Wonderful Play-doh Recipe!

I've never been keen in homemade playdoh until now. In the past I had only been aware of the flowery ones that either dye your hands and everything it touches when you play with it, completely fall apart, or are so watery they're gross.

I found this post on Pinterest and was pretty intrigued by the raving review a teacher had given this particular recipe.

So I decided it would be a fun rainy-day activity for me and the kids.

Since it has been raining at least once a week here, I didn't have to wait long to try it out.

We made two batches (each kiddo made one). Over all, it was a recipe they could be hands on with, which is nice. It would have been both quicker and cleaner if I had done it alone but that was not so much my intention with the whole activity.

This dough is very squishy (a desired attribute) and seems to hold its moisture very well. We played for probably 45 minutes with all of it out and it didn't even begin to dry up!

Okay here is the easy peasy recipe;

1 cup flour

1 cup water

1/4 cup salt

2 tsp. cream of tartar

1 Tbls. vegetable oil

food coloring

Combine all the ingredients into a stove-safe pot and mix well. (I used a whisk to get all of the clumps out and realize now I should have helped stir more before the stove-step; It would have made the end result prettier)

We made purple and orange batches. If I had made it for presents or school, I would have halved the batches and done 4 colors. It made so much! Perfect for home though.

After it is all well mixed, stick it on the stove over medium heat and stir. Once it starts really getting thick (you'll know) then it is a very quick process. Maybe 45 sec.

After it has formed into a nice ball and all of the visible moisture has been cooked out, remove it from the pot and flatten it out on a plastic cutting board or plate to let it cool. It will be VERY hot at first, so don't let little helpers get too eager to try it out.

After about 15 minutes it is cool enough to play with.

Here is the consistency and color of the soupy mix. You will notice that, once cooked, the color gets darker.  The orange turned into a pinkish color.  (see the clumps I was talking about)

In this photo I tried to show about how much one batch makes. 

The two larger balls are, what I gaged to be, about the amount of dough in one regular play dough cup. The third, smaller ball, is what is leftover. Hopefully that is an understandable comparison.

Here is our creation in action.  This is all of the "orange" Play-doh and some of the purple.  The 2nd purple princess is in the castle, of course.  

A Night at the Circus

Thinking back, I remember little about our family trips to the circus. I remember always wanting one of the obnoxious spinning, flashing, over priced toys.

Luckily, now I can look back on a trip to the circus with more vivid memories.

If you couldn't guess, the circus came to town: Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus; the greatest show on earth.

The opening night, a Wednesday, was not the ideal time for a night on the town, but opening night tickets were all $10.00. You can't beat that.

So, after work we headed over to the bi-lo center.

It was not what I expected in some ways. There was a lot of singing and dancing but I didn't really mind that surprise. Simon wasn't thrilled at that unexpected addition but all of the acts were great.

I was really excited about the tigers, but

the elephants ended up being my favorite!

Here are a few pictures from the night. I didn't think I would be able to bring my camera in, so the photos are from a phone and not that spectacular - But some turned out pretty well.

pre show

A very pixely photo from before the real thing started

I got cotton candy!!! I had been looking forward to this all night!!

The elephant train :)

 Stilts

Head stand!

 Elephants again (Like I said, they were my favorite part)

 spinning people

 Grand Finale

Here is a little video. Of the elephants of course  heehee

Strawberry Coconut Cake

Although I don't get many opportunities to bake big cakes or fancy desserts, I jump at any event that I can sneak one in. This time, it was Valentine's day. <3

Simon really likes strawberry cake. For his birthday a couple years ago I made one that turned out really yummy; However, I wanted to try a different recipe this time since my experimenting chances are limited. Why make the same thing twice. Haha. 

Previously, I searched painstakingly for a recipe that did not include box caked mic or strawberry gelatin. I caved on this one because of how delicious it looked an sounded, and because I couldn't find one, apart from the one I made before, that did not include either of those things.

I am so happy that I did branch out, though, because this turned out to be, possibly, the best dessert I have ever made! 

The whole thing took me about 4 hours but that is including the waiting time required before icing was possible. It also would not have taken as long if I had 2 round cake pans. I only have one, so I had to bake each layer individually. 

