Advent Shadowbox 2012: Day 5, Write and Perform Harry Potter Themed Christmas Carols & Make Butter Beer Blondies
Each year, we write and perform our own Christmas Carols (see last year’s Carol Hootenanny post for “Moves Like Santa” and others like it!) The kids still love their Harry Potter! So, this year, we thought we’d have them write Harry Potter specific carols. We’ll suggest titles like “The Twelve Days at Hogwarts,” “Good Wizard Dumbledore,” and “He’s a Mean One, Mr. Riddle” as starting points. [And, of course, we'll post the lyrics as they become available.]
To go with our festive song-writing hour, we’re whipping up a batch of a classic snack with a Harry Potter twist: Butter-Beer Blondies. You’ll find our recipe below. While, as you may know, my husband and I have no fear of letting the kids cook with beer [See our Beer Pretzels and Mustard recipes from our Summer of Funner 2012!], the “Beer” option in this recipe is actually booze… We thought it would make a more elegant pairing with our butterscotch and toffee. The kids aren’t complaining!!
“Butter-Beer” Blondies
makes 16 elegant squares
recipe may be doubled and baked in a 9X13 in pan
Ingredients
1 c packed dark brown sugar
.5 c butter
1 egg, whisked slightly
2 tsp rum or cognac [Optional]
1 tsp vanilla
1 c all purpose flour
.5 c butterscotch chips
.5 c toffee bits or crushed Heath/Scor bars
[Optional: Whipped Cream & a dash of yellow food colouring]
Method
Preheat the oven to 350.
Spray an 8×8 in baking pan with baking spray or grease with a butter wrapper.
In a saucepan, melt butter and sugar over medium heat.
When the mixture is smooth, set aside and cool for a few minutes.
[Transfer to a different bowl if you are in a hurry.]
Add egg, optional alcohol, and vanilla and stir until just combined.
Stir flour, chips, and toffee into the batter.
Spread batter into the pan.
Bake for 22-26 minutes.
A butter knife or wooden skewer in the centre should come out clean.
Note: The Blondies will still be gooey!
After 15 minutes of cooling, slice.
Note: The Blondies will still be gooey, but they’ll firm up over time.
Continue to cool for at least another 20 minutes.
Serve slightly warm and gooey or cooled completely and firm.
[For a "foamy look," add a dollop of fresh whipped cream mixed with slight a tint of yellow colouring if so desired.]
Update: The kids wrote their songs this evening! They turned out to be Harry Potter Songs that happened to be set to Christmas Tunes as opposed to Christmas Songs with Harry Potter Themes…But they are AWESOME!
Bea’s Carol
We Three Wizards of Griffindor Are
We three wizards of Griffindor are
Bearing wands, we apparate far,
Marsh and furrow, bank and burrow, following
Yonder Horcrux
Oh, Locket of Slytherin, Cup of Hufflepuff,
Lost Diadem of Ravenclaw, Nagini to snuff,
Diary, Ring, and Harry Bring-ing
Peace by Playing Dead – a Bluff!
Toby’s Carol
The Twelve Days of Hogwarts
On the First of Day of Hogwarts, McGonagall gave to me
1) An Owl in a Womping Willow Tree
On the Second Day of Hogwarts, Olivander gave to me
2) Phoenix Wands, and an Owl in a Womping Willow Tree,
On The Third Day of Magic, Lupin gave to me
3) Hairy Werewolves, Two Phoenix Wands, and an Owl in a Womping Willow Tree.
On the Fourth Day of Hogwarts, Hedwig gave to me
4) Weasley Howlers…..
On the Fifth Day of Hogwarts, Madame Hooch gave to me
5) Golden Snitches…
Of the Sixth Day of Hogwarts, Flitwick gave to me
6) Awesome Spellbooks…
On the Seventh Day of Hogwarts, Sprout gave to me
7) Screaming Mandrakes…
On the Eighth Day of Hogwarts, Peaves gave to me
8) Talking Paintings…
On the Ninth Day of Hogwarts, Freg & George gave to me
9) Potions from Severus
On the Tenth Day of Hogwarts, Hagrid gave to me
10) Nimbus 2012′s
On the Eleventh Day of Hogwarts, Voldemort gave to me
11) Dark Dementors…
On the Twelfth Day of Hogwarts, Dumbledore gave to me
12) Chocolate Frogs…
______________________
Quick Links for Mobile Users
Summer of Funner : The Lunchbox Season : In Defense of Burning
Advent Shadowbox: Christmas Eve Checklist
December 24, 2011
28th Day of Advent
Christmas Eve
____________________
Christmas Eve Checklist
____________________
□ Make Chocolate Chip Cookies for Santa
□ Make Gingerbread Cutouts, too!
□ Go to Family Mass
□ Indulge in the Feast of the Seven Fishes
□ Ice the Bûche de Noël
□ Drink Hot Chocolate and Sing the Carols You Wrote in Your Pajamas
□ Open One Gift From Under the Tree!
□ Leave Cookies, Milk, and Reindeer Biscuits by the Fire
__________________
To say we’ll be busy this Saturday is an understatement…But we’ve gotten most of the prep work done ahead of time. So, the “business” will be in the fun! The cookie doughs have been in the freezer for a week, as have been our pasta sauce and soup for this evening’s feast (see below). We made our reindeer biscuits on Wednesday and wrote our carols last weekend! So, aside from heating up the supper and whipping up an easy peasy jelly roll cake, ie the Bûche de Noël (and I skipped the meringue mushrooms this year!), we’re good to go!
The Feast of the Seven fishes (festa dei sette pesci), sometimes also dubbed the Feast of the Thirteen Fishes, is a traditional Italian supper celebrating The Vigil (la Virgilia), or Christmas Eve. The “Seven” typically represents the Seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church, while the “Thirteen” usually represents the twelve apostles and Jesus. I never grew up with this particular feast in my own Italian-American families per se, but my mom always made clam sauce on Christmas Eve. Over the past several years, my Italian-Canadian family has incorporated this into our own set of traditions. Typical Italian festas incorporate delicacies such as salt cod, deep fried fish, marinated eel, squid salads and stuffed lobsters (mmm, dying to try!). We make life simple for ourselves at our house by serving, at most, 3 or 4 courses that incorporate 7 or more fish within them. You can actually just get it down to just 2! I typically serve cold shrimp with a fancied-up cocktail sauce and fried calamari as apps (you can just get these in the freezer box at your grocery store). Although, this year, I might even pass these by. I always serve an easy fennel seafood soup (I’ve been tweaking Giada De Laurentiis’ recipe for Cioppino in recent years) in which you could pretty much incorporate all seven fishes in one fell swoop. And I always make fresh linguine or spagettini (purchased) with a homemade red sauce of smoked mussels and clams with an onion, garlic, and anchovy base – this blessed trio deglazed in good red wine, of course.
We hope your Advent has been as wonderful as ours!
__________________
Our Christmas Eve Shadowbox:
__________________
Quick Links for Mobile Users
The Lunchbox Season : Summer of Funner : In Defense of Burning
Advent Shadowbox: Day 24, Carols to and from the Concert
December 20, 2011
24th Day of Advent
5 Days ’til Christmas
Sing Carols To and From Your Christmas Concert!
_____________
Today’s Advent Shadowbox Insert:
The Shadowbox from afar:
__________________________________
Quick Links for Mobile Users
The Lunchbox Season : Summer of Funner : In Defense of Burning
Advent Shadowbox: Day 21, Carol Hootenanny
December 17, 2011
21st Day of Advent
8 Days til Christmas
WRITE & PERFORM A CHRISTMAS CAROL!
_____________________________
Find a Tune You Like
Or Invent One of Your Own
Add Original Lyrics
And Grab a Microphone
It`s Our Annual
Family Christmas Carol
Hootenanny
Be Ready With Your Original Tunes!
The Gang Meets Tonight
At Seven O’clock Sharp
In the Living Room! That’s Right!
__________
Today we tackle what has become an annual tradition in our house during Advent: Writing and Performing Original Christmas Carols!
____________________
Here’s a look at today’s Advent Shadowbox Insert:
And here’s the Advent Shadowbox from afar:
____________________
We finished before 7, so we had our Hootenanny early! Here are the results!
Toby’s Song
Away in a Farm
Away in a farm, they thought it was Santa
Coming down the Chimney
Oh it was not Santa, it was just a Ghost.
A Ghost? A Ghost on Christmas Night?
More Like Halloween Night!
____________________
Bea’s Song
The Star in the Sky
The star in the sky looked down where he lay,
Baby Jesus Drinking Egg Nog.
I just think he should have been asleep in the hay.
That’s my opinion. What’s yours?
On this cold winter night, today.
___________________
Papa’s Song
Christmas in the Evergreen Forest
If on Christmas Day you go out to the Evergreen Forest,
You may hear a most unusual cry.
Look at mine. Oh, look at mine! Well, look at mine!
Santa never forgets the Evergreen Forest.
And leaves a present under every pine.
What’s a good present for a snowshoe hare?
The elves know and make it with love and with care.
What should you get for a badger family?
Whatever it is, they’ll find it under their Christmas Tree!
____________________
My Song is inspired by the girls in my writing workshop for the Now Hear This! Program, who, upon my suggestion, wrote a short carol of the same title as the one below, based upon the popular Maroon 5 song, Moves like Jagger.
___________________
Mama’s Song
Moves like Santa
(feat. Mrs. Claus)
Ho! Ho! Ho!
Verse 1
So shoot for the Pole if you want kid.
And write me at home with your long list.
And tell me your name, and what kind of game,
And swear you’ve behaved!
So you want some more toys last minute.
You make lots of noise bout what’s missin’.
Hey listen up kid! Your list’s not too big!
You know I’m ‘onna give! [And it goes like this]
Chorus I
Tickle my fat belly and I’ll giggle.
Pour me some ‘that ‘nog and I’ll wiggle
All the moves like Santa
I’ve got the moves like Santa
I’ve got the mo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-ooves like Santa
I don’t need to try to convince you
Just look by the tree and I’m with you
With the moves like Santa
I’ve got the moves like Santa
I’ve got the mo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-ooves like Santa
Verse 2
Maybe it’s hard to believe ‘n-me
You’re old and you’re scarred, nothing’s for free
But when you’re with Kringly
He’ll make you belie-vee
He don’t need a key [to get in, Ho! Ho!]
So get in the sleigh! We can ride it
Wherever we want! Get inside it!
We won’t need to steer,‘cause Rudolph is near
He’ll take if from here [Ho, Ho Ho!]
And it goes like this [Ho!]
Chorus II
Tug on my beard and you’ll know me
Watch those cookies disappear and you’ll own he’s
Got the moves like Santa
I’ve got the moves like Santa
I’ve got the mo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-ooves like Santa
I don’t even need to try to convince you
Just look at that fat stocking, I’m with you!
Got the moves like Santa
I’ve got the moves like Santa
I’ve got the mo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-ooves like Santa
BRIDGE: Mrs Santa
You wanna know how to make him smile?
Make him laugh, make him jiggle all night?
Go ahead and share my secret!
You don’t even have to keep it!
Everyone else can hear it!
So watch and learn, I won’t steer you wrong!
Just a couple cookies and a glass of ‘nog!
Go ahead and share my secret
You don’t have to keep it!
Everyone else can hear it! [Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho!]
And it goes like this:
Chorus III
Tickle my fat belly and I’ll giggle
Pour me some ‘that ‘nog and I’ll wiggle [Ho! Ho! Ho!]
All the moves like Santa
I’ve got the moves like Santa
I’ve got the mo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-ooves like Santa
[Ho! Ho!]
Tug on my beard and you’ll know me.
Watch those cookies disappear and you’ll own he’s
Got the moves like Santa
I’ve got the moves like Santa
I’ve got the mo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-ooves like Santa
____________________
Quick Links for Mobile Users
The Lunchbox Season : Summer of Funner : In Defense of Burning
Our Sister Site: Summer of Funner
- The Lunchbox Season is Back
- Summer of Funner 2012 Film Festival
- Peach Day! Amaretto Peach Jam, Brown Sugar Vanilla Jam, and Giant Peach Butter
- A Movable Mural
- The Imaginary Beasts of Riverdale Farm
- Mad Scientist Day 2012: Ten “Sweet” Experiments
- The Kids Make Street Eats (with Beer!): Pilsner Pretzels & Hops and Robbers Mustard
- Glam Cans 2012: Kid-Designed Canning Labels DIY
