Funnel (pan)cakes

We have a pancake batter dispenser, which I occasionally use to make artistic renderings (using the medium of pancake batter) intended to awe and inspire- ok, maybe that's overstating my talent a bit, but I can do a snail and balloon really well.

Little Bear got it out this weekend and make snakes and worms. Really skinny ones.

I thought maybe we'd all have a plate full of long sticks we could use for dipping...

... But then I thought of an even better plan. 'Funnel' pancakes! Just add a sprinkle of powdered sugar and serve!

Took care of all those crispy squiggles and made it fun to eat the 'snakes'. 

Not quite the same as my favorite carnival treat, but it sure dressed up our breakfast!

Tiniest tomatoes

As we near the end of tomato season (the temp will be dipping down to the 30s tomorrow night), I must say that this year has been a disappointing one in the garden. My cool weather kale and peas were attacked by bugs, the broccoli and Brussels didn't fare well in the hot spring, the and my tomatoes were few and tardy.

One nice exception was a prolific container tomato plant on my porch.  

I planted a new variety of tomato this year- the 'currant' tomato. How cute are these tiny guys? The blueberry gives you an idea of what size they are. 

These were fun to pick and find in the branches. Little Bear wanted to try them several times despite eschewing tomatoes in general because they just look like candy. I happen to think they were delicious, too- we even made fresh salsa from them. 

I planted them in the container on the porch because they are a different species from the other tomatoes I have and i wanted to avoid cross- pollination. 

These are an heirloom variety, so I'll be saving seeds to plant again next year! 

Garden-fresh salsa: All those tomatoes!

Fresh salsa is one of my favorite summer treats! Garden-ripe tomatoes, peppers, onions and cilantro are the stars here, with a little lime juice and sugar to complement the flavors. 

This recipe takes about 5 minutes to whip together! This style of salsa really showcases the different varieties of tomato and their flavors. Last year there was a batch of Cherokee Purple tomato salsa that was particularly beautiful (and tasty!) 

Ingredients: 

Fresh tomatoes- fill food processor 1/2-2/3 full

1/3 medium onion

1 small-to-medium jalapeño, seeded for mild salsa or left whole for a little more kick

1 large handful cilantro (or to taste)

1/4 cup lime juice 

1-2 Tbsp sugar

If your tomatoes are more water than flesh, I suggest cutting them into quarters and squeezing off 'extra' juice before tossing them in, otherwise you might see separation of the solids and liquid after it sits. If this happens, just stir or shake, it will still be delicious!

Combine all ingredients and blend. I prefer a puréed salsa, but feel free to stop when the pieces are larger if you wish for a chunkier style. 

 Your salsa may look 'frothy' at first, but rest assured, it will taste delicious!

Kitchen chemistry- color-changing beans!

One of the coolest things about science for a kid is when they can see something change before their eyes. I had a chemistry set, and the experiment I loved the most involved mixing things in a test tube, then adding a last ingredient to turn the whole thing a brilliant grass green. It just never got old. 

This year at Dandelion Farm (a.k.a. Our garden), we planted purple beans! I have been quite pleased- they are pretty plants with lovely purple and lavender blossoms. Little Bear has enjoyed watching the plants twine up the poles we set up, and the beans are easily spotted by four year old eyes due to the contrast with the green leaves. 

We had our first bean harvest this week: 

Are these not gorgeous? Note that some are partially green- these seemed to be the ones more shaded by the leaves. 

Little Bear is usually pretty keen to be my sous chef, so he helped snap and cut the beans. We cooked them very simply, just boiled with a little salt for 4 minutes. 

After about 2 minutes, the beans began to look different in the pot, and by the time they were done, this is what we had:

Wow. The color change was so dramatic and fast that it met with whole-hearted approval from Little Bear, who watched the pot with rapt attention during the lprocess. What a good opportunity to talk about science!

For those who are interested, what is going on here is that compounds called anthocyanins give these beans their special color. Anthocyanins are sensitive to heat and pH changes- cooking degrades the anthocyanins and allows the 'base' color of the chlorophyll to shine through. Voila, green bean. 