I found this recipe on one of the blogs I follow. http://candyjamamas.blogspot.com

Okay, here is the slightly altered recipe. I made a few changes as I went along: ex. I did not have coconut extract and therefore did not use any. 

A few of the prettiest ingredients 

Cake:

1 (16-18 ounce) box white cake mix 

4 Tbsp. strawberry gelatin powder

2 Tbsp all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 Tbsp granulated sugar

3/4 Cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

1/4 Cup water

1/2 Cup pureed strawberries

1 Cup coconut, finely shredded in food

processor

1 tsp vanilla

(1/2 tsp coconut extract) optional

1/2 Cup fresh strawberries, finely diced

Several sliced strawberries to fill cake 

3-5 whole strawberries for garnishing

Shredded coconut for garnishing 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease and flour two 8in or 9in round baking pans. 

Combine dry ingredients in mixer bowl; stir. Beat in oil, eggs, water, vanilla, and coconut extract. Mix well.

In food processor, purée 1/2 cup strawberries and 1 cup coconut. Add this to mixture and stir until well combined.

Pour into prepared baking pans.

Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until a tooth pick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean and the cakes are pulling away from the sides of the pans.

Place pans on wire racks and let cool for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans and place in racks to cool completely. (25-30 minutes). 

Layering

Cream cheese icing:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened

4 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Beat butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add vanilla. Slowly beat in powdered sugar until desired consistency. Add a tablespoon or so of milk if icing is too thick. (I used the entire 4 cups and had only a little icing remaining).

Finishing Cake:

Thickly spread icing atop bottom layer, cover with a layer of thinly sliced strawberries. 

Place second cake on top and ice the rest of the cake. Carefully cover entire cake in shredded coconut and garnish with fresh strawberries.

All finished

A slice

Bathroom Shelf

I am reminded more and more each day how blessed I am to be married to Simon.  And to his chagrin, I'm going to take a moment to brag. :) While somewhat insignificant, in comparison to so many other beautiful and deeper things he brings to our marriage, I am thankful for his talent with building. He is creative, detail oriented and a gifted craftsman. These attributes, combined with his love for "projects", makes him a great personal carpenter, as well a wonderful addition to my life.

This weekend he took his own money and time to build us a bathroom shelf. We had been discussing the idea since we moved in; We have little towel space and a big blank spot on the wall so it was a naturally progressing want.

This isn't a how-to, it is just some shots of the finished project.

He didn't know I took this :) installation 

Hobby Lobby Hardware.  Love that place.

Front View

A side view of some of the weathered detail

I really like the detail of the accents.  

Another weathering view

Detail close up

Dressed and ready to go.

Thanks honey for being great.

Praise God for talents.

Thank you God for putting someone in my life who is so many things that I am not.

A Little More Christmas

When I previously posted about Christmas in Little Rock, I had forgotten that I had some un-uploaded pictures on my Camera so I thought I would just add them now.  

Nannie, Papa, Mom, Christmas tree

 Mom lounging, waiting to open her presents

 Dad amidst the opened presents

 Nannie and her new purse

 Papa opening presents

Mom showing off her new canisters.  I am super jealous of these.  I think the stainless steel ones are really cute.  

Me and Simon :)

 My parent's back deck.  Crazy snow.

...and some more snow

... and a little more.

 Warming up dinner and Simon's feet.

Grocery Shopping in the Guest Room

I mentioned, in a previous post, the grocery store I set up for the kids I nanny. I wanted to elaborate a little more because they had much more fun than I had anticipated and I'm sure other 4 year olds (or older children, really) would enjoy it equally as much.

After Amelia received a visit from the tooth fairy, I became aware of how completely foreign the concept of money is to both she and her twin Henry. So when I saw some plastic and paper play money in the target $1.00 section I decided it might be worth introducing the idea on a rudimentary level.

Another observation of mine: everything has a mommy and daddy. The squirrels, batman, toy cars, pillows, everything. In the world of these four year olds, life revolves around a family. Because of this, I decided to introduce the coins as a family. It may sound silly, but it clicked for them.

Papa: quarter

Mama: nickel

Baby: dime

Puppy dog: penny

The dollar was easy because it has the number on it, so I didn't incorporate it into the family.

