JK Rowling

Today is a double whamy. Sort of. Because I don't normally celebrate fictional character's birthdays, but it's Harry Freaking Potter. AND, it's JK Rowling's birthday. And she created Harry Potter, so I feel like celebrating both of them today is important.

Also, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child play came out at midnight....I might have gotten it at midnight...and I might have finished it.....but in my defense, it was a play. And, in general, a play should take as long to read as it would to watch. Did you guys know that? I learned that in my first screenwriting class where we wrote a bunch of plays. And for that reason I actually really enjoyed reading Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Also, it was a lot of fun to enjoy one last adventure with Harry. 

Cupcakes I made for a class
project a few years back.

I grew up with him. I related to him along the way. That is, until there started to be years and years in between releases and then I was 23 and Harry was 17 and I had to wait a year after it's release to read it. That was a little bit difficult. BUT, I still loved it. I still love all the books. I love them so much that when the actors from the movies come to Salt Lake Comic Con, I go. And I have them sign Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (my favorite book). 

I kind of offended Lucious Malfoy (Jason Isaacs) when I met him and it was hilarious. That was not Harry Potter related. But it was still funny. I told him Colin O'Donoghue was my favorite Capt. Hook. And he responded with "Why would you ever tell someone that?!" and then we both laughed. It was funny. 

Any way, back to the subject at hand. JK Rowling. She inspired me to reach for my dreams and become a writer. She showed me that I can create a new world on a page and share that new world with everyone. She reminded me that it's okay to dream. And for that, I will always be grateful. 

In honor of her birthday, and Harry Potter's, I read Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. I also read part of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Because it's still my favorite. And I'm going to fall asleep watching Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, because it's awesome. 

And I'm going to eat these delicious Lime Tartlets!! 

Lime Tartlets

Crust:

1/2 cup butter or margarine softened

1 egg

1/3 cup sugar

1 1/4 cups flour

Filling:

2 eggs

1/3 cup sugar

1 Tbs. butter melted and then cooled

3 Tbs. Lime Juice

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Spray a couple of mini muffin tins (makes 24, so plan accordingly) with non stick cooking spray. For the crust, combine butter and sugar and mix until light and fluffy. Then add egg and flour and mix until a soft dough forms. Divide into 24 pieces and drop into the sprayed mini muffin tins. I use a tart press to press the dough into a tart shell. You can also use the lid of a 2-liter of soda. Once that is done, gently wisk the eggs and then add sugar, butter and lime juice. Then, pour into the tart shells. Bake for 20-22 minutes. After they bake, Let them set for about 5 minutes and then move them to a cooling rack to cool completely. Once cooled, store them in an air tight container in the fridge. When you're ready to serve, I usually sprinkle some powdered sugar over the top of them to finish them off. They taste delicious! Enjoy!!

Lana Parilla

I am a HUGE Once Upon A Time fan. LOVE the show. I don't even know how m

any times I have watched the entire first season. I try and get as many friends hooked on it as possible. That's how much I love this show.

I wasn't always a huge Evil Queen fan, but somewhere along the way I decided that she's pretty great. And I also discovered how amazing Lana Parilla is. I honestly haven't seen her in anything else, but her on OUAT is enough to realize that she is an amazing actress and really awesome person.

So, obviously, there will be a OUAT binge watch at my house this weekend. And it's going to be awesome!! I am honestly so excited for this coming season when she will be both Regina Mills, hero, and the Evil Queen who are now two separate people!! Crazy, I know. But so exciting!! Sorry if that was spoilers for anyone. But you should have watched this last season by now!! At least I didn't say that (spoiler) died. Because then you would have been mad if you hadn't already watched season 6 because you're waiting for Netflix to get it. Is it on Netflix yet? I don't even know. So, if I just ruined the entire season for you, go watch it any ways, because Colin O'Donoghue is an AMAZING Capt. Hook as well and I feel like they really let him shine this season.

But back to Lana's birthday today. I made Carmelitas! Have you tried them before? I found a few recipes on Pinterest because I'm addicted to it and adapted them to the one I used below:

Carmelitas

32 caramel squares, unwrapped
1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Combine caramels and cream in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir until completely smooth; set aside. In a separate bowl, combine melted butter, brown sugar, flour, oats, and baking soda. Pat half of the oatmeal mixture into the bottom of an 8x8" pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over crust. Pour caramel mixture over chocolate chips. Crumble remaining oatmeal mixture over caramel. Return to oven and bake an additional 15-20 minutes, until the edges are lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool completely before cutting.

Ruth B.

My friend Raquel made me listen to this song after we watched an episode of Once Upon A Time and I fell in love with it. The reason it came up with Once Upon A Time is because I only watch that show for Colin O'Donoghue. He is AMAZING. And I love the way he portrays Capt. Hook. If you don't watch that show, you should. Just for him. He's so awesome.

Not the point of this post, though. The song Raquel mentioned was Lost Boy by Ruth B. I'd never heard of the song or the singer before and quickly went to work seeing if I liked her other songs. And I did. SO MUCH. And I'm happy that today is her birthday so that we can eat treats and listen to good music!!

She sings a song called Superficial Love that is, like, my theme song. I have listened to her EP on repeat more times than I can count.




Isn't her voice magical? I HIGHLY recommend picking up her EP. It's so great. And I love that Lost Boy is a little bit somber, but 2 Broke Kids is incredibly upbeat and sweet. And her voice resonates into my writing. I was stuck on a scene for a book I'm writing called LIGHTS and turned on her EP and suddenly I had all these ideas. It's amazing.

So, in honor of her birthday today, I made a Vanilla Mousse Cheesecake!!! I don't even remember where I found this recipe, I just know that it has been a hit every time I've made it! And this time was no exception!! It's delicious and I know you'll love it too!

Philadelphia vanilla mousse cheesecake

40 Nilla wafers, crushed

3 Tablespoons butter, melted

4 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar, divided

1 Tablespoon plus 1 tsp. vanilla, divided

3 eggs

1 tub (8 oz) cool whip

**heat oven to 325 degrees. Mix wafer crumbs and butter. Press onto bottom of 9 inch spring form pan. Beat 3 pkgs of cream cheese, 3/4 cup sugar and 1 Tablespoon vanilla. Mix till well blended. Add eggs one at a time, mixing on low speed after each one till blended. DO NOT OVER MIX. Pour over crust. Bake 50 to 55 min or until center is almost set. Run knife around rim of pan to loosen cake and cool in pan, completely.

 Beat remaining cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl till well blended. whisk in cool whip and spread over cheesecake. refrigerate for 4 hours. remove rim of pan before serving cheesecake.