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Tuesday, September 24, 2013

{Ham Sams with Poppy Seed Dressing}


When I was a teenager, we had something at church called 'Prayer Breakfast'. Every Wednesday morning, before school, our youth group would go to church for a short devotional time. After devotions we would eat breakfast together. The ladies in the church took turn preparing it from week to week. We'd have everything from donuts and muffins, to sausage biscuits and gravy, to eggs, to pancakes and bacon  to everything in between.

My favorite thing though? A sweet lady named Ruth made totally delicious ham sandwiches. I knew if I saw Ruth in the church kitchen, it was going to be a good day!

They'd come out to us in foil. We'd unwrap them and breathe in the heavenly (ha, see what I did there? church? heavenly? yeah.) aroma. As a tiny teenage girl I could easy put away more than is totally proper. No shame, they are that good!


Recently my mom made them for a ladies group meeting. When I found out, I pestered her endlessly until she gave me the recipe. I'm a good daughter. I'm not really sure I ever outgrew my "pesty" stage. Finally, she gave it to me. Oh happy day!

I've mentioned in the past that Bean is quite the picky eater. When I made these up for the blog, I didn't figure he'd like them. Well, I was right, he didn't like them. He's obsessed with them! He even begged me to make him two slider sized after school yesterday. Here's the best thing about this recipe, it's SO EASY. He can make it himself.

As I mentioned, you can make these in slider sized. Or mini subs like I did for this post. Or regular sized. Or full sized subs. Any size will do, just make a lot!

For the sliders I made him, I simply sliced King's Hawaiian Rolls and made the sandwiches.




I've never known a name for these. We've just always called them Ruth's sandwiches. Bean has dubbed them Amazingly Delicious Ham Sams though. I'll stick with Ham Sams.


I can't say as I know the source of this recipe, only that Ruth made them a good 25 years ago. Delicious then. Delicious now. They have this almost honey mustard flavor to them. Here's the rub though, there's no honey in this mustard at all! Magic.


I'm pretty sure these are ingredients I'll need to have on hand full time now. Bean cannot get enough of these!

Good thing they are easy!


These are great for get togethers & parties too.

Tina


Ham Sams
with a mustard onion poppy seed dressing
makes 8  (3 1/2"-4" buns)
(or less depending on how much meat you like on your sandwiches)


1 lb ham, sliced or chipped (chipping is very thin slices, almost shredded. I use chipped for my sandwiches)
1/2 lb Swiss cheese, sliced
1/4 pound butter, melted
2 Tablespoons dried onion flakes (or fresh diced onion)
3 Tablespoons mustard
1 Tablespoons poppy seeds
Buns


Melt butter. Add in mustard and stir until mixed. Add onion and poppy seed. Stir.
Assemble sandwich with ham and a slice of swiss cheese.
Spread dressing onto the outside of the bun tops.

You can also spread it on the inside of the buns too, though you may need to mix up a bit more.

Wrap in foil and bake at 325 F for 15-20 minutes.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

{Caramel Apple Cake}


I think you all should know that today is Hermione Jean Granger's birthday, BUT, I promised not to talk about Harry Potter for a while, so, I did NOT just tell you that. (However, I WILL tell you that Darla has some aweeeeeesome cuppies made for our favorite smartypant's birthday. Oh, and there are also these that I made for her a while back!).

Anyway...

I've been following the production of what promises to be an amazing movie (no, not the new Potter universe film). The movie is called The Fault in Our Stars and is based on the best selling book of the same title by John Green. If you didn't already know, I'm a Nerdfighter and rabid fan of John Green. For reference, or to figure out what the heck a Nerdfighter is, see my post here.

Finally watching one of John's movies head to the screen (Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, and Paper Towns were all optioned by movie companies, but never made) is pretty exciting. John has been on set and keeps posting videos and photos. It's all so much fun to see come to life.

The Fault in Our Stars has been by far John's most successful book (although they have all been on the best sellers list. In fact, early this year, they were all on the best seller list at the same time). Many celebs have read TFiOS, it's been in magazines, and John's even been on the Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

So, it's pretty popular. It's also going to be an AMAZING movie and I can't wait. I wasn't too excited about the actress cast as Hazel Grace, but, meh, I'm giving her a chance. She WAS nominated for a Golden Globe, so I guess the bad acting on the "teen" show was due to poor writing!

