5 Harry Potter Cocktail Recipes for Ron Weasley Fans #movies #drinks #entertaining

Red is the new Black today, as we take a look at Harry Potter cocktails inspired by Ron Weasley. I found a few Weasley-based cocktail recipes that are suitable for both men and women, making your party plans, weekend getaway or evening wind-down routine a little more enjoyable.

The Weasley by Nerds Need Drinking Games Too
The Weasley cocktail has a lot of variation to it, allowing you to adjust the recipe to fit your juice preferences (cranberry, pomegranate, cherry, etc.) or favorite character (Ron, Ginny, Molly, Fred, George, etc.) in the Weasley family. For the sake of this post, however, I’m sharing the main recipe with you because it’s based on Ron -- the most important of the Weasleys, after all!

Ingredients for The Weasley:
Gin
Cranberry Juice
Ginger Ale

The Weasley Instructions:
Pour four shots of gin into a glass and then add eight shots of cranberry juice. Add four shots of ginger ale and then stir to complete this Harry Potter cocktail.

The Ronald Weasley by Ashley Bryce and Liana Cole at The Little Pink Blog
Not to be confused with The Ron Weasley, which we’ll cover later in this post, The Ronald Weasley is a peach lemonade concoction that Bryce and Cole say is “best for this brave comrade who secretly hopes for his own glory.”

Ingredients for The Ronald Weasley cocktail:
Vodka
Peach Schnapps
Dash of grenadine
Lemonade
Peach half
Lemon slice
Maraschino cherry

The Ronald Weasley instructions:
Fill a glass with ice and then add 1½ ounce of vodka, ½ ounce of peach schnapps and grenadine. Cut the peach into slices and add it to the drink mixture. Fill the remaining part of the glass with lemonade and then garnish with one slice each of a peach and lemon. Top it off with a cherry.

Weasley’s Wicked Brew by Donna Pilato
Can you say “Ginger snap”? I’m guessing that Pilato’s ‘Wicked Brew has a bit of a kick to it, so this may be one of those Harry Potter cocktails that Ron Weasley fans who like spicy drinks would enjoy. The sake base seems interesting.

Ingredients for Weasley’s Wicked Brew:
Sake
Ginger Ale
Fresh Ginger
Lemon Peel
Basil

Weasley’s Wicked Brew instructions:
Grate the fresh ginger into a cocktail shaker and then add two ounces of sake. Muddle the ginger and sake mixture together and then add four ounces of ginger ale and ice. Shake it up and then strain it into a tall glass. Garnish with basil, wrapped inside the lemon peel.

The Ron Weasley by Coryanne Ettiene
If you’ve read this far, you should know by now that while it may sound the same, this particular Harry Potter cocktail is a whole different ballgame from The Ronald Weasley mentioned earlier in this post. Ettiene’s drink looks good and easy to make, but I’m a little lost on the recipe. I mean, what is Campari? I never heard of it nor have I ever (I think) drank it. As the saying goes, we learn something new everyday!

Ingredients for The Ron Weasley cocktail:
Gin
Campari
Grapefruit Juice
Ice

The Ron Weasley instructions:
Add ice, two ounces of gin, 1½ ounces of Campari and three ounces of grapefruit juice to a tall glass. Stir and serve.*

*Madlab Sidebar: Is this one of the simplest Harry Potter cocktail recipes, or what?!!

Last but most certainly not least, I bring to you...

The Ron Weasley by The Backyard Bartender
Ok, so while it as the same name and a similar ingredient as Ettiene’s drink above, this Harry Potter cocktail recipe appears to be stronger. The style of The Ron Weasley is also very old-school, according to The Backyard Bartender, whose concoction reflects certain traits that she noticed in Ron -- “manly, a little bit rough - and a little bit bitter.” Therefore, it may not be suitable for lightweight drinkers.

To lessen the confusion between all of the Harry Potter cocktail recipes that I listed here, however, let’s refer to this one as “The Ron Weasley No. 2” -- fair enough?

Ingredients for The Ron Weasley (No. 2):
Rye whiskey
Cherry brandy
Campari
Sweet Vermouth
Fresh orange juice

The Ron Weasley (No. 2) Instructions:
Add 1½ ounce whiskey, ¾ ounces of cherry brandy, ½ ounce of campari, ½ ounce of sweet vermouth and 1 ounce of orange juice to a pint sized glass filled with ice. Stir for thirty seconds and then strain into a cocktail glass for your drinking pleasure.

So there you have it -- 5 Harry Potter Cocktail Recipes based on Ron Weasley, our January 2012 King Dong!

See you all tomorrow.

In the meantime, let me know what you’re drinking from this list. Cheers!

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Characters on the Movie Title Card #atthemovies #DVD #netflix #blockbuster

After a little mini vacation during the Smurdok's home renovation that is currently still in progress and coming along pretty well, our Monday Movie Meme is back in action.

While checking out movie theater showtimes recently, I thought about "Martha Marcy May Marlene," a movie about a woman who tries to start a new life after growing up in a cult. It is one of several films that I wanted to see, back in December but didn't get around to watching any of them. I will, however, use the flick as inspiration for this week’s Monday Movie Meme topic (because it’s um, simple, and...I have a lot of other things to do today): Role Call!

