Recipes from the Harry Potter Movie Release Party

We had an excited group of 45 Harry Potter fans attend our Harry Potter Movie Release Party last Saturday. For the party I prepared some food and drinks that have been mentioned in the books as being served on the Hogwarts Express or in The Three Broomsticks. 


Pumpkin Cookies (with brown butter icing)
◊ Cookie recipe from Rosmerta's Recipes on MuggleNet
Icing recipe from the book Martha Stewart's Cupcakes ("Brown Butter Icing")







 
Rock Cakes
◊ Recipe from Rosmerta's Recipes on MuggleNet
This was the first time I've made this recipe, and I definitely didn't cut the butter into the flour enough, leaving the butter to run out of the cakes, which I'm guessing is the reason why they came out pretty flat. Oh well, at least they tasted good.

Cauldron Cakes
All I did was prepare one of my favorite cupcake recipes (Devil's food), turned the cupcakes upside down, and dipped them in a huge bowl of chocolate ganache glaze. Then I sprinkled some purple sugar on top of each to make a bubbling-potion effect. I also got the bubbling-potion effect in another way-- I have a set of three stackable cookie racks that I was using to place the cakes after I dipped them in the ganache. The glaze from the cakes on the top tier dripped down on top of the cakes in the lower tiers, which gave the appearance of a bubbling cauldron!

To bake the cupcakes I used silicone baking cups. I like using the baking cups because then you do not waste paper lining holders and they are easy to clean. Plus, they are perfect for making the cupcakes look like cauldrons -- if you use paper liners you'll have to remove each one by hand before you glaze them.

◊ Cupcake and chocolate ganache frosting recipes from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes.

Pumpkin Juice
◊ Recipe from BellaOnline.
I added some water to each batch because I thought it was a little too sweet. Very delicious, and a big hit with all the Harry Potter fans! We went through 3 pitchers at the party!


Butterbeer
(not able to take a picture due to the HP Madness at the party)
Place a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a glass and then top with a teaspoon of butterscotch syrup. Pour cold vanilla cream soda or club soda over the ice cream and stir.

I found several promising looking Butterbeer recipes from MuggleNet and other sources on the Internet, but decided to go for a simpler version of the recipes I'd run across. I'd originally hoped to make a warm version of Butterbeer, but it would have been too difficult to serve such a large group without having cooking capability at the library.

Accio Harry Potter fans!

If you're a fan of J.K. Rowling's books and the movies adapted from them, then be sure to join us on Saturday, November 13 as we celebrate the release of the upcoming movie Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1. Answer trivia questions, play games, win prizes, and eat fun foods that are mentioned in the books! You can register online or call the Information Desk at 847-428-3661 x 308. Muggles of all ages are welcome!

Have you read all the books? If you need to catch up, the library owns multiple copies of each of the seven books in the Harry Potter series. What about the movies? We have you covered on that, too. Click below for any of the books or movies.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Year 1)
Book  Movie
 
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Year 2)
Book  Movie
 
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Year 3)
Book  Movie

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Year 4)
Book  Movie
 
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Year 5)
Book  Movie

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Year 6)
Book  Movie

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Year 7)
Book

Photos from the Teen Horror Fest

Our zombies Antoine and Oliver got all spiffed up to attend the Teen Horror Fest last Saturday the 20th. Thirteen people attended and we had fun making masks, decorating chocolate chip cupcakes, and playing a word game. How many words can you make using the letters in "All Saints Eve" in one minute? For the word game we used old DVD cases and put letters inside the plastic... they look like giant Scrabble tiles! Oh, and I almost forgot several people decided to "zombie up." I'm not sure if this slang phrase has been used in other parts of the US, but at the Horror Fest it referred to dressing like a zombie and then taking pictures alongside that zombie. I love to zombie up! Anyway, check out how creative the teens were in how they decorated their masks and cupcakes. Click on any of the pictures to see a larger version.

Antoine, an unnamed spirit, and Oliver	Oliver, always cool and collected--even when covered in buckets of blood.
Antoine's so stylish everyone would like to hold his hand and skip around! Ahem. Or maybe that's just me...
	"Yuck, Oliver! Your heart popped out of your chest!"
	Creating words using the letters from "All Saints Eve."

Waiting for the Horror Fest...