I'm totally over here in my corner having a hipster moment. You know, I liked John Green before it was cool, I read TFiOS before it was the big time. Yeah, I'm cool like that.

I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!! (I know, I know, I just lost my cool points yelling like a fool).

What does this have to do with the cake I made?

Exactly....nothing.

However, read the book. You'll need cake after. I promise.


This cake is a wonderful fall recipe. It's sweet but spicy, moist and covered in a delicious streusel. It's great for dessert or for breakfast. 

  Drizzle with a bit of caramel topping to make it even more delicious.

Then... eat up! 

 Hello, my lovely Fall treat. I've missed you and your friends so.

 

Le yum.

And as they say in my hometown, don't forget to be awesome,
Tina

If you haven’t already,  you can ‘like’ my Facebook page here, and follow me on twitter here, and you can follow me on instagram here.


Caramel Apple Cake 
recipe by Tina @ Sugar Bean Bakers

Cake:

1 cup flour
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
2 medium apples, peeled, cored, and diced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup caramel ice cream topping

Topping:

1/4 cup butter, cold
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Grease a 9x9 baking pan and set aside

For Cake:
Beat together melted butter, egg, and brown sugar until fluffy. Add in caramel topping. After incorporated mix in dry ingredients. Finally, fold in apples. Pour into prepared pan.

For Topping:
In a mixing bowl, cut the cold butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles peas. Sprinkle over prepared cake.

Bake for 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Allow to cool, drizzle with caramel ice cream topping, if desired.




Monday, September 16, 2013

{Easy Caramel Buttercream}


Ohio is bipolar. I'm being serious here. I think Ohio has some major issues she needs to work out this year. This summer has been cool. As in, too-cold- to-get-in-the pool-except-for-maybe-6-times-cool.

Sure, it was an extraordinarily pleasant summer for me. I'm not a 90+ degree sweaty Betty kinda girl. Give me a nice 80 degrees with a breeze and I'm a happy, happy chica. Bean though? While not great in the heat himself (especially not our lovely Ohio 100000% humidity hot) being the coughy, wheezy, asthma man he is, LOVES to swim. Loves it. Loves, loves, loves it.

This summer though? Uh. No. Sorry. Swimming season is over, in JUNE. All of July, all of August, save for about 1 week were cool. The one week it WAS nice and hot, the kid? Yeah, got Swimmer's Ear and was not allowed in the water (even with earplugs) for 10 days.

Fast forward to September and mother of all that is good and mighty, it's suddenly 92 degrees again. Ok, what?? Our pool is closed for the season (I'm using the word "season" lightly this year) and it's holy hot. However, Thursday it was 92, Friday? 60. You're killing me, Ohio. For serious. Pick. A. Season. We don't even care which at this juncture... Just. Pick.

So, yeah.

Sorry, I have no segue for this conversation, so let's just move forward from here.

You know what's a beautiful thing?

Buttercream.

You know what's even better?

Caramel Buttercream.

For really.

There are a ton of Caramel Buttercream recipes out there that are complicated. Making the caramel to add and such. Sure, you can do that. They are delish, but... sometimes fast and easy is the way to go.

In that case, I gotcha covered. You're welcome.


Basic buttercream ingredients, plus one... caramel ice cream topping.

That's it. Easy. Tasty. The end.

Excellent, of course, on chocolate cake, but really lovely on spice and white cakes too.

Give 'er a try.


Now that it's cooled back down, I'm looking forward to cranking out some fall recipes (like the Pumpkin Bread I just posted. Of course, it was totally 90+ degrees that day, but DUDE, I NEEDED a pumpkin infusion STAT).

Next up? Something appley! YUS.

Til then,

Tina

P.S., see, I told you I wouldn't talk about Harry Potter in this post! Ha! Wait, what do you mean I just did?


If you haven’t already,  you can ‘like’ my Facebook page here, and follow me on twitter here, and you can follow me on instagram here.

Easy Caramel Buttercream
by Tina @ Sugar Bean Bakers

3/4 cup butter (softened)
1/4 cup shortening (I prefer Crisco)
3-4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup caramel ice cream topping
pinch of salt
Milk*

Beat the butter and shortening until fluffy. Slowly add in the powdered sugar. Beat for about 3 minutes. Add in the salt and ice cream topping. Mix until distributed.

