 
Pumpkin Juice. (actually apple juice, orange
juice, a few tablespoons of pumpkin, and 
pumpkin pie spice)


Linking up with Elizabeth's T Tuesday blog post,
and hoping my Potions will 'count' as a 
beverage reference. In case you want to be able
to breathe under water, you can have some
Gillyweed!


Happy New Year 2019!

15 comments:

  1. Wow double Wow this is just so amazing and wonderful-How very fun for everyone especially your granddaughter. I am impressed for sure!! Give her a big hug from me for all her hard but fun work.
    Happy Happy New Year-so happy you shared all these photos over everything-and Happy T as well hugs Kathy

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  2. Sounds like a wonderful Christmas feast, but I'm glad you adjusted the flavours by the jelly beans! Happy T Day and a happy new year, Valerie

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  3. Very impressive for a 9-year old indeed, Dianne. The table is magical ... as it should be. I love the snitches! They are beyond clever.

    No levitation or crunchy crickets? Darn. I'm just amazed at all the special touches, time and effort that went into your marvelous feast. Wonderful pictures.

    Happy T-day and a very Happy New Year! Hugs, Eileen

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  4. This looks like such a fun way to celebrate. We're Harry Potter fans here, so this would've made a big hit with us. I think all the candies in jars and potions in bottles and decorations are all great ideas, and I applaud y'all for how it all came together!

    That pecan pie looks delicious. I have the makings but didn't make one because we had so much other sweets. Soon, though :) Happy T Tuesday and Happy New Year!

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  5. I am in awe at the work your granddaughter did. LOVE the Golden Snitches.............oh yes, I am a Harry Potter fan!
    Happy New Year

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  6. Wow, what a fabulous celebration! I love all your Harry Potter creations, so clever 😀. It looks like you had so much fun! Happy T Day and wishing you a Happy New Year filled with peace, love and happiness! J 😊 x

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  7. This looks amazing and like you all hd so much fun. Not just together as a family but working to make all the parts and pieces. What a great idea and what good memories. I am glad you shared this with us for T day as it was really unique and enjoyable to read about. Hope you had a great T day and that your new year is fantastic too. Hugs-Erika

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  8. I am so sorry I'm late visiting. I must have "partied" too hard last night, because I couldn't stay awake today.

    I have never seen a single Harry Potter film or read one of the books, so reading about Gillyweed or Snitches or Fizzy Whizbees went over my head, but I enjoyed the tree, the table, the decorations, the Christmas crackers, and the lovely place cards your granddaughter made. That was a very clever way to hold a Christmas party.

    I agree that getting everything made at the same time has always alluded me, too. I guess that's why they make warming ovens. Thanks for sharing your Harry Potter Christmas feast and potions with us for T this Tuesday, dear.

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  9. Your feast looks amazing and so fun! I want to throw one of these feasts after seeing yours. Harry Potter is one of my favorites! Looks like it was a lot of work but totally worth it.
    Happy New Year and Happy Tea Day,
    Kate

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  10. Wow, what a fabulous celebration Feast you had and you must have stored many memories of the day,
    The decorations look awesome. We all are Harry Potter fans as well.
    Happy New Year wishes to you and your family , I hope it will be a good year for you.
    Yvonne xx

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  11. WOW! Your granddaughter did an amazing job. Such a fabulous idea to create a celebration. You had all the details which was so fun. Have a very Happy, Healthy, and Creative New Year.

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  12. Your granddaughter is impressive! And I like her taste too, because pecan pie is my favorite, too! Happy New Year & Happy T Day!

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  13. what a FEAST!!! it was so enjoyable to read about all the details. your granddaughter inherited lots of your creativity, that´s obvious!
    have a great and healthy year, dianne, wishing you all the best!♥

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  14. Oh my goodness, what fun it must have been to be able to take part in the feast. I'm impressed with all the details

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