RELISH AUSTIN

Potter's magical menu inspires a great party

By Addie Broyles
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Forget water. Harry Potter would need a glass or two of pumpkin juice in this heat.

Pumpkin juice is like water for Potter and friends at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry made popular in the J.K. Rowling series. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," which - in case you've stopped counting - is the sixth of an eight-movie series, opens today .

For Lindsay Lehfeld, the food blogger behind Apron Adventures (apronadventures.blogspot.com ), the Harry Potter series has carried her from adolescence to adulthood. "I'm really not a sci-fi or fantasy fan, but it's just so fun and magical," she says. "It appeals to all ages ? It just brings everyone together."

Each book contains elaborate meals and concocted foods, which to fans such as Lehfeld are as integral to the books as Harry, Hermione and Ron.

"In the first couple of books, food is pretty predominant," she says. "They have big feasts for every meal in the big dining halls." Fans have written extensive essays about the role of food and drink in Harry Potter, and hundreds of blogs have featured Harry Potter-inspired recipes.

In anticipation of "Half-Blood Prince," Lehfeld has hosted movie nights every week for the past five weeks to watch each film and eat food inspired by the books and movies.

No Harry Potter party is complete without butterbeer and pumpkin juice, she says. In the books, butterbeer is reserved for special occasions, but pumpkin juice was the crowd favorite at her parties, Lehfeld says. (In addition to several Harry Potter-themed feasts next week, the Alamo Drafthouse movie theaters in Austin are also serving an alcoholic version of butterbeer.)

She also served snacks including Ron's Wands (broken pretzel sticks with icing), chocolate-shaped frogs and acid pops (Dum-Dums rolled in honey and pop rocks).

Inspired by the pensieve , which holds memories of schoolmaster Dumbledore, Lehfeld made a smoked cheddar fondue and called it a pensieve dip. She made dragon snot out of lime juice and sherbet.

From "Half-Blood Prince," Lehfeld is most excited about Felix Felicis, a lucky potion Harry drinks. She planned to make it with mangoes for the midnight premiere early this morning , where she and her friends will dress up like they have for several other premieres.

Not all the food in Harry Potter involves made-up creations. A look at the young wizards' diets shows they enjoy an array of traditional British food (roast beef, shepherd's pie, stew, casserole and even tripe) with a few indulgences of things like chips, marshmallows, ice cream and apple pie, but what fun is a fantasy world if you can't eat jelly slugs or cauldron cakes?

abroyles@statesman.com; 912-2504

Unforgettable Pensieve Dip

11/4 cup hard cider

4 cups smoked cheddar cheese, shredded

2 cups Emmentaler cheese, shredded

11/2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 tsp. cinnamon

sausage (for dipping)

apple slices (for dipping)

rye bread, chopped into pieces (for dipping)

Heat a large saucepan on medium heat and warm hard cider until simmering. Toss shredded cheese with cornstarch, then add a handful at a time to the simmering cider, stirring as you go, until fully incorporated and smooth. Sprinkle in the cinnamon and remove from heat. Add to a warm fondue pot and serve with sausage slices, apple slices and bread pieces for an unforgettable snack.

Pumpkin Juice

5 cups apple juice

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 tsp. ground cloves

1 tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Stir all ingredients until thoroughly combined and serve chilled for a refreshing drink. For an extra kick, add 1/2 cup spiced rum to create "Rumkin Juice."

Cockroach Clusters

2 cups walnut (or pecan) halves

4 oz. chocolate bark

4 oz. dark chocolate

2 oz. peanut butter, melted (optional)

2 oz. caramel, melted (optional)

Spread out nuts on wax paper. Place chocolate bark and dark chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and heat for a minute. Stir, then heat another minute, stopping every 20 seconds to stir. Drizzle over nuts and place in refrigerator to set, about 20 minutes. If desired, first drizzle nuts with peanut butter or caramel, then chocolate, for an added dimension of flavor.

- Lindsay Lehfeld