**you shouldn't need any milk with the liquid ice cream topping, but if you find the buttercream too thick, add milk 1 teaspoon at a time until desired consistency.

Drizzle extra caramel topping on top of cupcakes/cake if desired.

Easy Salted Caramel Buttercream variation
by Tina @ Sugar Bean Bakers

3/4 cup butter (softened)
1/4 cup shortening (I prefer Crisco)
3-4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup caramel ice cream topping
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt (sea salt)
Milk

Follow instructions above




Friday, September 13, 2013

{Cinnamon Streusel Topped Pumpkin Bread}



I'd apologize for what I'm about to talk about, but I'm not sorry, so... No.

DID YOU HEAR??????????? THERE ARE GOING TO BE NEW HARRY POTTER UNIVERSE MOVIES! GAH. SIRIUSLY. I. CAN'T. EVEN.

Practically the second it was announced, my niece posted on my timeline and asked if it was true. So, OK. I love two things about this. 1. that I've made excellent nerd minions in my nieces and child and 2. I'm like the leading authority on all things nerddom to them.


I immediately started iMessaging Darla. She wasn't responding. I was losing my mind. FINALLY she responded (her iPad wasn't making alert noises! Dumb Apple, this is ALL CAPS IMPORTANT).



Yes, her iPad's name is the Marauder's Map. Mine is the Monster Book of Monsters. What?!


Any Potter fan will know that there have been rumors, "official" news, leaks, etc all saying there would be new Potter books, etc... never true. We've gotten our hopes up only to have them dashed far too many times. This, is ALL TRUE. A series of movies (with all the screenplays being penned by good ole JK Rowling herself) starring the character Newt Scamander will be an expansion of the Wizarding World. Not techinally Harry Potter movies at all... guess what? No one cares! Wizards, witches, magic, adventure, Fantastic Beasts... and where to find them! YESSSSSSSSS.

So, we continued to freak out. Then Darla said that she was weakened by the excitement and needed a snack. I thought that was an excellent idea.



This is her snack. She posted the photo on her instagram.


My snack? Well, it was also tea. And bread. Pumpkin bread. This bread in fact, but wait.. there's MORE.

Then SHE messaged ME with news




We are going to Orlando next September. We'll be doing Disney and, of course, Potter World (The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Universal Studios). There was always speculation that the new London part of WWoHP would be done in the summer. We were PRETTY SURE that we would be in the clear and able to see it, but honestly, NOT being there in time was a huge fear. Especially for Darla who is flying back from The Netherlands to go! So, confirmation that it will open Spring 2014 when we aren't going until Fall 2014? AWE-to the-SOME.

So, anyway, back to the bread... (Finally, right? Whatever.. POTTER!!!!!!!!).


What better thing to make for Potter than pumpkin....

This gorgeous, glorious, fall scented, flavor packed bread is a creation of none other than the crazed Potter fan above, Darla.

Just look at that wonderful streusel!



Yuuuuuuuuuuuuum.

This is a quick and easy recipe. It's also quite large. It makes 3 full sized loaves.

You'll want to give two away. Otherwise you'll eat it. ALL. It's that good.



Mine are definitely finding new homes today. I really want to still fit into the seat on the Forbidden Journey next year at Potter World!

So, um.. I promise not to talk about Harry Potter for a while. It'll be a struggle for me, but I know I've had an influx of Potter posts lately (sorry, not sorry).

Well.... it most likely won't be about Potter anyway ;)

Until then...

Tina (a very, very happy Potter fan)


P.S. (See all my Potter posts here)
P.P.S. If you haven’t already,  you can ‘like’ my Facebook page here, and follow me on twitter here, and you can follow me on instagram here.


Recipe:

The only variations I made were:
I didn't use the pepitas & I sprinkled the loaves with a bit of brown sugar fresh from the oven. This gave them a most excellent crunch when cooled.

Sunday, September 8, 2013

{ Harry Potter Party the Second }


Woo!!!!!!!!! It's that time of year again!

POTTAH PARTAY TIME!

I can't even believe I made this one happen folks, honestly, I was a lazy slug about getting it done.

