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The best way to read a Harry Potter book--with a Pumpkin Pastie in hand.

See my take on recipes for Hogwarts Pumpkin Juice and Hogwarts Express Pumpkin Pasties, plus links to more of my Harry Potter-inspired recipes, at the bottom of this post!

The countdown is ON! One more week until "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" opens in theaters. We are in love with Harry Potter here. It started for us when my oldest daughter got "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" for her 11th birthday. She devoured the book, like everything else she reads, and clamored for more.

That was September of 2000 and by that time there were already four HP books published. By 2002 we had all seen the first HP movie and were hooked, readers and non-readers alike.

Like everyone else, we are waiting for the newest HP installments with barely containable excitement. It's been 2 years since the last book and 1 year and 8 months since the last movie. We are definitely hungry for Harry in this household. The movie discussions have begun in earnest here. My oldest daughter is never completely satisfied with the HP movies, my second oldest loves them no matter what, and I am a bit in between. I do love the theme song, though--it takes only a few bars for me to get totally excited about the movie starting. HP definitely brings out the kid in me!        

We don't often get to the movies with more than two or three of us at a time, but we will make an exception for "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix". The book is so involved with much time being spent at locations other than Hogwarts--from Grimmauld Place to The Ministry of Magic--I'm very interested to see how it will all come together. The final battle was so spectacular in the book, I hope the movie will live up to it. The special effects in the previous movies have been very good, so I don't think I'll be disappointed.

I've been watching the previews on-line, my nose nearly pressed to the screen like a child-pausing, fast forwarding and replaying over and over-trying to take it all in. So far, it looks as I had imagined. There are a few characters (the dementors and Dolores Umbridge, for example) that aren't portrayed exactly as described, but if J.K. Rowling is good with that, I'm good too.

Some time ago I decided I would try to single out all the food references in the HP books and come up with some recipes for them. While Cap Candy has handled the confection end of things quite well, I haven't seen too much as far as "real food" goes. Of course, my fondest wish would be to collaborate (co-conspire sounds more fun) with J.K. Rowling on an all-Harry cookbook, although I'd settle for talking to her about what her real feelings and intentions were for the food she conjured up for the books.

I've tried my hand at Pumpkin Pasties, Butterbeer, Pumpkin Juice, Rhubarb Crumble with Vanilla Custard, and English Onion Soup. So far everything has come off exactly as I wanted on the first try. I couldn't be more excited! The Pumpkin Pasties were something the kids were fighting over and I couldn't get them out of the way to pull the pasties from the oven. I have to admit, they really are good! Pumpkin Juice is something I don't think anyone can really get "right". I have the feeling the J.K.R. was writing about it just because it's different, and not something one would normally think to drink. See what you think. Here are the recipes. Since both Hogwarts Express Pumpkin Pasties and Hogwarts Pumpkin Juice are mentioned in every HP book, I thought they would be a good place to start.

My Hogwarts-Inspired Pumpkin Juice
5 cups apple juice
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

Combine all in a large pitcher and stir well. I did this and let it sit for an hour or so in the refrigerator and then strained much of the solids from it. It was too thick as is and straining it lessened that. Put it back in the refrigerator until it's ice cold and serve. Makes about 6 cups.

Pumpkin Pasties Straight From the Hogwarts Express (a.k.a. My Oven)

Pie Dough for 2 double-crust pies
2 cups pumpkin puree
2 eggs
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Roll out dough and cut into 5-inch circles. Mix the remaining ingredients together until well blended. Drop 2 tablespoons of filling onto one side of each dough circle. Dampen the edges of the dough with water, fold one side over the other and pinch to seal. Vent by cutting a small slit into the top of each pastie. Brush with beaten egg if desired and place on cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes or until golden. Makes 12-14 pasties.

These were so good that I'm not sure I'll ever make another pumpkin pie for the holidays. Even my oldest daughter, who doesn't like pumpkin, thought these were great.

Check out my other posts on the subject of Harry Potter and HP food!

• Rhubarb Crumble and Vanilla Custard at Grimmauld Place
• Onion Soup Inspired by Molly Weasley
• Almost Harry Potter Butterbeer