Haddock and Watercress , Spinach Aribata Rice

Ever had those moments when you don't know what to have for tea and your family are pestering you with the question s 

" What's for tea ?"

" When will tea be ready ?"

" It's not long to tea now is it ?"

And with it being New Year and all that jazz it was time to eat more healthy doctors instructions ~ they never prescribe tea and cake do they now ~ the meanies !

Ingredients 

Haddock enough for the number of people you aim to serve ( 4 ) 

1 tablespoon of Olive oil 

300 g Arborio rice

700ml vegetable stock 

Watercress packet of ( you can find other stuff  mixed in with this , which is fine )

1 onion chopped

50 g Parmasan grated

Freshly ground black pepper 

Method 

Preheat the oven to 200 c and warp the haddock in foil and place in the oven to cook whilst this is cooking 

Bake the haddock in the oven for whilst this is doing next 

heat the olive oil in a pan frying the onion then adding the rice 

begin to add the stock a little at a time , allow the grains to absorb the liquid before continuing on 

Meanwhile get the haddock  out of the oven and add the haddock to the pan 

Stir in the watercress 

Continue cooking till the liquid has been absorbed 

Puddle art

Harry Potter Studio Tour

The Harry Potter Studio Tour is a window upon one of the most beloved book and film franchises there has ever been. It's essentially 2 sound stages and a backlot where you'll see many of the inside and outside exterior sets, allow at least 3 hours for the truly immersing experience .

Knight Chess Piece Prop ~ Wizard Chess Harry Potter

Planning is key , and if you go for one of the early slots which start at 9 Am you might want to stop the previous night in one of the local hotel s which are literally only about 10 minutes away. Around 6,000 people visit the Harry Potter Tour each day so the earlier you visit the better in my opinion, the hotel we stopped in was only about 10 minutes away so this made it ideal for the early start at Harry Potter which for us was a 9am start ( our slot was 9 - 9.30 ). While stopping at a hotel does add to the cost we booked ahead so we didn't feel the pinch at much with it being Christmas.

The tickets costs for Harry Potter Studio Tour are £39 for adults and £31 for children aged 5-15 , this price change is effective from January 1st 2017 . There are some saver days available at slightly reduced prices , details are on the website .

Make sure you leave any heavy coats in the cloakroom and if you've got children in your party do pick up the free passport that can be stamped as you go round , it makes for a lovely ( free souvenir )

The first part of the tour is well the queueing but you aren't queueing for long and there's plenty of memorabilia  to hold your interest including the cupboard under the stairs where Harry Potter slept .

The tour starts with the Great Hall and I've always loved this in the Harry Potter film, I promise you ~ you'll be blown away as you see the feast set out for Christmas along with flaming Christmas puddings . The Great Hall has a real stone floor which is Yorkshire Stone , long dining tables and the mannequins which may look a tad spooky but it all adds to the ambiance .

Harry Potter's Flaming Christmas Pudding 

The interior Sets

Here you'll see Hagrids Hut , Dumbledore's office , the Weasley's Kitchen ( which I had a kitchen like that ) and of course the Gryffindor Common room. I particularly like the Office of Dolores Umbrage it's like Katie Price overloaded with cats ( not that I'm a fan of pink , Katie Price but I really love cats and kitsch)

And with the Tour being set in the snow it's magical and makes for a wonderful family visit for the memories , for me Diagon Alley is a real highlight . It's hard not to think of the shop fronts as real , you just want to open a door and walk into to the magic.

Gryffindor Common Room Harry Potter 

Dumbledore's Office 

Weasley's Kitchen 

Below is a short Youtube video on the Goblet of Fire.

Hogwarts Express

Platform 9 3/4 Harry Potter

Clock on Platform 9 3/4

Harry Potter and Ron Weasley on the Hogwarts Express ~ Harry Potter

Backlot

This is where you can buy the famous Butterbeer and grab a bite to eat , 

Now the Butterbeer is an acquired tasted , we all had some and I have to say I much preferred the Butterbeer from Universal which did go down a treat in the hot Florida climate . 

ButterBeer

you're also welcome to eat your own food as well , there isn't a huge amount of seating available . Outside you'll see the Knight bus , Privet Drive and the cottage where Harry was born.

The Knight Bus ~Harry Potter 

 

 

Diagon Alley

Walking along Diagon is a real treat and it was one of my most favourite things about the Harry Potter Tour~

And with the Tour being set in the snow it's magical and makes for a wonderful family visit for the memories , for me Diagon Alley is a real highlight . It's hard not to think of the shop fronts as real , you just want to open a door and walk into to the magic.

 

Creature Workshop

Is where you'll find the creature that we're in Harry Potter like Fawkes ,Dobby , Hagrid . Having  never appreciated the amount of hard work and skill that goes into film making with all the props and equipment it literally blew my mind. I liked the fact that with the sets and things they didn't try to hide away the working bits from sight for the guests it was interesting to look at the level of detail and care that goes film making. for instance I think 17,000 wand boxes were made for Ollivanders wand shop.

 

 

Hogwarts Model Room

This is stunning , the artistic talent is outstanding ~ my models for projects for school never ever looked this amazing !

 

 

Every attraction worth its salt ends up in the gift shop and the gift shop at the Harry Potter Studio Tour doesn't disappoint ; the only thing it will disappoint will be your wallet . A wand will set you back around £28.95 and these wands are indeed a thing of beauty , very much a high quality souvenir . These wands are not a toy , there are toy wands available which of course will be cheaper . 

Cats Are The Answer To Everything

Cats are the best thing ever ~ they are the answer to everything .

They party hard over Christmas and collapse into a catntip drug induced coma .

 

 

They remember those carefree kitten days when they wore hats at Christmas .

 

Then years later they nail the same pose with the same wide eyed wonder .

 

Cats are a diet aid as they stare at any unhealthy pudding you have !

Cats are awesome , cats are the answer to everything !

Getting Accepted Into Hogwarts

Hurrah hurrah .

I've been accepted into Hogwarts finally which for a Muggle is quite an achievement , I am not phased that at 44 I'll be the oldest pupil there but as they say you're never to old to learn . I so hope the Sorting Hat puts me into Gryfinnor !

So next week we will be heading to the Warner Bros Studio Tour " The making of Harry Potter , from what I've heard there will be an obvious Christmassy feel to the place . Harry Potter has always been in the heart of our family from my son dressing up when he was 4 to watching every movie together at Christmas time . It's a family tradition and one I'm pleased to continue by going on this tour , now we've paid for this ourselves . 

 

You see just because I blog it doesn't mean I have everything handed to me on a plate , we've worked hard for this and for the past three months I've been flat out . Flat out so much so I've been too busy to notice how beautiful the world is , now I've only been stopped work a day I can see this again !  I feel my humour  returning oh yes indeedy . 

I'm so excited .

Squeal .