Hogwarts: Studying

With exams and quidditch tryouts coming up, everyone has been working very hard at completing their coursework. It was still a pretty eventful time, what with finding the Mirror of Erised and Hagrid hatching a baby dragon! The Mirror shows you your greatest desire, Head Boy or Girl, perhaps? Hagrid's a little down in the dumps lately, since Baby Norbert had to go live with Charlie Weasley in Romania.

Well all, tomorrow is the big quidditch tryout! It's going to be chaos, since everyone is going to want to go out for the team, but it'll be fun!

Book Cooks: 8 More Dishes

Here are 8 delicious dishes from Book Cooks, 4 each from Breakfast and Afternoon Snack.


Peach Lassi (The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett)
Everything Waffles (Everything on a Waffle by Polly Horvath)
Buttered Apples (Ten Apples Up On Top by Dr. Seuss)
Hoecakes (George Washington's Breakfast by Jean Fritz)

Cranberry Fool (The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett)

Meatballs with Mushroom Gravy (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett)

Mommy Bear's Sandwiches (Mr. Wolf and the Three Bears by Jan Fearnley)

Huff Puffs (Mr. Wolf and the Three Bears by Jan Fearnley)

Check out the pictures in our online photo gallery at flickr!

Hogwarts: Potions, Halloween Treats, and Herbology

I was happy to step in for Professor Snape, who was feeling a bit under the weather, due to an attack by a three-headed dog, last week. Since the students are only first years, we did a few simple potions. The first was a swelling solution, which we applied to the nose of someone unfortunate enough to not be looking when we took it. In only two days, the nose had swelled to at least double the size. The next day, we practiced making the slime-ification solution, but alas, no pictures. I don't have a magical camera, and I left my bewitched muggle one at home.

We finished off the week with Chapter 10, Halloween. All trolls aside, it did sound like a lovely celebration, so we all had a piece of pumpkin bread and a mug of butterbeer to celebrate the holiday. Don't forget to add the butterbeer elixir, but remember that a little goes a long way! As I only had two 13 oz. bottles of butterbeer left, an expanding charm made the bottles a much larger 3L. each and the elixir intensified the flavors.

On Monday, I had to take over for Professor Sprout, who had an unfortunate incident removing an adolescent mandrake plant. The class met in Greenhouse 1 and everyone planted their own mandrakes from seed. We'll be checking these periodically to make sure they are growing nicely. Remember, you should only pull out juvenile mandrakes, and only with your earmuffs on.

Oh, and did you hear? Gryffindor beat Slytherin in Quidditch the other day. By a score of 150-60. We'll be having try-outs for next year's team at the end of term. Sign up with Madam Hooch if you're interested.

Book Cooks: Week 2 and a Little Bit of 3

Oh yum! Last week, Book Cooks Breakfast tried out these recipes: Sausage Balls (Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder); Bacon, Eggs, and Mushrooms (Chronicles of Narnia: The Horse and His Boy by CS Lewis); Swedish Rice Porridge (American Girls); and

Coriander Pancakes with Mango Chutney (The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett).

The Sausage Balls contained apples and sage and were flattened a bit to help them cook through. I forgot my camera on the day we made the bacon, eggs, and mushrooms so this is not a photo of our actual dish, but close enough! Swedish Rice Porridge, also called Skansk Grot (skone-sk grurt) was made with apples and raisins. We kicked off this week with an exotic Indian-inspired recipe for pancakes. The first batch of chutney didn't turn out so well, but I think the 2nd period batch, with less vinegar, and the addition of cinnamon, was delicious! As for the pancakes themselves, there were three kinds: plain, bacon, and "fake bacon," though all were flavored with coriander and curry powder.

Not to be outdone, Afternoon Snack cooked up these delicious recipes: Fresh Mudburgers (James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl), Wormy Spaghetti (The Twits by Roald Dahl), Ice Cream Snowballs (American Girls), and Three Bean Salad (Jack and the Bean Stalk).

We substituted turkey for the beef in our mudburgers and topped them with relish (oh so revoltingly green!). The wormy spaghetti used 4 different kinds of pasta, including rotini worms (in place of fusilli). We had to work really fast to roll these snowballs! Dishing up ice cream out in the hot summer sun was a messy proposition. Monday's three bean salad was both tangy and sweet, though not necessarily a big hit with the class! We did have to substitute lima beans for the traditional yellow wax beans since I just couldn't find them in the grocery store this time.

Pictures for most of these great class activities can be found here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/miss_cong/

We are up-to-date through Friday the 11th.

