Outdoor Cooking Experiments

I think Facebook has taken a toll on my blogging. Sorry!
Recently we have been experimenting with some simple outdoor cooking methods.
We have made Penny alcohol stoves. They need some more experimenting and perfecting to get them to work well for us. We are also working on Buddy Burners. And this week, we made a Hobo stove. I hope to put some more detailed instructions of how to make them with your family. Here is a picture of ours. We fixed bacon and eggs with it and it worked but we discovered there are some kinks to work out still. I hope to be bosting some tutorials with what we have learned.

Yes Your Blueness!

I haven't just been cooking this summer. I just haven't been taking and processing photos of the other things we have been doing. I have been to a couple of really fabulous yard sales and flea markets. Here are a few of the finds I have done something with.

I found this Buffet at a local City Wide yard sale. I got it for $50. It was it really bad shape. It had been left out on a porch for years in the rain and had been chewed by some animal. So... We sanded it down and painted it this lovely aqua blue color.

I found these quilt squares at the flea market. The colors chosen are simply fabulous. Don't know what I will do with them (am open to ideas), but for now I will enjoy they colorfulness.

This project wasn't exactly a yard sale or flea market find. My Bro-in-law, works in a custodial position and, as such, comes across discarded items and shares them. Well a couple of years ago he got a ton (I mean ton!) and gave them to everyone he knew. We had about a dozen. They were great because a.) they were free, b.) they were sturdy, and c.) they were stack able. Well they also had a down side. They were covered in a loosely woven brown cloth. This was not so great with lots of little kids. After a few months they looked like they were covered in yarsh because of spilled food. They were not easy to clean.

Well this summer I was going to burn them and then I thought maybe I could cover them with something very kid friendly, cute and easy to clean..... Oil Cloth. Now, a few coats of white paint later, and some very fun fabrics from etsy, and I have a set of very fun kitchen chairs.

Here are a few more. Sorry I can't give you better pictures. The kitchen is being re-done right now.

Scented Play Dough Tutorial

Play dough was one of my favorite things to play with when I was a little girl and I love making it for my children now. I love how home made dough feels. It is so smooth and has the right texture. I loved helping her make it over the stove and then helping her kneed in the color when it was done. I loved the feel of warm fresh play dough. It was so wonderfully soothing.
As a little kid, I had to attend many meetings and some night classes with my mom. She would pack a baggy of play dough and I knew that I was in for a treat for hours. I loved making sculptures and had all kinds of stories running in my head as I sat on the floor next to her or at the back of the room with a chair seat as the stage for my pretend play.

Well here is the recipe I use now for my kids. I switched over to scented dough several years ago. The one thing I hate about play dough is what it smelled like after a couple of kids had played with it. Now the dough has a nice fruity scent.
I bet you could also use essential oils and have herbal scented play dough. I might have to try that with lavender. Hmmmm.... Any way this is the recipe that always works for me.

Scented Play Dough
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup salt
2 pkg fruit flavored drink mix (without the sugar)
1 Tbsp Alum
3 Tbsp oil
1/2 cup flour
2 cups boiling water

Directions:

Add flour, salt, flavoring, alum, and oil into a large mixing bowl.

Add the boiling water ....

.... and stir.

Add the remaining 1/2 cup of flour if needed ....

..... and kneed by hand .....

..... until smooth, soft and definitely not sticky.

Now Play!