no time for blogging this week...

WE'RE ON VACATION,
 
and loving every minute!

 

Island life,

 

 

 (even the little critters),

suits us quite nicely!

Hope everyone is having a lovely week!

a fresh batch of play dough

Carson and I are really into play dough lately.  We "bake" with it, build with it, squish it, squash it, throw it to the dog and sometimes we even eat it (I only took one little taste)!

We used to make our own play dough all the time when I was little.  Now, since Carson's been caught sneaking a piece into his mouth here and there, it seems that we should be using the homemade version around here too!  It's completely edible (though I certainly won't be trying it twice).

It's an easy, easy project with ingredients that you probably have around the house.  You may not have cream of tartar, but go ahead and buy some so you can make these cookies when you're finished making play dough!

Here's what you need to make play dough:

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
2 tablespoons cream of tartar
1 tablespoon oil
1 cup water 
food coloring

Mix flour, salt, cream of tartar and oil.  Add water and mix well.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly for 3-5 minutes.  It will quickly go from soupy, to lumpy to one big clump.

When the clump forms, remove from stove, let cool a little and knead slightly.  Add food coloring,(separate into multiple pieces if you'd like) and continue to knead until it's all mixed and play doughy!

Carson chose the colors.  We've got red, blue and black.  I would have gone for some turquoise, myself, but he was set on black.
I used 2 drops of gel food coloring to get vibrant colors.  If you're in the market for new food coloring, I love this stuff.  It comes in great colors and a little goes a loooong way!

Store your dough in a sealed plastic bag and it will last a long time!  This makes quite a bit.  I halved the recipe to get a more reasonable amount for one little toddler.

play dough + pretend = perfect cookies every time!

Now that Carson's kitchen is finished and broken in, we're cooking up all sorts of tasty treats!  He really loves "baking" with play dough.  It's the perfect medium for rolling into cookies, cupcakes, hotdogs, you name it - we bake it!

Last weekend Jeff and I figured it would be fun to make a little kitchen magic so...

Carson put some play dough cookies in his oven right before nap time...

and when he woke up, there was a tasty sugar cookie all baked up in there!

YUM!

These cookies really are crazy delicious!
The recipe comes from a little Hot Spot called SWIG out in St. George, Utah.  One of my co-workers sent me this adapted recipe, knowing that I love to bake.  She claims that they are the BEST sugar cookie out there, and I just might agree. 

Recipe for SWIG sugar cookies (or something similar)

Cookies

1 cup butter (room temperature)
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons water
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cream of tarter
1 teaspoon salt
5 1/2 cups flour

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Cream together butter, oil, both sugars, water, and eggs.
3. Combine baking soda, cream of tartar, salt and flour.
4. Slowly add dry ingredients to butter mixture.
5. Mix until everything is combined.  The dough should be on the crumbly side, NOT sticky.
6. Place golf ball sized balls on your cookie sheet (I always use a silpat).
7. Now, here's the fun part that makes these unique.  Grab a glass and a little bowl of sugar, dip the bottom of the glass into the sugar.  You're going to use this to flatten the cookies. 
8. Firmly press each dough ball (see the pic above).
9. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.  They should be only very slightly brown on the edges.  

Greek yogurt frosting

1/2 cup butter (room temp)
3/4 cup plain greek yogurt
1 cup + powdered sugar
1 teaspoon salt
a splash of milk
food coloring (if desired - I used blue to match the play dough)

Directions 
(this is definitely not an exact science)

1. Cream together butter, yogurt and salt.
2. Slowly add powdered sugar.
3. As it thickens, add a splash or two of milk.
4. Keep adding sugar and milk until it tastes just right.
5. Add food coloring and whip on until perfectly creamy!

Now frost those cookies and enjoy!  They certainly taste a lot better than the play dough version!

But, if you're looking to make both, I'll post the recipe for homemade play dough soon.  It's super easy and it uses the same ingredients as these cookies!

it's all in the details

I'm finally back to the blog!  Last week was full of work meetings and a hard drive crash.  Now, I'm learning to navigate my brand new computer ~ feeling a little lost, but hopefully I'll get the hang of it soon.

Anway...
I want to share one more post on Carson's kitchen.  I had such a great time adding the little details, I've just got to share.

Carson actually has his dad to thank for the grown up details in his new kitchen.  Jeff firmly said "NO MORE crazy kid's stuff in the house".  So, I had to promise that this little kitchen would be aesthetically pleasing.  I must admit, these details were really for the grown-ups more than the little guy.  He doesn't seem too impressed by the tile backsplash, but we are!

I've already shown you the updated paint job and the new handles.  Carson's kitchen also has a refinished countertop, beadboard cupboards and a tile backsplash (all to match the "real" kitchen).

I refinished the countertop by sanding down the Ikea plywood, then waxing it with Briwax tudor brown to make it look like our butcher block.

I added the knobs on the sides for hanging this and that.  These were leftover from our real kitchen remodel so they are exactly like our cabinet knobs.  Right now he's got a chalkboard (I made this using a plaque from Michael's and some chalkboard paint) and his apron.