I was kinda over it. Now, don't get me wrong. I wasn't over Potter. I wasn't even over having a Potter party. I really loved doing them. It's just, you see, Darla was supposed to be here. *sniff* You all probably know by now that in the last year, I've become very good friends with the Whisk Master of Bakingdom, Darla. She was going to fly in, help me prep, attend the party, then we were going to head off to Indiana and check out some awesome The Fault in Our Stars locations (as described in the book). However............ The United States Coast Guard had other plans. They thought, hey, I know Darla was hoping to spend some time in Europe before her hubster retires, how bout we make that happen at the worst time ever? Dude. Thanks.

So, post-Darla depression set in.

Then one of my guests posted how excited she was about the upcoming party, and I realized I need to snap out of it and GET TO WORK.

Besides, this was my OWN 40th Birthday party. Yes, I threw a party for myself. So? ;)

So, without further ado, I present to you, Sugar Bean Bakers' Harry Potter Party the Second.

(Read about the original Epic Harry Potter party here , also, see ALL my Potter posts here.)

I did a few things the same way as last year, but since I had several of the same guests (but several new), I tried to mix it up a little.


Decor:

I was a bit panicked in the end, and didn't get 1/2 the decorations out that I wanted, but I don't think it really bothered anyone much at all!



I made pennants last year. These are cheap and easy to make. They are simply felt in the House colors. No House crests or anything, simple but effective.

I also did 'floating' letters. I found a decent sized photo of a letter from the movie. I then took it into photoshop, selected the text only, then used that to print on my own envelopes. I used a red candle to drip onto the backs, then a faux Pirate Doubloon that Bean had to make the imprint.

I printed up some Wanted posters as well. I burnt the edges with a long handled lighter (not for kids to do, of course!)



Snacks:

For snackies I just did Nachos. Not Potter, no, but everyone loves.

For Butterbeer, I varied Darla's recipe. I used 2 liter bottles of Vanilla Cream Soda and added 1 Tablespoon of butter flavoring & then topped with canned whipped cream.






Wands:

Like last year, Bean and I made wands. You can see the tutorial for that here. All of the wands were lovingly crafted, painted, and measured by us. We added Ollivander tags and the actual wand measurement, wood, and core.

Also, like last year, I had the people RSVP as a character. However, they 'weren't' that person when they arrived. Though dressed like them, they came as themselves. That way, the wand choosing and sorting put them into the houses in which they, not their character, belonged.


Ollivanders:

Wand Choosing Ceremony was done via "Spin the Bottle" method. I would spin a wand, and whoever it pointed to, was the person it chose.

Sorting:

After the wand ceremony came the sorting.

I placed gems of the house colors (except Hufflepuff was clear. I couldn't find yellow gems) into the sorting hat. Whatever color they pulled out was their house.


 This is my niece, the Hufflepuff (she was also Hufflepuff last year! It must be so).


Transformation:

After the sorting, everyone "became" their character. Everyone got a cup of Polyjuice Potion

 (the stars are reusable ice cubes)


I then added a touch of the 'person' to the drink. (It was cotton candy, which dissolves right into the drink).


In attendance: Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Molly Weasley, James Potter, Lily Potter, Baby Harry, Bellatrix Lestrange, Narcissa Malfoy, Katie Bell, Stan Shunpike, Nyphadora Tonks, Seamus Finnigan, Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood, Lavendar Brown, Pansy Parkinson, and 3 Muggles.

Unicorn Hunt:

There was a unicorn injured in our woods! The Houses each set out to find 4 silver objects. A silver leaf, a silver twig, a silver flower, and a silver cluster of berries.




Before the party, I simply walked around our property and spray painted object. There were 4 sets of the items. The first House back got 20 House Points.

In true fashion, Slytherin cheated & Ravenclaw told on them. Ravenclaw was the first properly back (Slytherin brought back a non-silver flower!).

Needless to say, Slytherin did not win. If they'd had House Points at that time, I would have docked them! ;)

Last year I did a Horcrux Hunt and this year I wanted to have them still hunt something, but I couldn't think of what. Finally, a silver can of paint and the suggestion of having people walk around the woods spawned this idea.

House Points:


Speaking of House Points:



This is the photo from last year. I failed to take one this year. The gems are the same we used for the sorting. They are inexpensive and widely available (and reusable!). Except that pesky yellow. The vases are actually from the $1 store. I liked the 'hourglass' shape.

