Small Home Improvements

Well, really, a tiny kitchen makeover, or a makeover of the beloved and indispensable play kitchen that lives in our dining room. My boys love this thing, and are horribly rough on it and love banging the doors open and closed, pretending to wash pots and dishes, and otherwise reenacting the organized chaos of Ratatouille with their own variations.

I did most of the shopping for parts for this version of the play kitchen at Ikea, mostly in the as-is dept.

This is a view of our new sink and countertop, which was made from rejected shiny blue kitchen drawer fronts, at 50 cents a pop. The sink is by far the most expensive single part. Its "faucet" is made of the most basic pull handle, anchored at one end, plus two of the very basic knobs. The rest of the wood (the shelf up top, and the stovetop, fridge door and oven door) were more unfinished drawer and cabinet bits from the as-is dept.



Another pull handle makes a handy towel bar, and we used them on the oven and fridge as well. Here you can see the drawer knobs being put to their intended use, albeit an abbreviated version. The drawers are made from stout cardboard boxes mounted inside a frame made from the old cardboard play fridge. This time the cardboard looks good, and is really sturdily reinforced with heavy paperboard shipping corners from a large appliance, so it should last a while. Also, those drawers are really functional. One even holds our current crop of play food cards. The fridge has simple shelves of wood strip that hold up removable baskets.



This is the little stove and oven. The oven is held up with a loop of heavy twill tape and closes with magnets and little steel plates. Any gapping caused by wee fingers means it won't close at all. The burners on the stove are made of the metal plates and rings from the ends of nut cans (or coffee cans if you shop at Trader Joe's), and those stove knobs ought to look familiar. More Ikea. A huge bonus to the peanut-can rings/plates? They are precisely the right size for the Duktig pots and pans, and they have a lip that makes the pans stay in place when little hands are stirring "soup."



For comparison, above is the new kitchen in all its wooden glory, and below is the old "reuse, recycle, rebuild it often as the kids destroy it" version.

Now in the new version, you may notice some zipties. The hutch is actually made from another short piece of the same (non-ikea) modular, peg-together shelving that I have had for 15 years. I ziptied them securely together. It's still much better than the previous hutch of glued together cardboard boxes.

As for the temporary methods of securing the various parts, we'll be moving again, so it's better to keep it easily broken down. Much of the rest of the construction is anchored with hot glue, though there are plenty of screws where there will be stress. The sink, for example, is held in with a bead of hot glue, and hot glue is what keeps the countertop and stovetop from shifting during play. Still temporary, then, but the parts can handle more wear and tear.



Don't get me wrong, its various incarnations rocked for a time, and it was fun to redo periodically, but was always kind of an ugly kludge and was perpetually on its last legs. Of course, a big factor in making the change, from the cardboard play kitchen on a wood frame to a repurposed wood and cardboard on a wood frame version was the fact that I am finding myself short of time for a constantly repeating weekend project. It was time to strip it back to the frame and start fresh, and make it more permanent, yet still easily broken down for moving.


Also, I have just realized that, again, I've done something in red and blue and neutrals. This is my living room. Notice a pattern?



I guess I like red and blue. I blame my early exposure to modernist style via inundation with (now) vintage Creative Playthings toys.

Summer Popsicle Bites!

Don't these look wonderful?



We love smoothies in summer. I like to use a mix of fresh and frozen fruit and juices, so we get a nice slushie type smoothie. No matter how much we make, though, after I fill the cups, there's always a little bit left, and it's not fair to give one person extra.

So, I put it in a fun-shape ice tray (mine are from Ikea, but you can get them just about anywhere) and freeze it overnight. Sometimes I do this with juices, too, but those melt so fast the kids don't really like them as much. Of course, you can use a regular ice tray, but the fun shapes get a response that's an order of magnitude greater than a regular icecube shaped fruit pop.

Today's fruit pops are hearts made from a mix of peaches, plums and tropical fruit with apple and orange juice and a star made with apple juice. Here they are dished up for tonight's dessert, perfect to keep two overheated little boys happy on a nearly record-hot day:

Review: DadCanDo

I'm not a dad, I'm a mom, but I LOVE dadcando.com, I love the projects, the sense of wonder, and the joy in nerdiness and creativity that is the basic spirit of it. I've been a fan since I first found it, back when he had a few paper airplanes, a wand how-to, and some fun paperfolding crafts up there. It's been a couple of years now and it just keeps getting better and more fun.

My kids are getting a little older now, too, so the projects are really more fun for them than before, as well. The content has grown so much that it's hard to know where to start. it seems a little late to post a review considering I've been kind of a fan for a while now, but there's a reason for this entry.

Recently, at least since the last time I downloaded a project, the website changed over to a membership-required site (there used to be a support suggestion at every download, and now downloads are members only). I have to say to EVERYONE with kids (or a yen for Harry Potter crafts!) that this site is worth every penny of that membership fee. His design skills are great, his how-to's are well put together and easy to understand, and moreover, the projects are versatile, customizable, and fun to do with your kids. You are essentially paying for a well put together activity book that keeps updating with more stuff.

... And then there's the stuff for the parents (there's general stuff, parenting advice, and a HUGE amount of stuff for single parents, which is wonderful since so much that's out there assumes two parents). I'm not a single parent, but I sure spend a lot of time pretending to be one - that's the lot of a military spouse - and advice on coping with single parenthood is useful to me, too. Oh, and I'm not a dad, but I have two boys, and sometimes it's hard to remember how to tap into the wonder of childhood and exploring the world so you can share that with your kids.

