"Damn, damn, damn, curse you Robert and the Hippogriff you flew in on. What is love anyway? Just a useless waste of time, in my opinion."
Yes, my dear readers, I grumbled to myself and cursed in a somewhat unladylike fashion as I marched through the twilight streets to Momma Fox's welcoming front door one chilly February night. The sound of the Muggle song, "Boys in books are better" was ringing in my ears and I had to agree that Carrie had the right idea. Having been stood up yet again by someone who was supposed to be making me feel special on Valentine's Day for the first time in a long time, I was in a less than Instellar mood. Not even the velvety, jewel speckled night sky above me could change the fury that bubbled within this jilted journalist.
But I digress and I should probably explain why I was there for a cooking lesson well after the time Momma Fox liked me to visit normally. The reason, as I will explain, is an unknown one. I had originally made an arrangement to see her earlier that very day but had received an owl earlier that morning asking me to show up later than planned as she had a surprise she wished to share with me. My curiosity had been peaked and I had readily agreed to the strange request. But as I knocked softly on the large oak door this evening, I have to admit that I was a little nervous.
Luckily, less than a minute or two later, a pair of large, lamplight eyes shone up at me and a warm voice greeted me. "Well good evening dearie, do come in. I'm so glad you could come at this late hour. Something very exciting is about to happen!" The miniature marvel was smiling as she watched me and her soft-looking ears twitched, almost as if she could tell from my face that all was not well. The sight of it brought a sigh to my lips and I could not help sagging somewhat as I answered in a quiet murmur, "Hi there Momma Fox, thank you for inviting me. I'm looking forward to whatever you have to show me." The sight of my thinly veiled discomfort brought a small frown to the old witch's face and as she gently guided me the elbow to the kitchen, I could tell that she was perturbed by my face.
A moment later, her signature scrumptious hot chocolate was pressed into my hand along with the recipe we would be making and she was looking up at me with gentle curiosity. "Well child, I don't know what has you looking lower than a Flobberworms belly but you can tell me all about it while we cook. I brought you here because tonight there is going to be some cosmological wonders for us to watch! My wizard radio friends informed me that we are due a most spectacular show of Saturn AND a meteor shower! Isn't that exciting? And I thought we could sit and enjoy it with some lovely hot snacks. What do you say?"
My own deep truffle-toned eyes swept the paper as motherly miracle spoke and I could not help but smile and nod at the idea, completely forgetting about a certain fickle, red-headed nuisance as I eagerly got to work. "Oh! That all sounds wonderful Momma Fox! Can we start now please?". The recipe read as follows:
Ingredients:
320g puff pastry sheet, (Readymade from the Muggle store for convenience)
30g cheddar, grated
25g parmesan, grated
30g smoked bacon, finely diced into small half centimetre cubes
3 tbsp plain flour for dusting
2 tbsp milk
Toppings of your choice (optional) - poppy seeds, dried oregano, sesame seeds etc.
Directions:
1. Unroll the pastry and sprinkle most of the cheese and all of the chopped bacon cubes over one half of the sheet. Fold the pastry in half to cover the filling and seal it with a flat hand.
2. Dust a heavy rolling pin and the work surface with a little flour and place the pastry sheet on it. Roll it out gently until doubled in size.
3. Heat a Muggle oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and line two baking sheets with baking parchment. You can use a quick Diffindo spell here to cut the paper neatly.
4. Using a cookie cutter or the Exorcio spell if you are skilled at it, cut the pastry into star and moon shapes and put them on the prepared baking sheets. (Put the cutters on the dough close together so that less pastry is wasted. You can fold the trimmings back on themselves and re-roll to cut out more shapes.)
5. Brush the shapes with milk and add a pinch of cheese and a sprinkling of your chosen topping, if using.
6. Bake in the oven for 12-15 mins or until risen and golden, then transfer to a serving plate. Eat warm or allow to fully cool and store them in an airtight container for up to three days.
In no time at all it seemed, Momma Fox and I were sitting outside on giant squishy chairs under a blanket, laughing and joking as we munched on our creations. The sky above glittered like fireworks and the tantalising warmth of the cheese and bacon snacks made my face ache from smiling and a warm glow spread outwards from my belly. As usual, the tiny witch beside me had weaved her magic once more and I was a very happy reporter.
All there is to do now though is to wish you, all my very star-kissed readers a very fond goodnight until next time! - Nikita