While they were off hunting, I set up Florean Forestuce's Ice Cream Parlour.

Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour:

Since Florean gave Harry Strawberry and Peanut Butter sundaes, I made up some peanut butter sauce. Easy stuff. 1 cup Peanut Butter, 1 cup water, 1/2 cup brown sugar. Heat the PB in the microwave for about a minute, stir in the water and sugar until glossy. Store in fridge, but take out a while prior to serving so it isn't too thick. Other than that, they were all toppings from the store.  Caramel, Hot Fudge, Butterscotch, and marshmallow fluff.

I made the labels in Photoshop, again, quick and easy. I like things simplistic. 1, because that is just my personal style, 2, because I think that's how Wizarding World things would be, and 3, and most importantly, ink is expensive and I am cheap. Ha.


Patronuses:

While everyone ate their sundaes, it was time to find your Patronus! I printed up different animals photos from a Google search  (I recommend using cardstock or gluing to cardstock, I did the latter) and cut them out.



To find out which was your patronus, I used a color changing LED


Since patronuses are represented in the movies as a little bit of a bluish white, that is the color I chose. The person would hold the light in their hand, and I would shuffle the cards. When it changed to pure blue, I stopped shuffling, and the patronus was chosen.


Trivia & Quotes:

Next, I went right into Trivia. Trivia was played for House Points. It was book trivia, not movie. Some (most) of the trivia was super easy. The hard stuff? I also read quotes and they had to guess the speaker.

One that stumped them all:

"You know, Minister, I disagree with Dumbledore on many counts...but you cannot deny he's got style."


Who knows it? Hint: It's not who you think it is!




Potters To Potters:

Next we played a game I like to call Potters to Potters.

It's played in Apples to Apples style.

I typed up a bunch of little things. Like 'Molly baked Rock Cakes', 'Hagrid wore his hairy suit', 'Voldemort made horcruxes', Lavendar drew fog hearts', etc. Then I passed out slips that all started with 'because'. Each team got 5 to start, then drew another after every turn. Examples, 'because Molly said so', 'because Ron had to follow the spiders', 'because
Draco stole Neville's remembrall', 'because Hagrid shouldnta said that', 'because Dudley only had 36 presents', etc. I typed up quite a few of theses (at least 100).

As a House, they chose which one to go with the prompt. I then chose which I thought was the best or funniest answer. Ravenclaw RULED at this game. So much that the other teams whined a bit. It wasn't pretty. Heehee.


Each right answer gained them 1 House Point.

Catch A Key:

Credit: I saw this idea on Kara's Party Ideas

Even the best laid plans go awry. I had made up chocolate keys to play "Catch a Key". They were to be on string, suspended, and 1 member of the house would try to catch it using only their mouths. I molded them with a piece of a straw in the top to make the hole for hanging. I totally forgot. It was on my list and everything. I didn't hang them up early because it was hot. Oh well!

Potions:


After Potters to Potters we did Potions. We did this last year and it was a big hit, so I did it again.

This is actually the 3rd time I've done this. I first did it 8 years ago at Bean's 8th Birthday party (our original original Big Fat Harry Potter party ;)).


You cannot see them all here, but I actually had 8 jars. Names I used: Salamander Blood, Neem Oil, Leech Juice, Dragon Blood, Moondew, Valerian Syrup, Nettle Wine,  & Ginger Root Juice. They were simply 1 quart of different flavors of Kool-Aid. The leftover quarts went into the drink dispenser to make the Polyjuice.

There is approx 1 teaspoon of koolaid powder in a packet. So, I added 1/2 teaspoon and 1/2 cup sugar to each jar, then placed the other 1/2 teaspoon and 1/2 cup sugar into the drink dispenser. No waste! The smaller containers, Crushed Scarab Bettle was purple nonpareils, Lacewing Fly was Turbinado Sugar, Crystalized Mandrake Root was red sanding sugar, and Moonseed was coarse gold sugar. Syrup of Hellebore was honey, and Acromantula Venom was maple syrup. Everyone had to add some Nightshade (pop rocks). It will pop and sizzle in the drinks. Hint: keep tightly closed until ready to use. The least bit of humidity will make it clumpy.

Here is another photo from before the party that I posted on Instagram.




