52 Shades of my Veggie Patch: Week 7

Spring 2012

Another wet/sunny/frozen week. 

I have my tomatoes in pots in the garage so they don’t get killed by the frost, but I am DYING to get them into the ground. Plants in pots really frighten me. I do not a have a good track record with them at all.

The radish I planted is coming up. I think. Or weeds. I’m never really sure. I guess I’ll just have to leave it go until I really know for sure. ONE of the blackjack zucchini plants has come up in my mini hothouse. What about the other 7? How long do pumpkins take to come up?

Planting seeds is very thrifty, and you get the opportunity to plant lots of interesting varieties but waiting (hoping) for them to break through the surface has me on edge!

My kids did all the harvesting this week. My daughter thinks broccoli is a flower. Maybe that’s why she eats it?

Rocket and parsley went into a potato salad with Dijon, grated carrot and beetroot. Delicious!

 

 

Scented Playdough – Monday Made

“Just as there is a trend toward high tech today, there is another trend toward high touch- homemade and wholesome.”~Meryl Gardner

My kids are nuts for playdough. We did have a large supply of it due to multiple playdough Christmas presents, but alas, we threw out the last tub of it yesterday.

I remember my mum making us playdough when we were children (and then also me eating the playdough because it looked to yummy but it really just tasted like salt). She used to let me add the food colouring (very game). I would always add all different ones and end up with brown playdough. Ick.

My kids requested green and pink, like their chairs. I had the great idea of adding some of the flavour essences that I had to give it a pleasant smell. I went almond essence in the green and cherry essence in the pink/red.

Obviously, my “adding a dash” method of food colouring proved to make iridescent dough. Surprisingly (but maybe due to the cooking) the colouring does not transfer onto your hands when you play!

I was a little concerned about how wet the mix was when I first put it on the heat, but in about 5 minutes I had perfect playdough. Too easy!!

This recipe yields about two cups of playdough.

What you need:

• 1/2 cup salt
• 2 tblsp Cream of Tartar
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1 tblsp oil
• 1 cup water
• food colouring
• flavour essence

What to do:

1. Mix all ingredients in a medium saucepan.
2. Stir over medium/low heat until it eventually thickens up into non-sticky dough. Touch it to check it doesn’t stick to you, keep cooking a little bit more if it does. Try not to over cook it or your dough will dry out quicker.
3. Store in a sealed plastic bag or plastic container in the fridge.

Oh, and why “Rocket Man” music? Two reasons: Last night we watched the International Space Station fly over. My son was extremely excited by the concept. Also, for father’s day, we had gotten Colin this Bucket-Man “Jetpack” t-shirt.