Zombie1: It's only Thursday? I feel like I've been waiting forever for the Teen Horror Fest!

Zombie2: I know! But at least we can hang out in the Teen area while we ponder how we will decorate our masks!

"Oooo, these Private novels have quite the boarding school drama! They will provide a welcome distraction!"

"Ah, reading about history shall pacify me until the great Teen Horror Fest on Saturday."

"Hmm... does reading a book make me look less creepy? I wonder..."

"Okay. Just because I'm wearing a creepy mask that doesn't mean people will find me, as a zombie, creepy. Maybe people don't realize that zombies have feelings, too. Well, most don't. Practically all of them don't, I guess. Maybe I'm the only exception. Does that make me a zombie outcast? Oh man, I'm a zombie outcast!"

"Well, I may as well get some work done before the epic Teen Horror Fest. Time to blog about how much I love the Scott Pilgrim vs. the World soundtrack."

The zombies are coming!

Zombies and people in creepy white masks have been sighted hanging around the library...

Antoine, from France, was an intellectual hanging out in Paris when a zombie bit him.

Oliver, an English gentleman, is quite nonchalant about the blood all over his face and hands.

Don't miss our Teen Horror Fest this Saturday, October 23 at 2:30 PM. You can decorate your own very creepy white mask and arrange zombies Antoine and Oliver into funny poses. We promise they will be dressed in time for the party. Plus we'll have food, games, and classic horror movies to watch.

Attend our Open Mic Night during Teen Read Week

The theme for this year's Teen Read Week is Books with Beat @ Your Library. Come in to the library to check out books with beat. Maybe you're interested in...

◊◊ non-fiction books about musicians and bands (Check out call number 782.42166 !)
◊◊ poetry
◊◊ audiobooks
◊◊ fiction that features main characters who are musicians (stay tuned for a reading list)

Our Open Mic Night is Wednesday, October 20 at 7 PM. If you are interested in reading/performing something, show up a little earlier so you can sign in. You can also stop by just to listen. Snacks and refreshments will be available for attendees and participants.

Teen Horror Fest at the Dundee Library: Food, fun, and frights!

If you are excited for Halloween and want to celebrate early, come to our Teen Horror Fest program on Saturday, October 23 at 2:30 PM. We are going to use our creativity to decorate masks and also have some fun games planned. And nothing says "horror fest" like the inclusion of zombies, so of course they'll be there, too! If that hasn't gotten you interested, then how about this: Food! Beverages! Cookies! Have I gotten your attention now? You can register on the library website, or call us at 847-428-3661 x 308. Hope to see you there! I don't want to show up and be the only human hanging out with the creepy zombies.

Upcoming library program: College Advantage Workshop

Mark your calendars for Tuesday, September 28. We are having a College Advantage Workshop for interested students and parents at 7 PM downstairs in the Meeting Room. Presenter Betsy McDaniel will talk about the details involved in the process of applying to college. After attending this workshop you will learn how to make your college search easier and more affordable. You may register online or by calling the Information Desk at 847-428-3661 x 308.

Interested in writing a novel in a month?

November is National Novel Writing Month, where the goal is to write an entire novel (50,000 words for adults) from November 1-November 30. For the Young Writers Program, each person can choose his or her word count goal. Depending on your grade and the time you can spend on writing, look at this chart to see a suggested range for your word count goal.Writing can be done on a computer or by hand. After making it to your word count goals you will be able to print out a certificate from the website.

You can start signing up now at the Information Desk, but you can’t start writing yet (it is okay to write down ideas and notes). You can also set up an account on the site NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program. The YWP site has lots of helpful ideas and writing tools. Note: if you've already registered on the site we still want you to let us know you signed up, because we are ordering a kit of free incentives/progress charts for the teens who participate.

This is a program that anyone can sign up for on their own, but I thought it would be fun to get a group together at the library to help motivate each other if we were all writing toward our goals together. I will be participating as well, my word count goal is 50,000. You can also call the Information Desk at 847-428-3661 x 308 to sign up, or email Danielle.

TAG meeting this Saturday

Don't forget that we have a TAG (Teen Advisory Group) meeting this Saturday, September 2, at 9:30 AM in the Craft Room. If you have never made it to a meeting before, no big deal! Newcomers are always welcome. We have some fun teen programs coming up in the fall!

Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick