Frozen Hot Chocolate

Ever since that movie Serendipity came out (whenever that was . . . years ago) I desperately wanted to try hot chocolate from the restaurant of the same name.

Then when I found out that they had frozen hot chocolate, I was even more desperate! Mostly because I wanted to know what made frozen hot chocolate a drink of its own rather than just another chocolate shake.

Well, I never managed to make it to Serendipity (I’m not sure why since they have one in Vegas) but I did find this recipe via Tasty Kitchen. It’s quite delicious, and definitely not just a normal chocolate shake! It’s pretty ridiculously sweet though, so this amount is definitely enough for 4-5 people!

Ingredients

• 3 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar
• 1 package Hot Cocoa Mix (about 3 Tablespoons)
• 2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
• ⅓ cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
• ⅓ cups White Chocolate Chips
• 12 ounces, fluid Can Evaporated Milk, Divided
• 4-½ cups Ice
• Whipped Cream, To Taste
• Mini Marshmallows, To Taste

Preparation Instructions

Combine sugar, cocoa mix, and butter in the top of a double boiler that is set over gently boiling water. Stir often until melted and a smooth paste forms. Add semi-sweet & white chocolate chips; stir. When chips begin to melt, slowly stir in 1/2 cup of evaporated milk. Stir until smooth. Cool to room temperature. Make sure you cool it! I got rather impatient and decided to just go for it, but if you do that you end up with more of a cold hot chocolate rather than frozen (and trust me, it’s much better frozen!).

Combine the chocolate base mixture, the remaining evaporated milk and ice in a blender (you can do this in batches) and cover. Blend until smooth. Pour into frosty glasses. Top each with whipped cream. Sprinkle with additional chopped chocolate chips & mini marshmallows, if desired.

“A library is not a luxury but one of the necessities of life.” — Henry Ward Beecher

 

While on the bus yesterday, I happened to overhear a terrible conversation. A man and a woman sat next to each other, and as we drove past the public library the woman turned and asked “What is that building?” the man then replied “That’s the library.” he continued on, saying, “They should just tear it down to save tax dollars. No one uses libraries, everyone uses the internet.”

Because we then got off the bus, and I had no chance to refute his ridiculous statement, I am writing him this letter in hopes that someday he (or other people equally idiotic) will see it:

Dear Mr. Foolish Bus Man,

The idiocy of your statement that the library should be torn down to save tax dollars is so ludicrous that I almost don’t know where to start. So I shall start with the second half of your statement, which implies that the internet can take the place of a library.

First of all, I would like to mention that internet use costs money. To use the internet, first of all you need a computer. Even the cheapest of these will cost you around 500$. Then you need to have internet access, which let’s say is an extra 20$ a month. I don’t know how you can think every American can afford this. Did you know that 73% of public libraries offer the only free public internet access in their community? Even if the internet could replace libraries, where would people go to use the internet if their library had been torn down?

Now on to whether or not the internet can replace libraries. Let’s look at it first from the information access aspect of it. The internet is mainly used for entertainment. If you’re trying to find real information however, it’s kind of like walking into the Library of Congress if there were no call numbers or any organization of any sort, and randomly pulling books off the shelves. The only parts of the internet that have been organized for ease of access to information are the databases put together by librarians who are doing it for their library.

Now I could get into the importance of libraries in literacy, but I won’t. I’ll just say: would you rather your child was playing games on the internet, or reading a book they got at the library? Even with the advent of E-books, you still can’t get the majority of Children’s books. For older children, many libraries now offer homework help centers where they can actually learn how to find information the right way. Do you want your children to grow up to be the kind of student who thinks copying a Wikipedia article counts as doing research? Oh way, I forgot, you’re the foolish man who thinks that libraries should be torn down. You probably were one of those students.

As for saving tax dollars by closing down the library, did you know that during a recession libraries are actually used more? During the Great Depression when libraries were faced with budget cuts, library patrons who could afford it would purposefully let their books become overdue so that they could pay the fine to help keep the library open. It’s sad to see that there are people like you, Mr. Foolish Bus Man, who think that library budgets should be the first to go (as they so often are).

I’m going to end my rant and I won’t bother getting into all the other important things libraries provide for the community (but I assure you, there are many more). Let me just leave you with this: I feel sorry for you, Mr. Foolish Bus Man. You’re obviously an uneducated, ignorant man, and I hope you never reproduce.

“We did it, we bashed them, wee Potter's the one, And Voldy's gone moldy, so now let's have fun!” ~ Peeves

 

As you know (and if you don’t, you should), this weekend marked the opening of the last Harry Potter movie! Naturally, this meant I had to have a party! My friend Whitney flew in from Utah so that we could be obsessed together one last time.

 

We started out celebrating with a trip to Hedwig Park. It’s named after some German woman who lived in Houston, but we like to think it was built in memory of a snowy white owl.

 

 

 

Unfortunately, even though our party was amazing, I managed to not take a single picture of the party, or all of us in our shirts! However, I did get a few pictures of the decorations and the food.

 

Luckily Glenn had the idea to go to the teacher supply store, where I was able to find this terrific brick wallpaper! And since I don’t want to waste it . . . I’ll be moving Platform 9 3/4 to my bedroom entrance for the next month or so . . .

 

 

 

In the case of our party, Platform 9 3/4 leads straight into the Great Hall.

 

I kind of want to leave this ceiling up as well, but I guess I’ll save the extreme nerdiness for when I have a house of my own.

 

 

To the right of the Great Hall, you’ll find Aragog  hanging out at the entrance to the Forbidden Forest.

 

The Hall is decorated in red and gold since Gryffindor won the House Cup this year (which is amazing since during our sorting only Whitney was a Gryffindor and the rest of us were all Ravenclaw, so she was really outnumbered).

Since one of the walls is a mirror, we created the Mirror of Erised. If you look closely you’ll see Ron, Harry, and Hermione in the mirror. This is because naturally, the "deepest and most desperate desire of our hearts" would be to be Ron, Harry, or Hermione, right? =)

 

 

I actually spent most of the movie worrying that we didn’t blow these candles out.

 

 

 

For food we had treacle tart, “Kreacher’s potatoes”, “Dobby’s roast”, roasted “gillyweed”, licorice wands, Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans, Fizzing Whizbees, Canary Creams, Chocolate Frogs, Dumbledore’s pensieve (jello), U-no-poo (m&m type things), and Drooble’s Best Blowing Gum. Plus butterbeer and pumpkin juice to drink.

 

Here we are so excited to see the movie! I look like I’m in Whitney’s lap, but I’m not.

It was most magical. I highly recommend it. In fact, it’s only been out 2 days and we’ve already seen it twice! I’m willing to go with anyone who needs someone to see it with!

If you don’t have a chance to see it right now, I leave you this video for your Harry Potter viewing pleasure:

“Weasley can save anything, He never leaves a single ring, That's why Gryffindors all sing: Weasley is our King.”

 

A few weeks ago, in preparation for the awesomeness that will be happening on July 15 I went slightly crazy (it was a long weekend) and made Harry Potter T-shirt for everyone coming to my party, and then a few more to be sent in the mail to those who can’t make it due to distance.

I think everyone who is getting one has received them (unless I go through another random bout of shirt painting) so now I can show them off:

The Gryffindor shirt took FOREVER. So I decided to give it to Ray so I can admire my work more often. Haha.

Actually just while posting this I’ve come up with a million more ideas and thought of more people to send them too! I also realized I didn’t actually take a picture of some of the cuter ones before I mailed them off =( So . . . assuming I finish my decorations for the party coming up (which hopefully I do because my plans are getting pretty big) a new round of shirts might be coming up too . . . Who knew you could have so much fun with freezer paper and fabric paint?

I’m so excited!!! I just finished re-reading all 7 books in preparation (to give me decorating ideas). I think this will probably be the best party I’ve ever thrown. Or at least it will look the coolest. Plus, I have a new Harry Potter Cookbook I haven’t had the opportunity to use yet. Maybe I just need to get married and have a baby so I can force him/her to have a Harry Potter party every year!

Zucchini Corn Fritters

I posted a fritter recipe last year, but this is a new one! I found this recipe on seriouseats.com. I love corn, so I figured these would be good.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 cups shredded zucchini
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs
• 2 ears corn
• 1 small onion, diced small
• 3 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup cilantro, minced
• 3/4 cup flour
• A few good grinds of black pepper
• Canola, grapeseed or other neutral oil, for pan-frying
• Sour cream or Greek yogurt, for serving

PROCEDURES

1. Shred the zucchini on the large holes of a box grater or with the shredding disc of a food processor. Place the shredded zucchini in a colander in the sink or over a bowl and sprinkle with the salt. Toss to combine. Let drain while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
   
2. Crack the eggs into a large bowl and scramble lightly. Cut the kernels from the corn cobs and add the kernels to the bowl along with the diced onion, sliced scallions, chopped cilantro, flour and pepper.
   
3. Pick up the shredded zucchini in small handfuls and squeeze out and discard as much liquid as you can. Add the zucchini to the bowl. Mix well to combine.
   
4. Pour the oil into a large frying pan to a depth of about 1/4-inch. Heat the oil over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Drop large, heaping spoonfuls of the zucchini mixture into the pan to form disc-shaped fritters. Cook in batches without crowding (about 3 or 4 at a time, depending on the size of your pan) until golden brown on the underside (about 2 minutes) and then flip and cook until golden brown on the second side. Remove to paper towels to drain. Add a bit more oil between batches if necessary.
   
5. Serve with a dollop of sour cream or Greek yogurt. The fritters should be crisp on the outside and slightly custardy on the inside.
   

These were a little runnier than other fritters I have made, so they ended up looking a lot like pancakes. Glenn suggested I eat them with some maple syrup. I ended up going for barbeque sauce, but I think the sour cream that is suggested would be good too!