As I laid the coins out and they touched them, counted them, etc we referred to them as papa quarter, puppy dog penny, (you get the picture) to help them get the saying into their head.   The idea being to associate the size of the coin with its name. I wanted to keep it fun and simple. I chose not to introduce the monetary value because that is a bit beyond what they need to understand right now in my opinion. Because of this, they couldn't trade 2 nickels for 1 dime etc. everything was just equal. I don't think this will be confusing later because their whole knowledge base is built by expanding upon simple concepts they already understand. This is just a fun way to get them used to money and learning the names of the coins.

Okay, so...In one of the bedrooms I set up all of their plastic food from their play kitchen in groupings: veggies, fruit, dairy, breads. I also set up a sandwich station because they had a sandwich set.

Under each grouping I taped a simple sign with a picture of the food group and a picture of the coin(s) you need to buy something from said grouping.

They each picked a change purse from one of Amelia's dozens and I allotted them each some money.  I would play the cashier when they were done shopping. I initially made sure they would not be able to evenly spend all of their money, hoping they could understand the concept of not having enough money for all they wished to buy. I didn't want them to get the idea that there is always enough money for whatever they want. It sounds silly and I wondered if I was over-thinking it, but it provided an opening for good conversations about earning money and begin careful which items you choose, so I'm glad I did it that way.

A couple of the days I covered the den with books and stuffed animals. If they wanted to "earn" more money they could "work". So they would get to choose 1 coin for every 3 things they picked up and put away. They have had a lot of fun with it - often asking for more work.

Occasionally I will change the cost of the grocery items to make it a new experience but they haven't gotten bored with it yet. We take turns being the shoppers and the workers, giving them the chance to take the money and make sure it is enough. Checking out is a slow process because I would go one food at a time, having them pay me for each individually; Other wise they get lost in the numbers.

It was interesting, watching as they gained an awareness of how much money they had and how much it would buy. The first time, they both filled their baskets completely full and when I asked if they thought they could buy it all they said yes. As we went, and they realized they kept having to put most of the food back, they would only put a few items in their basket and then go back for more if they had leftover money. I chose to not discuss the idea of saving or giving because I wanted to keep it fun, but when they become aware of how much each coin is worth, I think the idea will be easier and more appropriate to present.

A couple of the things I think they enjoyed most about this is that it is a grown up activity: grocery shopping. They felt big and they thought it was special to have their own money.

It was something fun we could do together but also simple enough that they could run the show on their own.

Okay that's really all I have to say about it I think.   In summery, it has been a learning tool and a fun little adventure for the kids. I hope I can discover more of these as time goes by. Suggestions?

Celebrating the New Year, 2013

After a cold and slightly unusual Christmas holiday, we sought our calm and relaxation as we drove to Alabama for a little New Year celebration.

Jessica and Grant recently moved to Huntsville, now making them the closest family members to our South Carolina home. We had not yet gotten to visit them, so we used our drive home from Little Rock as an opportunity to change that.

We arrived Saturday, late afternoon, and after receiving the grand tour, enjoyed a delicious warm meal and time catching up.

Kira and Andrew arrived Sunday afternoon after we had gone to church and out to eat at "nothing but noodles" where we all ate, yes you guessed it, noodles.

We were introduced to a new board game: balderdash which we thoroughly enjoyed playing.

Monday, New Year's Eve for anyone who has lost track of my time line here, the girls did a little shopping and we welcomed in the new year by virtually ignoring its arrival as we continued playing games: more balderdash, catch phrase and I believe some skip Bo.

Speaking of catch phrase... It would be wrong to leave this out. We began the catch phrase game by nonchalantly splitting into boys vs girls. After loosing 5 times, the guys refused to switch teams; determined to beat us. 5 or 6 games later, we remained undefeated and the game night ended with jovial bitterness and murmurings of luck. While the New Years welcome was rather anticlimactic, the time together was fun and memorable.

As a whole, I took zero print-worthy pictures. But a couple note worthy one. So I will end with those:

If it is difficult to see, Andrew is holding a knife... looking a little to pensive.

Happy New Year friends.

May this year yield more accomplished goals, lives blessed, and love spread in and through the lives of you all.