I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up to No Good...

Welcome to my newly created outlet for my (formerly) very secret and very ardent love of the Harry Potter series! I have always loved the Harry Potter books, since the first time I turned the first page of the first book so very long ago. I love the movies (mostly because I view them as entirely separate entities from my beloved books), and I love the culture that has sprung up around the Harry Potter phenomenon. For the last eight months or so (prior to May 21 anyway), I had the great privilege of living only five minutes from The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. And it was glorious. I visited Hogwarts weekly, and drank butterbeer and Hog’s Head Ale until I thought my stomach might explode.

But now, for various reasons, I am back in Michigan, far from my beloved Hogsmeade, and looming in the distance is the end of an era. In just over a week, the final installment of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will hit theatres. “What ever shall I do?” I wonder to myself (for I often speak to myself in melodramatic colloquialisms, don’t you?). “From whence will I get my Harry Potter fix?” And then the answer hit me: I am an avid cook, and I devour vegetarian recipes by the book-full. So why not cook my way through the Harry Potter series? “It’s been done,” you scoff? Yes, The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook does exist, and it is excellent. But I find that it is missing several delicacies I would like to taste! What about the chipolatas Dumbledore finds so delicious at Christmastime in Prisoner of Azkaban? What would Fever Fudge taste like? So I take it upon myself to complete this task!

I must begin by saying that I am a vegetarian, and have been for eleven years. This presents something of a challenge, as a large percentage of the dishes in Harry Potter would best be enjoyed by carnivores. In such cases, I will provide a recipe for my meat-eating readers (assuming other people might read the ramblings of my craziness!), but I will definitely not be using any flesh myself when cooking. However I will substitute vegetarian options when possible.

Thus begins my crazy project! To cook (or at least provide recipes for) all the foods mentioned in the Harry Potter Series, in order of appearance. We’ll see how long this lasts! But for now, I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!