The Yard is Alive

Button Boy and I have made a pact to spend lots of time outside everyday this week. I'll be giving you updates of our adventure each day. Somehow we managed to spend 3 hours in the backyard and have PP&J sandwiches al fresco. It was a little chilly and very muddy but Button Boy had a ball. Here are some photos we took along with his observations.

The snow is melting along with the fort and snowman that he built.

The daffodils are sprouting.

He can make footprints in the snow just like rabbits and cats.

Some plants survived the winter.

We saw 7 squirrels, 1 robin, 1 cardinal, 3 bugs that looked like mosquitos, 1 fly and 1 ant that climbed all over my Button Boy’s finger. The animals were too quick for a photo op.

Fishy Friday

We spent a snowy, fun filled day experimenting with crafts that made us think of warmer weather. First we painted our tropical water backdrop by mixing green and blue tempura paint with ample amounts of real water. We just let the brush go where ever it may - just like the ocean. Then we created a few tropical creatures to swim in our oasis of tropical waters.

Button Fish

http://gideonscrafts.wordpress.com/2008/09/25/gideons-beaded-fish-craft/

What a simple, but cute idea. We used buttons instead of beads and came up with an equally nice project.

Pudgy Fish Sculptures

http://www.artistshelpingchildren.org/kidscraftsactivitiesblog/2009/04/sculpting-with-fimo-the-goldfish-crafts-project-for-kids/

I loved the instructions on this site. They provided color photos of each step and made them seem really simple to put together. We used Crayola Model Magic instead of Fimo clay. I am not a fan of Model Magic, but we had some in our crafts stash. It’s really expensive and reminds me of stale marshmallows. One of the sealed packages was completely dried out.  I prefer homemade dough myself.

Paper Plate Jelly Fish

http://www.daniellesplace.com/html/under_the_sea.html

I have no idea what site this idea originally came from. I found a photo of it on daniellesplace.com on the link above at the very bottom of the page. We sort of made up the directions as we went. I think they used crepe paper for the tentacles, but I thought blue plastic bags strips made a nice swap.

Here's to sunny days and warmer weather!

There’s a Dinosaur in the House

I have been in a craft fog lately. There are just so many ideas out there for kids and I was really bored by all the winter and Valentine’s Day stuff. So I asked Button Boy “What’s on your mind?”  He’s really been into Dino Dan on Nick Jr., so we Googled dinosaur crafts and found this little green guy made from one paper plate.

http://www.freekidscrafts.com/paper_plate_stegosaurus-e865.html

Now I’m not the type of mom to take over and make Button Boy follow the directions exactly. I figure he’s got enough years of school ahead of him to cover that territory. That’s why I like to make my own version of the craft – then I’m not tempted to take over his. Plus his version always has loads more character than mine. He has no preset conception of how all the pieces fit together or even what colors to use. His finished dinosaur actually reminded me more of a turtle. Check out both of our creations. His is the first photo and mine is the second.

The whole process took about 30 minutes, excluding the 4 hours of drying time on the paint. We opted for the glue instead of staples. I’m still leery of the combination of staples and my 4 year old. I loved that we got a whole animal out of one plate, which ended up fitting together like puzzle pieces.

Getting Ready for the Party

Button Boy is really excited about the Steelers going to the Super Bowl and requested we have a party with all the trimmings. So we headed off to the dollar store for supplies and went to town on the decorations. First we took a cue from Christmas and made simple black and gold garland from construction paper loops.

Then Daddy helped him hang long strips of yellow crepe paper from the entry way between our living room and kitchen. They found a Steelers logo from a craft at the library and taped them to the walls with black footballs and goal posts.

Grandma helped Button Boy make a stuffed football pillow inspired by the Zee and Moose pillows they keep featuring on Nick Jr. http://www.nickjr.com/crafts/zee-no-sew-snuggle-pillow.jhtml?path=/crafts/all-shows/seasonal/all-ages/index.jhtml

I have snack duty. I could not decide what to have and settled on a nice German Mexican theme.

Bratwurst simmered in beer with Sour Kraut on Buns - Fresh Bratwurst is nearly impossible to find in Pittsburgh. I found it homemade from Parma Sausage in the Strip District. It's not listed on their menu. I know most people around here prefer kielbasa or Italian sausage, but I can not deny my Ohio roots.

