Harry Potter Pumpkin Juice

The label for Pumpkin Juice at Universal's Wizarding World of Harry Potter lists the ingredients as: water, apple juice concentrate, pumpkin puree, apricot puree, sugar, natural and artificial flavor, citric acid, acesulfame potassium, and sodium benzoate. Here is my version of the Wizarding World drink. I leave out the sugar and everything else on the list after it, and my natural flavors come from spices. We find that it is sweet and tasty enough without the added sugar. Because of the purees, this is a bit thicker than most juices, but I understand that the WWOHP product is also slightly pulpy. My Vita-Mix does a fabulous job with this recipe. I haven't tried the WWOHP juice yet, but hope to some day soon. I'd love to know from someone who has tasted it, if this recipe comes close to matching the wizarding beverage.

Harry Potter's Pumpkin Juice
4 cups apple juice (I make mine from concentrate and add an extra can of water.)
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup apricot puree *
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Place all ingredients in blender. Process on high for 1 minute. For best flavor, chill in refrigerator. Shake or stir before serving.
* To make the apricot puree, I puree a can of apricots without the juice in my Vita-Mix and freeze the leftover puree for future batches. You can also use jarred apricot baby food.

**UPDATE** I have gotten to try the WWOHP bottled drink at the theme park in Orlando, and I'd say this recipe is pretty close.

Spreadable Butter

Our family uses real butter, but it can be difficult to spread. So, I blend it with olive oil which helps make it more spreadable and adds omega 3 goodness.

Spreadable Butter
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Allow butter to soften to room temperature. Blend with mixer on low to medium speed for approximately two minutes, scraping sides and beaters occasionally as necessary. Add olive oil. Blend an additional five minutes on low to medium speed (again, scraping the sides and beaters occasionally as necessary.)
Pour into airtight containers and store in the refrigerator. It will firm up some once chilled, but should still be quite spreadable. It works well straight from the refrigerator, but for buttering soft breads, you may want to set it out on the counter for a minute or so to help it soften slightly.