Introducing Project: Harry Potter

I'm a girl who loves a theme.  This probably explains why I love dressing in vintage 40s style.  But really?  I love themes for everything.  Nearly all my birthday parties (and by all, I mean dating back from the very first) have had a theme.  Recent themes have included a Big Lebowski bowling party where I made cookies that looked like this:

Last year, I had a 40s-themed birthday swing dance party at Casa Loma Ballroom.  All my friends went shopping for vintage clothes and showed up for a night of live music, dancing, and drinks!

Photo courtesy of Matthew Prather Photography

Also, some of my favorite burlesque shows of late have been the delightfully-themed Randy Dandies shows, which tend to make the nerdy incredibly sexy.  From superheroes to adult spin-offs of Choose Your Own Adventure and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, the Randy Dandies are constantly creative and hilariously sexy.

I also (surprise?) love themes in the kitchen.  Which brings me to this week's project:

Harry Potter.

This is where I descend in to nerd-dom.  While I may not have started reading the books from the very first release, I caught on quick.  I've laughed, I've cried (and cried.  And cried.), I've gone to midnight releases, I've dressed in costume, I've written fanfic (Yes, yes, yes.  Fanfic.), and I've clung steadfastly to my belief that Snape wasn't evil, just a delightful bastard.

And now the last movie is about to be released, and I can't believe how long this has been going on.  (The last book came out the summer we got married, four years ago.  We both went to the release and stayed up til 3 at my parents' house reading.  I continued to read through the night, and we finished together the next day.  And then took a very long nap.)  I admit it, I get a little choked up when I look back at pictures from the first movie and see how tiny they all were.

So, to commemorate this nerdy event in my life, I hereby state my intention to spend this week cooking and baking as many of the delicious recipes in the Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook as possible.  (And maybe some butterbeer, which is not in the cookbook.)

This book?  It's amazing.  I haven't made a single bad thing from it.  (Plus, it shares my new obsession with making my own ice cream.)

So, be on the lookout!  Because I've already begun!