Hot Fiesta Dip from Amanda's Cookin http://www.amandascookin.com/2011/01/hot-fiesta-dip.html.  I also used her recipe for homemade salsa http://www.amandascookin.com/2011/01/homemade-salsa-from-canned-tomatoes.html

We are finishing off the meal with a chessecake from the Cheesecake Factory provided by Grandma. We should all feel really good by the end of the evening. Here's hoping the Steelers win!

Spicing Up a Snowy Afternoon

It's January in Pittsburgh and I've been thinking nonstop about fresh salsa made from homegrown or CSA tomatoes. Summer is months away and tomatoes from the grocery store just won't cut it. I had heard you could make salsa from canned tomatoes. I dug up this a simple recipe on amandascookin.com

http://www.amandascookin.com/2011/01/homemade-salsa-from-canned-tomatoes.html

It calls for canned tomatoes and green chillies. I swapped out the minced garlic for one clove of fresh and used red onion instead of green. I also omitted the red pepper flakes. Button Boy and the husband like their salsa mild with a kick. Since the food processor was involved, I had my son stand off to the side on a chair to observe and munch on cilantro. After maybe 10 pulses, we had a nice, spicy enough, chunky salsa. I gave Button Boy a small bowl with tortilla chips. He immediately dove in to the salsa and used his fingers to dip when he ran out of chips.

On a side note, we have tried 2 recipes so far from Amanda's Cookin and both have worked beautifully. This site is wonderful for anyone with or without kids. She has great instructions for comforting food. Plus all of the ingredients are affordable and easy to find. Three cheers for Amanda!

Feeling a Little Buggy

Button Boy's really into bugs, snakes and lizards right now. We are currently reading him an Usborne book called Snakes before he goes to bed. It's not my idea of the best bedtime story, but he likes it. So I saw this great craft that looks like a caterpillar on FreeKidsCrafts.com and thought he would love this.

http://www.freekidscrafts.com/love_bugs-e1349.html

I have to admit the craft was a little too advanced for him, but it was fun to work on as a family. I poked the holes into the foam sheets. Button Boy had a really hard time lacing the pipe cleaner through the accordion layers – which we helped him work through. I made a couple of small changes. Instead of gluing on the antenna, we wrapped the cut end of the pipe cleaner in the body around the base of the antenna. I tried a new kind of glue, called Beacon's EZ-Flow Kid's Choice, for the puff ball head and googly eyes. Dear Elmer's glue – I love you, but sometimes you just don't cut it. The Beacons Glue worked beautifully. It's very thick and dried quickly. I also left off the little hearts, since I don't have a heart shaped hole punch.

Button Boy and Daddy loved the craft so much they made several little creatures. We could not help making a couple of Steelers caterpillars in honor of the game tonight.

Mommy Muffin Time

There are days when a mom needs time to to bake alone. Every once in while I get that chance. The lights were low and Button Boy was laying on the floor talking to Spider Man. I snuck into the kitchen, turned on some jazz and made blueberry muffins. He only realized what I was doing just as I was putting the batter into the muffin tin. I tried to let him help me finish, but the batter was heavy and the liners were out of shape. “Mommy, can I eat the blueberries? Can I lick the batter? Why is the batter so sticky?” Frustration began to set in for both of us. I asked him if wanted to play with his trains and he left the kitchen.

I love this special bond we have over food, but my nerves can only handle so much cooking time with the Button Boy. I dream of lazy Saturday mornings, making soup or baking cookies while I listen to Car Talk and What Do You Know on NPR. Sometimes I miss those days, but then I remember the joy of watching him crack an egg for the first time or licking the spoon after we made pudding. Baking with him is both enjoyable and exhausting all at the same time.

Check out my favorite go-to recipe for Muffins from Everyday Food, May 2008:

http://www.tastebook.com/recipes/947422-Better-than-Basic-Muffins

They are also fabulous with mini chocolate chips.

A Cheese Ball Fit for a Rabbit

I'm a huge fan of the magazine Everyday Food. I have every issue since it came out, except issue 36. Such a pity! Every once in a while they have a special section called “After School Snacks”. I wish they would dedicate a whole issue to kids. Their simple fresh approach to cooking makes snacks and meals easy to prepare with your child. I have always wanted to try the Cheddar Carrot Balls that ran in the May 2006 issue. See the recipe in the link below:

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/cheddar-carrot-balls

We made a couple of adjustments. Button Boy had a hard time mixing the cheese mixture with a wooden spoon so I suggested he just mix it with his hands - which worked well. The texture got a little gooey, but we rolled the whole thing into one big ball instead of twelve like the recipe indicated. We let it sit in the frig for a couple of hours. He loved it on Triscuits and of course his fingers. I thought it could have used some extra seasoning like Worcestershire sauce or green onions, but that's coming from an adult's perspective. Button Boy asked if he could bring it for his Birthday snack at school. I'm thinking it would be a nice change from all those sweet treats.

