This Halloween, transform your home into the magical world of Harry Potter and Hogwarts. Author Dinah Bucholz offers tips on every aspect of preparation, from beginning to end – invitations, decorations, costumes, games, activities, and, most importantly, food.
Involving kids of all ages in the preparation and process is essential. While young children may be somewhat limited in their involvement, allow them to do as much as possible on their own, based on their abilities. They will often surprise you and be capable of much more than expected.
Adult supervision in the kitchen is essential, regardless of the child’s age and ability. Never leave children alone in the kitchen, especially around a hot stove.
Preparing and Cooking Foods from The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook
“The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook” by Dinah Bucholz provides recipes and cooking tips for all things Harry Potter. Every recipe is related to the foods described by JK Rowling in the Harry Potter series. Have the children cook these special treats ahead of time as part of the Harry Potter-themed menu.
Pumpkin Pastries*
Ingredients:
Pastry Crust:
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 5 tablespoons cold butter, cut into chunks
- 3 tablespoons vegetable shortening, chilled and cut into chunks
- 4-6 tablespoons ice water
Mincemeat Filling:
- 1 cup canned pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Directions:
- Place the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times to combine. Scatter the butter and shortening over the flour mixture. Pulse about 15 times until the mixture resembles coarse yellow meal, with no white powdery bits remaining.
- Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle 4 tablespoons of cold water over the mixture. Toss the mixture together with a spatula until it starts clumping together. If it’s too dry, add more water 1 tablespoon at a time (better too wet than too dry). Gather the dough into a ball and pat it into a disk. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for a least 1 hour.
- Combine the pumpkin, sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon in a mixing bowl. Mix well. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Roll out the dough 1/8-inch thick. Use a saucer to cut out 6-inch circles.
- Put 2 to 3 tablespoons of filling in the center of each circle of dough. Moisten the edges with water, fold the dough over the filling, and crimp with a fork to seal the edges. Cut slits to make vents. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 30 minutes or until browned. Makes 6 pasties.
Pumpkin Juice*
Ingredients:
- 1 small pumpkin, known as sugar pumpkin or pie pumpkin
- 2 cups apple juice
- 1 cup white grape juice
- 1 cup pineapple juice
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Slice the pumpkin in half pole to pole and scoop out the seeds. Don’t worry about the stringy fibers; they are hard to remove and won’t affect the results. Place the pumpkin halves face down on a baking sheet and roast 45 minutes to 1 hour until soft. Remove from the oven.
- When the pumpkin is cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh and discard the skin. Place the cooked pumpkin in a large fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl and push the pumpkin through using a rubber spatula. Scrape and mash as you push; it will take several minutes. Discard the pulp mass left in the sieve. Stir the sieved pumpkin in the bowl to evenly distribute the juices, and then measure out 1 cup.
- Place the cup of sieved pumpkin in a pitcher along with the apple juice, grape juice, and pineapple juice. Stir vigorously until the pumpkin is completely dispersed. Chill the juice until it’s very cold.
- Before serving, stir the juice well, as the pumpkin will settle to the bottom. Fill crystal goblets with ice cubes and pour the juice over the ice.
Cooking Note: Although this recipe was tested using freshly roasted pumpkin, it would probably work if you use canned pumpkin instead to save the both of making it from scratch. Makes 5 cups.
You may also want to include additional dishes such as:
- Hagrid’s Rock Cakes (page 53)
- Pumpkin Bread (page 204)
- Acid Drops (page 219)
- Fizzy Sherbet Pouches (page 226)
- 1-2-3 Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch Bonbons for Kids (page 230)
- Sugar Mice (224)**
- Harry Potter’s Chocolate Layer Cake (page 54)**
Making Invitations, Decorations and Party Favors
“Create invitations resembling the Marauder's Map. To go the extra mile, write the information in invisible ink and include a "decoder" pen with the invitation,” suggests author Dinah Bucholz.
Depending the age of the children, they can make different types of invisible ink. The simplest method is to write with a white crayon on white paper. Simply color over the paper with a colored marker to decode the message.
For older children, dip a cotton swab or paint brush in pure lemon juice and write the message on plain white paper. Be sure to use enough lemon juice to saturate the message without soaking it and allow it dry. Iron the paper with a hot iron and the message will appear.
For decorating the house, Dinah Bucholz says, “Decorate the house with signs labeling rooms as memorable locations from the series (i.e label the bathroom "Moaning Myrtle's Hangout," the kitchen "Molly Weasley's Domain," the basement "Beware of the Three-Headed Dog," etc.)”
Also, make cards to label all the foods, name cards and treat bags. Fill the treat bags with additional treats and party favors. Plastic frogs, spiders, owls, wands, bubbles, plastic rings and confetti are inexpensive and fun items to add to treat bags (these can usually be found at party supply stores or dollar stores).
Party Crafts, Activities and More Cooking
Have all the children (and adults!) dress up as their favorite Harry Potter character – the possibilities are endless. For younger children or anyone who doesn’t come in costume, follow Dinah Bucholz’s suggestion: “Provide Harry Potter glasses for all guests and face paint lightning bolts on all foreheads.”
Bucholz also suggests having “two art activities available: Make your own wand and make your own snitch.” Use drumsticks or other similar shaped sticks for the wand, Styrofoam balls and feathers for the snitch, and provide a large assortment of materials (markers, stickers, glue, glitter, feathers, pom-poms, ribbon, etc) for the children to decorate their crafts.
Cooking activities are a fun way to engage children with food. Yes, even at a party. And what’s a party without (more) food? The world of Harry Potter and Hogwarts is full of magical potions and interesting creatures. With a little preparation ahead of time, cooking and food activities provide an interesting party activity for kids of all ages.
Prebake cut-out sugar cookies in fun, spooky and magical shapes – broomsticks, owls, lightning bolts, snitches, snakes, bats, wands, frogs, cats and rats. Provide an assortment of sprinkles and tubes of frosting in different colors. Inexpensive disposable bags are available in most craft or cake decorating stores and do not require tips, simply cut off the tip and let the kids go at it.
You might also consider letting the kids make Sugar Mice, setting up a Soda Potion Creations Station or transforming the kitchen into Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor. **See Cooking with Kids: A Magical Hogwarts Birthday and Cooking Party for more Harry Potter decorating ideas and recipes.
*The recipes ‘Pumpkin Pasties’ (page 39) and ‘Pumpkin Juice’(page 40) reprinted from “The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook” with permission from the author via Smith Publicity and are otherwise subject to the author and publisher’s copyright.
Photos ©Malysa Stratton Louk. All rights reserved. Photos may not be copied, borrowed, altered or reproduced in any way, either electronically or in print without prior written permission from the copyright holder.
Sources:
- “The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook"; Dinah Bucholz; Adams Media; 2010; ISBN 978-1-4405-0325-2
- Quotes from author Dinah Bucholz are courtesy of Smith Publicity via email correspondence.
Malysa Stratton Louk - Malysa Stratton Louk is a freelance writer, journalist & photographer in the Pacific Northwest. View her full profile for more ...
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