I love this website. I can only suggest that you subscribe. I have.

It's Beautiful!

Because I love my little boy this much:



I made him this:



He loves it. "It's Beautiful!"

Because I can't keep secrets, I made this for everyone who might want to make their own version of it.

And just so you don't think I'd leave my big boy out of it, I took macro photos of his fish and framed them for him.

Flowers

So, I have this garden. I planted some lovely silvery perennials in it a couple of years ago, and they have gotten big. Every time I clip them back I get these spectacular silvery canes with tiny daisy like yellow flowers on them. I've been using them in floral arrangements because they are so minimal and striking.



It's an ornamental Artemesia, and I have arranged it here with a few long stalks of English Lavender. I left enough canes in my garden to make arrangements for weeks, and next time it'll probably be paired with prunings from my out-of-control Rosemary plants.

Once I get my garden re-mulched and thoroughly weeded, I'll post this years progress pictures. For now, I think it't enough to say that I can bring cut flowers in and display them.

Play Dough!

I made this lovely play dough from this recipe over at Cooks.com. There are easily a hundred different play clay recipes there, but this one was similar to an old one that I had tried before and really liked, but no longer had a copy of (isn't that always the way?).

It's a cooked corn starch salt dough, with a little oil for consistency and to help prevent sticking. This version has you color AFTER cooking.

I made a few small changes, of course, because I'm one of those cooks, and I can never leave anything alone. Here's how I did it, based on this classic recipe.

First, measure out the cornstarch and salt. Do not pack the cornstarch down or you'll need more water! Then put the dry ingredients in your pot and mix well. Next measure your water and oil. Drizzle your water in and stir with a narrow spoon or silicone mixing spatula. Keep going until all the water is incorporated. it'll get kind of hard to stir, which is normal for cornstarch. It'll also be kind of gritty. That's the salt. That's normal too.

NOTE: I omitted the shortening and wintergreen oil and just used salad oil. One tablespoon goes in the pot, the rest is kneaded in later. Add the oil and mix it in a little, then turn on the heat. A medium-low burner is best, and it has to be stirred constantly until it's all cooked. It will get harder to do, and you have to keep scraping the bottom and sides of the pan (remember that spatula? You really need one for this part)or you risk scorching to uneven cooking of your dough. It'll get lumpy, mushy and translucent. Eventually almost all of it will be cooked, and then turn off the heat and just keep stirring it around the pan until any opaque or runny spots start to blend with the rest.

At this point, cover it tightly - a plate is fine if your chosen pot has no lid - and let it sit until it's cool, about an hour. Don't refrigerate it.

Take it out of the pan and knead it in a medium sized salad bowl to work out any lumps that have occurred, slowly adding the remaining oil. You can drizzle in a little more oil or a little water as needed if it's dry or crumbly, but remember that coloring will add moisture too and don't go overboard! Keep kneading it until it's nice and smooth, then divide it up into as many hunks as you want colors and put each into a ziplock bag.

You can either color it now, or let it sit overnight and color it in the morning. I used washable tempera paints to color mine. To do that, put a couple squirts of paint into each bag, seal, and knead until mixed. Add more paint until you like the color, but remember that the more intense the color, the more likely the dough is to stain, even with a washable pigment color. My bags took three double squirts for red, three for blue and two for yellow and they are relatively non-staining.

Store in plastic bags in a cool place.

Dough Knots!

I made Dough Knots for breakfast the other day. While I wanted to share this recipe immediately, it has taken a bit for me to get the camera and its cable together. I did so today, and I am finally able to post this!

The night before, I filtered my deep fryer oil and the next morning I made eggless doughnut balls (basically sweet quickbread dough) for the boys for breakfast.

They were delicious.

Dough Knots

3 3/4 cups or so of all purpose flour
7 tsp baking powder
2 cups milk (I used dry milk and then used filtered water), you could probalby use soymilk too
1/4 cup sugar (less or more to taste)
1 tsp salt
On this day, I tossed in a huge dash of cinnamon and looked for my vanilla but it was hiding. I would also make these with shredded cheese or raisins or nuts or whatever mixed in. They might also be tasty with some chopped garlic, for a savory variation.

Preheat oil in deep fryer, if using electric fryer.

Mix all dry ingredients thoroughly (I use a whisk), adding any mix-ins with the dry ingredients.

Add liquid, mix well with a spatula or spoon.

Get a small scoop or spoon and set it in a glass of water for spooning out portions.
If you are using oil in a deep pan on your stovetop, heat it now. The batter can sit for a bit.

When your oil is at 350, "drop" 1 tbsp or so at a time into the oil until the fryer is full (it's really more of an easing motion, you drop from right above the oil, to prevent splashing; there should be room for the knots to move around). Dip spoon into water between scoops to prevent excessive sticking.

Cook until knots are a dark golden brown. They may have one side that's less done, but that's okay. Remove with a slotted spoon, mesh skimmer, etc and set aside on paper towels for 5-10 min, then move to a colander to cool.

Allow to cool between 10 and 20 minutes before eating, because the residual heat is still cooking the dough.

Keep going until you are done with all the batter, follow kitchen safety rules, etc.

Makes about 30-40 knots, depending on size of spoon.