Puppet Puppy Love

I found use #2 for our never ending supply of cardboard tubes. (See use # 1 in the Circus is in Town). I let Button Boy choose the craft today from FreeKidsCrafts.com - another new find on my adventures through Twitter. He decided on this adorably simple dog puppet.

http://www.freekidscrafts.com/tp_puppy_puppet-e294.html

We altered the directions a smidge. Instead of painting the tube, we wrapped a piece of brown construction paper around it and fastened it with Scotch tape. I assisted him by drawing the ears and background of the face and he pretty much finished everything else. We both made our own puppets and I know I'm his mother, but I think his looks much better than mine. It has so much character with its perky ears and giant smile. Now we have to figure out some other animal friends to keep these two puppies company.

A Drink Fit for a Superhero

Food Fit for Kids is one the first groups I began to follow on Twitter. Button Boy and I perused their site for the perfect recipe to try. He immediately honed in on the Superhero Shake because it was green. He is an extremely adventurous eater. Last night he woofed down two servings of brussel sprouts, a small baked sweet potato and shiitake mushrooms. So the fact that there was spinach in this smoothie actually excited him. My husband took one look at the photo and said “Yuck!” I told him he had to take at least one sip or Button Boy would be heart broken. Guilt works real well sometimes.

http://foodfitforkids.com/Superhero_Shake.html

I wanted to work with what we had in the frig so I swapped out the plain yogurt for vanilla and omitted the honey. I love this site because they have little symbols in the recipes to let you know when it's a good time to let your young ones participate. Button Boy peeled the bananas and dumped them in with the spinach. The smoothie came out the color of celery, which I have to admit looks kind of gross. Button Boy took one long sip and proclaimed “This is awesome.” I could definitely see some kids being squeamish about the color. My husband took a sip and said he could taste the spinach. All I could taste was the bananas and yogurt. Here's to veggies in our smoothies.

In Honor of the Dragon

I discovered from a few sources that today is Appreciate a Dragon Day. I love odd ball holidays because it makes every day seem special. Last October we had a birthday party for our house. It turned 70 . We made cupcakes and sang it Happy Birthday. 4-year olds really dig any reason for a cupcake. To celebrate this special day, Button Boy found a dragon craft on-line to immortalize one of his favorite creatures.

http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/egg_box_chinese_dragon.htm

The directions were very vague and the page was cluttered with ads and links which only further confused things. We pretty much made the dragon by looking at the photographs. I thought this would be a straight forward project, but we managed to make some mistakes. We used an 18 cup egg carton instead of 12 – which does not work for the mouth. We improvised by only using the bottom of the egg carton. I admit this craft was too complex for Button Boy, but I figure I can stand in when ever he needs a little help. After all our craft time is always part of our family time.

Growing a Tree by Hand

What is with all the generic craft sites for kids? I have found about five or so that I find to be really useful and the rest are just blah. My friend Bianca suggested I try out kaboose.com which I discovered is owned by Disney Online. They have enough creative, original content ranging from crafts, recipes, and activities to keep your kids busy all day. I decided to try one of the winter crafts, a Snowy Handprint Tree, since there is about 7 inches of snow in our backyard. Check out the directions in the link below:

http://crafts.slides.kaboose.com/329-winter-crafts/15

As usual I chose not to follow the directions and ended up with a mess. Do not use Elmer's Glue instead of the glue stick. We ended up with a giant gooey sugar glob instead of a tree. I guess that's why I refer to the blog as a test kitchen. Let us make the mistakes for you first. The sugar leaves a nice dusting of snow if you use the glue stick. Button Boy and his friend said the best part of this craft was having permission to paint their hands brown. What little boy does not want to get messy?

I just signed up for Twitter @craftykitchn. So far I'm finding some excellent new sources for crafts and cooking. I'll keep you posted on my journey through Twitter Land. In the mean time, let me know what sites, books or magazines you like and Button Boy and I will try them out in a future posts.