Updates

First of all, I hope everyone had a great Independence Day Holiday!

I apologize for the delay in updates, the flickr photo gallery is now fully up-to-date. Please click on the flickr link at left to go to the photos. I especially apologize to Book Cooks Breakfast 1st period, since there are no photos of Tuesday's "Pain Perdu" for them. As you can see, I got a flat tire on the way to class and didn't arrive until the middle of 2nd period. Thanks to the office staff for stepping up and taking care of the class!

Since the last update, Book Cooks Breakfast has prepared: Pancakes (Pancakes for Breakfast by Tomie de Paola), Scrambled Dregs (James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl), Green Eggs and Ham (by Dr. Seuss), and Pain Perdu (French Toast, from the fairy tale Diamonds and Toads).

Afternoon Snack has been equally busy, making: Pasta (Strega Nona by Tomie de Paola), Green Pea Soup (The Witches by Roald Dahl), Thundercake (by Patricia Polaccco), and Monte Cristos (a twist on Pain Perdu, from Diamonds and Toads).

At Hogwarts, the students have set about decorating the castle by making stained glass window rosettes. They are even creating their own Famous Wizards (Frog) Cards, see some of them researching below. Since First Years' are not allowed into Hogsmeade, I made special arrangements with Honeydukes to get Butterbeer Barrels and Licorice Wands for everyone. Like Harry, who tried everything on the Hogwarts Express snack trolley, students couldn't wait to get their hands on the sweets.

Stay tuned for more exciting news!

Hogwarts: Letters from No One

Today, we read Chapter 3, in which Harry begins receiving mysterious letters (of course, Uncle Vernon won't let him have them). We finally put the finishing touches on our wands, gold flourishes that gleam beautifully. Perfect for those late-night wizarding duels (not that such things are permitted here on school grounds!).
After we finished painting our wands, we headed back inside the classroom to write letters to our favorite (or least favorite) characters from the story. I think Dudley is going to be embarrassed to find so many letters admonishing him for being mean to Harry! Since we wanted the letters to be perfect, we practiced on plain paper first and then recopied them onto Hogwarts letterhead stationery. Once the letters are all finished, they will be sent by Owl Post.

Book Cooks: Roald Dahl

Deviled Stinkbugs' Eggs and Peach Juice from James and the Giant Peach
The Centipede has eaten many things, including stinkbugs' eggs, but nothing is tastier than the juicy peach. We like our stinkbugs' eggs deviled, with a sprinkle of pepper on top, thanks! It's a good idea to rinse off the eggs after you peel them, just in case there are bits of eggshell stuck to them. If you prefer, you can strain the peach juice if you don't like it with peachy lumps.

Sliced Snozzcumbers and Frobscottle from The BFG
As everyone knows, the BFG doesn't eat human beans. He eats snozzcumbers, which Sophie says tastes like rotten fish. Luckily, he gets to wash them down with a big bottle of frobscottle, a frothy, fizzy, sweet, green drink. We sliced our snozzcumbers and ate them like crackers with a gulp of frobscottle. I think most of us agree that frobscottle is delicious!

Hogwarts: Wands

The wands we started making last week are almost ready! We had to let them cure for at least 24 hours so that they would harden properly. Since it was such a lovely day outside, we took to the school grounds to paint the base coat of brown or black. Oak, hickory, ebony, mahogany...what will your wand be? The next step is to embellish with swirls of gold and then seal the magical properties inside. Mr. Ollivander would be proud.

Book Cooks: Narnia

Monday morning, Book Cooks Breakfast made Porridge, which was inspired from C.S. Lewis' book The Horse and His Boy, from The Chronicles of Narnia. We made sure to look at the difference between old-fashioned steel cut oats and the rolled oats we eat today. Did you know that it takes 30 minutes to make steel cut oatmeal?! Porridge can be eaten either sweet or savory, so students chose from such flavorings as: sugar, honey, salt, and cream.

Afternoon Snack enjoyed another Narnia-inspired treat, Sardines on Toast and a Boiled Egg, from Lucy's tea with Mr. Tumnus in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. The eggs were hard-boiled and eaten American style (peeled and eaten whole) rather than in an eggcup, as you would in Narnia. Students did learn about how to eat a boiled egg from an eggcup, however. Each student received a piece of toast on which to spread some butter. They were all encouraged to try the sardines, which were packed in oil (they can also be packed in water or tomato sauce). Top the buttered toast with pieces of sardine and sprinkle with lemon juice and pepper to taste. Mmmm...