cooking again

I really like to cook.  I really LOVE to bake.  If you have read the last few posts then you may have realized that I am going through a tough time right now; one of the valleys in the hills and valleys of life.  One of the things I had lost as I was driving down that hill was my ability to cook.  Mentally, I just did not have it in me.  Yes, I could through some quick meals together, but I was not cooking.

Cooking is emotional.  It has to be, because food and eating food is emotional.  I think back to when I was a kid and conjure up an image of a chef.  He was quick-tempered and moody.  And he was a he.  Unless she was Julia Child.  Of course this was all before the food network.  But that was what I thought a chef was like.

Yesterday when the reality of the crazy Nor'easter was hitting me I decided to get some ingredients to cook, just in case I felt like I could.  I was not able to do so yesterday.  I wasn't ready.

But today I was.  Today I made meatballs and homemade tomato sauce.  Watching Lilly eat all her meatballs made my heart happy.  I also made butternut squash and apple soup.  Lilly won't eat that but my mom will.  It has a touch too much salt but otherwise it is divine.  It is just such a fall-ish dish and it was a cold day.  With snow on the ground.  In October!

I'm not baking yet, but I am cooking.  I'll take it!

recipes to follow...

rainy day = homemade playdough

Today promised to be a rainy day so our plans to meet our friends at the park had to be modified.  My friend Colleen and I decided to bring the kids to the diner for an early lunch.  You might be thinking that we are crazy, and when I saw the line at the diner door I truly believed we were.  Luckily I was able to get in rather quickly and the owner of the Parkwood Diner sat us in the very back.  Smart man.

One of my tried and true techniques for keeping Lilly occupied when we are at a restaurant is to bring playdoh for us to use.  I realized about an hour before our meeting time that we were fresh out of playdoh.    This is when being a preschool teacher has its advantages.  I pulled up my recipe for playdough and in about 15 minutes from start to finish we had enough playdough for three kids.

Here is the recipe I used.  I will put my notes in italics.

Ingredients
2 cups flour
2 cups warm water (I used pretty hot water.)
1 cup salt (I think I used a little too much salt because it was a bit more gritty than usual.  Lilly was helping measure so it was not exact.)
2 TBSP vegetable oil
1 TBSP cream of tartar
food coloring  (I only had gel food coloring and it was hard to work into the dough.  The liquid is best.)
flavor extracts (I didn't have any so I didn't use any!) 

Mix all the ingredients in a medium pot and stir over low heat.  (I had mine a bit high because I forgot and didn't have the instructions in front of me.  It still came out okay.)  Keep cooking and stirring until it pulls away from the pot and starts to look and feel like playdough.  Put it onto a clean surface (I used my silpat.) and when it is cool enough knead the dough until it is smooth.  I divided the dough into four and made a little divet in each pile before adding food coloring.  If you are worried about staining your hands then use gloves or even wrap it in plastic wrap and knead it in there.  (With my students I used to put it in a ziplock, take the air out and let them squish away.)  

Store in airtight containers or ziplock bags.

This is a very forgiving recipe.  If it is too sticky, cook it longer.  If it starts to dry out, add a few drops of water and work it in.  If it's too wet, cook it a little bit.  I let Lilly help me and she was as thrilled to help me make the playdough as she was to play with it.  And just think of all the math and science your little ones will be learning without even realizing it!