Lemon Drops for Button Boy

Button Boy's favorite thing to make with me in the kitchen is sugar cookies. My usual go-to recipe, from the original Martha Stewart cookbook from 1995, is a time-consuming affair that usually takes us a couple of days to complete. I typically only make them for holidays or birthdays. I have been tinkering around with the same recipe, making a few adjustments, to create a simple drop cookie frosted with lemon icing. My friend Dawn inspired me to make the recipe simpler by removing several steps. Here is what I have so far:

Lemon Drops

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

1 ¾ cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

4 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp.  baking powder

1 tsp.  salt

½ cup 2% milk

1 tsp.  pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix the following with a whisk: flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Mix the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat eggs into butter mixture, one at a time until fully incorporated. Add vanilla to the milk and take turns adding the wet and dry ingredients into the butter mixture. Mix until all the flour is fully incorporated.

Scoop the dough out and roll into 1 inch balls on a cookie sheet. Squish them down just a little and bake for 9 minutes. Let cool on a rack or wax paper. Frost with lemon icing.

Lemon Icing

1 stick of unsalted butter

3 ½ cups of powdered sugar

¼ cup 2% milk

Zest from 1 lemon

Beat all 4 ingredients until smooth.

The cookies have a soft center and the icing has a subtle essence of lemon. It is not tart at all. Button Boy and Daddy approve. If you try the cookies, please let me know what you think of them.

Every Princess Needs a Crown

Button Boy had a spur of the moment play date with his friend Bubbles today. I needed to find a craft quickly and I really hate firing up the computer when I don't have a lot of time. Bubbles' mother said she loves to color, but I was feeling the need to do something slightly girly since I live in a house full of trains and Matchbox cars. I found a See-Through Crown made out of packing tape in Creative Crafts for Kids. I hate to use another project from the same book so quickly, but I am in love with this book. I already have at least five projects ear marked to try. I really want to make the homemade lip balm for myself.

First off - I was bad and did not read the instructions carefully. I can hear a teacher crying right now. Anyway, I tore off about a foot of packing tape and laid it in front of the kids, sticky side up. They added thin strips of paper, ric rac, ribbon and stickers with dashes of loose sparkles and sparkly glue. Go easy on the sparkles. They can prevent the tape from sticking to itself. When they were finished, I placed another foot long strip, sticky side down, directly on top of the other piece to seal everything in. We made another tape strip just like this and connected it with the first tape strip to fit around each child's head. 

The actual directions wanted us to line up the strips of paper on a board or table and sprinkle glitter on top. Then you press the strip of tape on top, sticky side down until everything adheres. Then flip it over and put another piece of tape on top. I think our method was a little cleaner, even though I tried on Button Boy's crown and ended up with tons of sparkles in my hair. Anyway the kids loved the process and the finished crown. That's all that important, right?

Granola and a Movie

We just picked up Despicable Me on DVD from the library and I was contemplating making popcorn, but then I thought granola would be a better choice for a cold dreary day. I have a recipe that I use all the time that I clipped out of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette from August 7, 2008. I keep a food journal with clipped recipes from magazines and newspapers that I would like to try. This recipe could not be simpler or more forgiving. Button Boy was able to do almost every step by himself.

4 cups old-fashioned oats

1 ½ cups sliced almonds

½ cup packed light brown sugar

½ tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

¼ cup of vegetable oil

¼ cup of honey

1 tsp. vanilla

1 ½ cups dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a bowl mix the oats, almonds, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon. In a saucepan warm the oil and honey. Whisk in the vanilla.

Carefully pour the liquid over the oat mixture. Stir gently with a wooden spoon. Spread granola in a 15 -by-10-inch baking pan.

Bake 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Transfer granola-filled pan to a rack to cool completely. Stir in cranberries. Seal granola in an airtight container or self sealing plastic bag. Keeps for 1 week at room temperature or in the freezer for 3 months.

Makes 7 cups.

I adjusted the original recipe a little. I added extra cinnamon and today I forgot to add the vanilla. I have used crushed and sliced almonds in the past, but my favorite is sliced. You get a sweat crunchy coating with the sliced variety. The granola makes a great topping for yogurt, ice cream or added crunch in hot oatmeal. I have never tried pouring milk over it, but I bet it would make a satisfying breakfast. Honestly we just eat it right out of our hands and I have never been able to let it cool completely. It tastes heavenly – warm. Plus the granola makes our whole house smell just like those candied nuts that vendors sell at festivals. Move over popcorn and pass the granola.