Divination with Trelawney:


Once Snape finished with us, we had to head off to Trelawney's.



It was a Tea Leaf reading day.

For the crystal ball, I used a pillar candle holder base and a round candle holder. I inverted the round one onto the pillar holder and put a color changing LED inside.

Here's another photo


This was a lot of fun. You use, of course, loose leaf tea. Some of the people drank it, but lets be honest here, we are Americans. We like our tea  in bags. Once they poured (or drank) it down to the dredges, you swirl the cup 3 times, then drain it completely. What is left is your reading.

You hold your cup by the handle and read clockwise from there.

I'm no tea leaf reading believer, so I mostly made stuff up. LOL.


I printed a guide I found on the net that gave a lot of explanations. Last night I could see very little in this cup. Now I totally see a crescent moon and a wolf. Must look that up ;)

We were needed in Dumbledore's office after that.

Pensieve:

We had to go into the Pensieve.

This was it before the party started:

 

By this time though, it looked like this:


I used bubblegum machine capsules that I bought on Bake it Pretty. The lids were yellow, and I didn't think that quite fitting, so I gave them a quick spray of silver. In the bottom of the tub, I placed submersible LEDs.

Everyone fished out a memory and read them aloud. Some of them were, 'First Christmas at Hogwarts', 'Meeting Ron for the first time', 'Sirius' Death', 'Lockhart taking away his own memories', 'Christmas at the Burrow', etc. This is always a really fun event (we did it last year too).

I had a few people who had to leave, so we skipped right to Honeyduke's (this would have been the very last event so no one had to worry with their sweets packages).

Honeydukes:


(please ignore my messy couch in the background)

This was very much a WATCH OUT, GRABBY HANDS situation. I snapped the photos I could. LOL.


Always hugely popular because candy. There were all the above (again, I made the labels in Photoshop. I used a premade Honeydukes sign by Darla @ Bakingdom) plus Peppermint Toads (white chocolate with crushed startlight mints), Chocolate Frogs (chocolate with marshmallows), and Dementor Relief Bars.

I found the awesome dementor here
Molds: 
Frogs - Toads

They also got Butterbeer bottles. These were empty. I bought them at a local store for $10/24. They are sold for home microbrewing. I got the corks at a hardware store, and of course, designed the labels in Photoshop.



The last 2 things we did took place back outside.

Divination with Firenze:

We traveled to Firenze's Classroom. You know Dumbledore enchanted it to look like the forest complete with campfire.



Centaurs, as you know, put a lot of stock in the movements of the heavens. I printed out star charts from here. They looked at them by the fire, then laid in the grass and gazed up. This was a quiet, peaceful time. It got us ready for the very last moment of the party.

Salute to Dumbledore:

A salute to Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.

In the 6th movie, after he falls, McGonagall raises her lumos lit wand to the sky. Soon, the whole school follows. While many people found this movie moment cheesy, I found it beautiful and moving, so of course, I wanted to recreate it.... but how?

Then, it hit me. Sparklers. I hoarded a pack from 4th of July (honestly, I always have them on hand, we light them for birthdays, New Year's Eve, etc), and waited. I was so excited for this. Though it only lasted about a literal minute, it was my favorite moment of the entire party.



So, there you have it. My 2nd (but definitely not last) Harry Potter Party. I hope it's given you some inspiration to do your own!

*


One note, if you are planning a party like this, I strongly recommend a list and a clipboard.






(sorry for the less than stellar photo).

Though I varied from my list, and even forgot something, it was a lifesaver. To it I had clipped trivia, quotes, Potter to Potter, Patronuses, and the star charts. It made it so much easier to keep track of everything!

This party took about 3 and a 1/2 hours. You could easily make it shorter by taking out things, of course, or longer by extending the trivia/star gazing/Potter to Potter time, or allowing them to eat before moving forward.

Oh, House Cup?

Winner: Ravenclaw, then Hufflepuff, Slytherin, and lastly, sadly, since it was my house, Gryffindor.

Better luck next year, Gryffindor!

Tina



P.S. If you haven’t already,  you can ‘like’ my Facebook page here, and follow me on twitter here, and you can follow me on instagram here.

P.P.S. Click here to see my other parties like Doctor Who, Alice in Wonderland, Mary Poppins, Zombies, Star Wars, and more!



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