D.D.N.

Before Chris and I had kids, we were married for five and a half years. During the majority of this period of time, we were on the starving college student end of things, but we spent every Friday and Saturday night doing something fun. Sometimes it was walking to the video store (my kids will never know what this is) to rent a video. Sometimes it was a long walk around the neighborhood above our Osage Street apartment - the one where the Big Fancy Houses were. At the end of the walk, we would make a stop at the Big Fancy convenience store and buy a fairly average pack of M&M's before returning to the slums where we lived. When budget allowed, we would go see a movie and, after Chris had graduated, we would cut out early on a Friday afternoon and make a trip to the big city.

And then... there were children. I love my children dearly, but date night has become harder and harder to come by. We would love to have a sitter once a week, but once a month became all that was realistic. We missed our time together. That's when we "invented" D.D.N. It started out as Dessert Date Night, but it was shortened because A) We didn't want the kids to know we were having dessert without them and B) Dessert Date Night takes too long to say. 

D.D.N. is some sort of a dessert once a week after the kids go to bed. It's usually pretty random and decided on via I.M. depending on what we're in the mood for and how fat we feel that day. (On fat days, D.D.N. is a diet cherry limeade). 

In the middle of the winter this year, we decided that we wanted to do an extra-ambitious and extra-fun series of date nights. Now, because I am super secure with myself, I have no problem admitting that we love Harry Potter. When the Deathly Hallows book came out, I stood in line at midnight and bought two hardcover copies because neither one of us wanted to wait to read it second. This was during our days when we had a single, tiny income and it was hard to make ends meet. That's how much we love Harry Potter.

So, anyway, we decided to watch all eight movies and have Harry Potter themed desserts. And now you have to hear about it.

We started with rock cakes. These are really good. Kind of a cross between a cookie and a scone. 

Next we did pumpkin pasties. Delightful.

I decided cauldron cakes (which were not described in detail in the books) were like black bottom cupcakes. Except for that I used a cake that wasn't dense enough and ended up with white bottom cupcakes. Oh well.

Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean. I would rather eat uncooked entrails than repeat this experience. 

Licorice wands (Okay, so this is just licorice, but if I dipped it in white chocolate, it would have just looked like a magician's wand - not a wizard's wand. I'm really going for authenticity here). 

Treacle tart. This one was a delicious surprise - sweet, citrus-y, amazing. 

Chocolate Frogs. Ron was right. The cards are the best part. 

And, last but not least, butterbeer. It goes down so smooth, you don't even notice it has a zillion calories. 

Our Harry Potter D.D.N's have been some of my favorites. Are Chris and I huge, giant geeks? Yeah, pretty much. That's why we enjoy each other's company so much. All I need to be completely content is Chris and enough spare change in the couch cushions for two packs of M&M's.