Share on your blog movies where names of the main characters double as the title of the film.
Easy, right? Yeah, I thought so too!
Here are my selections for the Role Call movie meme.

Jimmy and Judy
Rebellious teens go on a destructive road trip slash runaway journey that involves drugs, vandalism, cults, jail time and murder....oh, and a wedding. Things weren’t so peachy in Jimmy’s home life nor in Judy’s social life before these two outcasts became lovers either. Jimmy had the pleasure of walking in on his parents in a compromising position while Judy was introduced to the joys of school bullying. So yes, their environment is sorta a recipe for disaster but the good news is they recorded it all from their own point of view so we all get a front row seat to their screwed up and misguided world.

Wanda
For those who haven’t heard of this movie, I wish I could give you a brief overview of what it’s all about but I tuned out from my TV screen after popping this thing in the DVD player. Yes, it’s THAT boring. All I remember from watching “Wanda” is that she is a financially broke drifter who trades sex for alcohol, after leaving her husband and children. As much as I wanted to like “Wanda” after reading about it, I do not care for this film. “Wanda” fits right in line with the movies listed on my snorefest post about the most boring movies on DVD.

Runners Up: Bruce Almighty and Forrest Gump.

What other movies with their character names in the title have caught YOUR attention over the years?

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Harry Potter Party Ideas Inspired by Ron Weasley Scenes #entertaining #movies

As the King Dong series continues, this month begins with a new content posting strategy to try to make it more useful and no longer skip any months like I did in December 2011. Without further adieu, join me in welcoming Ron Weasley, played by actor Rupert Grint, as our January 2012 King Dong. While Ron is one of the cutest little boys ever who often gets in situations that are way over his head throughout the Harry Potter film series, he does have unmatchable skills at the game of chess, compared to his friends Hermione and Harry.

One of my most memorable scenes from watching 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone' is the one where Ron sacrifices himself in Wizard’s Chess to help his pals. After several years of Hogwarts mania at the movies, Harry Potter themed parties may seem like they feature the same activities and planning for entertaining guests, no matter who’s hosting it - a book club, HP fan club or a family somewhere around the world.

Thanks to Ron Weasley, however, you can squeeze out little aspects of the Harry Potter movies, to create fresh party ideas that can be used when entertaining adults or teens and kids who know how to play the game. Here are some Harry Potter party ideas that I thought of based on that Wizard’s Chess scene from The Sorcerer’s Stone film.

A Ron Weasley Inspired (Non)Seating Arrangement

Make a giant chessboard featuring 64 black and white (32 for each color) squares made out of towels, pillow cases, painted cardboard, card stock sheets or whatever you can bind together using masking tape (or duct tape, depending on the materials and your preference) to create a flat game board surface. You can also use blue squares as a substitute for black.

Cover your living room, basement or other party area floor with the giant chessboard. This will become the “seating” area for your guests, so make sure that each guest stands on the proper square, according to his or her position in the Wizard’s chess game. You will need a total of 32 guests to complete the chessboard style seating arrangement for this party theme. However, a smaller guest size for your Harry Potter party will also work just fine, allowing more flexible options for Wizard’s chess costumes as well.

Since this arrangement obviously creates a standing-room-only setup, either position chairs along the walls surrounding the chessboard or move them into another room altogether.

The Harry Potter Party Dress Code

All of the standard Gryffindor and other favorite Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley costumes go out of the window for this Wizard’s chess party theme. Require guests to come to the party dressed in a costume that coincides with one of the 16 chess pieces needed for your giant game board.* There are two ways you can enforce this dress code:

1. Assign costumes or dress codes to each guest who is invited to the party - This provides each guest with a running start on making their costume, since they don’t have to spend extra time trying to figure out which one of the chess pieces to dress like.

or

2. Allow guests to select their desired costume from the 16 chess pieces, for which you can check off as you go along the list, on a first come, first served basis. - This can help you to speed up the RSVP process, as some guests may race to make sure that they nabbed one of the few king or queen positions.

*If you are planning a smaller party that is more casual in design, then just rearrange these dress code options to fit the needs of your celebration.

The dress code options for guests should include kings, queens, rooks, bishops, knights and pawns. Thanks to merchandising, there are a variety of color options for your Harry Potter party dress code. Instruct guests to come in either red or white costumes if you want your live chess pieces to match those from the actual scene in 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone' where Ron beats Harry in a chess game at Hogwarts. Or, create a black and white or black and grey dress code if you want guests’ costumes to match those of the chess game pieces that are found in the retail version of Wizard’s chess board games, manufactured for consumers.

Wizard’s Chess Game Activity

Nothing says “entertainment” at this type of Harry Potter themed party than a live game of Wizard’s chess. Get a standard size chess game or the Harry Potter chess game and play it with a co-host, while both of you announce each move that you want to make, out loud. The guests will have to navigate through their positions on the giant chessboard based on the moves that you and your opponent announce.

You can also re-enact the scene from 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,' allowing Ron to be the unofficial host of your party game. This way, you can be part of the live action while everyone is moving based on the chess moves that he calls out. While the Ron Weasley element of this activity may fun, it won’t last as long as a real game of chess between two people. It’s your call though -- literally!

Now that we’ve gone through some alternative Harry Potter party ideas, here’s a question...

Would YOU beat Ron Weasley in a game of chess?

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