We've got beadboard cupboards in our kitchen, so now Carson does too.  I used this wallpaper.  I had already purchased it with a plan to update the downstairs bathroom.  That hasn't happened yet, but hopefully it will one of these days.  At least my wallpaper purchase came in handy for my mini kitchen remodel.  I simply cut a small square of the paper and followed the instructions (wet, wait 5 minutes, stick).  I let it dry for 24 hours, then painted it with the same paint (Dunn Edwards Whisper White) that I used on the rest of his (and our) kitchen.

His backsplash was made using leftover tile from our backsplash.   I just LOVE these subway tiles.  I chose them for our kitchen because they're a classic subway tile with a little twist, a beveled edge.  They're also very affordable!

I just used liquid nails to stick the tiles to a really thin piece of wood I found in the garage and cut to size.  Once the tiles were stuck nice and tight I used sanded caulk to fill in the grout lines (also left over from our kitchen remodel).
I used teeny tiny screws to attach the board and backsplash to the back of the kitchen.

Here's another pic of the final product!  For more on the grown-up kitchen click here or here!

what's cooking carson?

I'm back with more about Carson's new kitchen.  I'm thrilled to report that he still finds it VERY entertaining.  He's been cooking up all sorts of good stuff (love that watermelon and bread stew).

In my previous post I gave you a peek at what I "renovated" on his little Ikea kitchen and here I'll start to go into the details.

I'll start with his "new appliances".

I painted the stove and microwave to look like stainless steel.  The goal was to make it look like the real thing.

I used Rustoleum Primer, followed by Rustoleum metallic spray paint for the microwave and oven.  I taped off the glass on both sides, gave it a quick sanding with 200 grit sand paper, and gave it a few coats.  I sealed it with clear enamel to keep it from scratching.

I painted a black rim on the glass with a paint brush and some black epoxy appliance paint we had in the garage.  I swapped out the handles for some satin nickel drawer pulls from Lowes.   Any 5" drawer pulls will fit perfectly.

I added oven knobs using some $0.99 knobs and a $0.29 wooden picket fence piece that I found at Michaels.  I cut the picket fence to make little arrows (easy to cut using scissors) and sanded them a bit so they were nice and smooth.  I then turned over the knobs so I was using the flat (wrong) side.  I inserted a screw with a dab of super glue so it would be stuck in place, and then super glued the arrows onto the screw and knob.  I painted the whole thing with the metallic spray paint and enamel mentioned above.  I drilled holes and put the knobs right above the oven using little nuts.  I didn't tighten the nuts all the way so the knobs can move like real oven knobs.

I also replaced the Ikea shelf with a metal oven rack using an extra piece of this shelving system that we had in the garage and some bolt cutters.

Of course now that the oven looks like the real thing, it has to open like the real thing.  I attached new hinges so it opens down instead of to the side.  I found the perfect hinge solution here.  I also added an oven light (he's got to be able to see if those cookies are rising!).

The microwave has a turntable that really spins.  It's made with a cd (painted with the same metallic paint and enamel).  It has a metal washer super glued to the underside.  It's attached with a bolt (also painted to match) that I cut really short with my bolt cutters.  I drilled a shallow hole (NOT all the way through) and used gorilla glue to keep the bolt in place.  So far it's holding strong and it's been getting plenty of use!

I'm off to enjoy some play dough cookies!

I've got one more post to come on the cosmetic details of the kid's kitchen remodel.

32 years...

I'm a year older today and I'm feeling pretty good about it.  I've spent the day enjoying some of life's simple pleasures (a perfect cup of coffee, the park with a happy toddler and a nice workout).

I got the loveliest surprise this morning when my sweet pea's first bloom opened up.  It smells so good!

I hope April 24th is treating everyone sweetly!

happy earth day

As an Oregon native (and a farm girl at heart) it's only right that I celebrate earth day.  And of course, when I decide to celebrate, the whole family gets to celebrate.

And celebrate we did... by planting our raised bed!

We'll soon be feasting on:

lettuce (a few different kinds)

red kale

cilantro

corn (white & yellow)

sweet bell peppers (red & green)

eggplant

cucumber

yellow heirloom tomatoes

sweet black cherry tomatoes

cilantro

and pole beans

(+ you'll spot some marigolds and rue in there to keep the bugs in check!)

We've also got raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, basil, garlic, thyme, parsley and chives scattered throughout the yard.  There's still some space in the left in the raised bed too!

Last year I started all my plants from seed, but I'm impatient (and unorganized) this year and it just took too long.  I figured it would be more fun (especially with a toddler as my assistant) to start from seedlings this year.  We went with plants from the Organiks line that's sold at Armstrong.  It's surprisingly hard to find organic vegetable plants.  It seems like if your growing your own they sure ought to be organic!  So, if you're looking for organic plants I'd recommend Armstrong.  If it's seeds you're after I love Annie's Heirlooms.

Yum.  Can't wait for harvest time.  Look forward to some recipes!

Happy Earth Day.