Play Dough

So Mike has fire training tonight and the kids went to bed at a decent hour (8pm which is weird because they normally wont go to sleep till 9:30pm). So I found myself with some unexpected spare time. Rather than do anything truly useful with this amazing gift like work on the new budget or read up some more on potty training, I decided to make some play dough. I made it for Abram so I can justify my waste of time. I got this recipe from an old ward cook book my mom had when I was a kid, so I have no clue where it originated from. It is a super basic recipe.

1/4 c flour
1/8 c salt
1/2 t cream of tarter
1/4 c water
1/2 t oil
2 drops food coloring

So first off, I saved up a few of those plastic baby food containers. They turned out to be the perfect size too. (I was a bit surprised).

You add all your ingredients in a small sauce pan. Then you mix over medium heat.

Keep mixing until it becomes stiff and pulls away from the sides of the pan (aka turns into play dough). I should of picked a different color to use for my examples, this looks like cream puff dough to me. Oh well.

After it turns to dough, lay it out on the counter and work it till the dough cools.

And there you have it. Play dough.

Just stuff it into the container (preferably an air tight one) and it will keep for up to 3 months unrefrigerated. I don't know how this recipe compares to the store bought variety (my parents never bought us any). This kind is soft and a little grainy, but it works great for the intended purpose. The way I see it, play dough is, by its nature, disposable so I don't see the point in spending more than a dollar or so on it.

Well I hope the kids reap  some enjoyment out of my bored night antics. I certainly did.