I have some ideas for the next bean harvest: 

-Partially dip some beans in boiling water so they are half-and-half green and purple

-Have a taste test (with Little Bear) to see if there is any difference between cooked green and raw purple beans

-Change the pH of the water to observe any difference in cooked bean color

-Make a bean salad with lemon juice to see if cooked beans might regain some purple color! 

Easy pancakes from scratch!

Pancakes are a staple at our house. At 18 months old, Little Bear reminded me to add the oil to the pancake batter when I forgot- when your toddler knows the ingredients, you know you use a recipe a lot!

It's hard for me to imagine using a packaged mix for pancakes- I was talking to a friend recently who had never had pancakes not from a mix. This situation must be remedied. 

I make pancakes from scratch. It's easy. Takes less than 5 minutes to throw all the ingredients together!

Here's how it works: First, dump all the dry ingredients into a bowl. 

Next, add the wet ingredients and stir it up- Little Bear prefers to use the eggbeater, but I just use a fork. Mix until just combined; it really doesn't matter if you have a few small lumps. 

Bake them on a griddle or in a pan on medium low- when it's just the family, I like to use my cast iron skillet, but the griddle is nice for when people are visiting- it goes much faster. Heat the griddle or pan while you are making the batter so it's nice and hot when you are ready to cook. You can add a little oil or butter to the pan, but these pancakes don't stick to my seasoned cast iron, and I have a nonstick electric griddle, so I usually skip it.

To make the pancakes about the same size, I use a measuring cup to scoop approximately the same amount of batter (1/4 or 1/3 cup measure) for each cake.  That generally yields a 4-5 inch diameter pancake. 

Cook on one side until bubbles breaking on the top surface are slow to close and the underside is brown and crispy, then flip! The cakes will puff a little. Wait a minute or two for that side to brown and finish cooking the middle, then scoop them off and serve.

Basic pancake recipe: makes about 8 4-inch pancakes

1 cup flour

1/8 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 scoop soy protein (optional- we eat veg, so it helps supplement our protein intake, but the cakes work fine without it)

1 cup milk

1 egg

2 glugs olive oil (for those of you unfamiliar with the glug unit of measure, this translates to something between 1-1/2 and 2 tablespoons. Probably.)

Pour onto heated griddle or pan. Cook until bubbles rising in the center of the batter are closing very slowly, then flip and cook an additional 1-2 minutes on the other side. Serve!

This recipe is really forgiving- I have forgotten the oil and made it without eggs when we ran out, and the pancakes still work (not quite as well as when you add everything, but 85%). You can also get adventurous and replace the oil with 1/4 cup applesauce, or add things like chocolate chips or blueberries to the batter. Enjoy!

Marshmallow "Tinker Toys" - Kids' STEM activity

Little Bear likes to build things. This activity is simple, cheap, and engaging. All you need is marshmallows (we usually use the mini marshmallows) and toothpicks. 

I'm thinking this activity is pretty self-explanatory: connect the toothpicks with marshmallows and start building! One mini marshmallow will accommodate about 6-8 toothpicks if you are careful, so there are a lot of possibilities for angles and joints.

Little Bear learns some principles of construction and engineering, and plays with his hands instead of a watching a screen. Of course, getting to eat some of the pieces is exciting for him, too.

It's so fun that I usually sit down and build, too. Today I made an airplane:

Occasionally, we experiment with other 'connectors'. Gummy fruit snacks work pretty well, as would gumdrops or maybe jelly beans if you had them. If you're looking for a less-sugary connector, try cheese cubes.

Happy building!

Safety first.... And second, and third...

Chicken Little has been flirting with danger.

The spindles on our banister are more than 5 inches apart around the loft in our house, and it's a long way down.

We installed railnetting (Safety 1st Safety Rail Net) to avert disaster and to keep me from having nightmares about children going splat. Obviously, when considering safety devices for your home, you have to assess the pros and cons for your specific space and choose what maximizes safety. It's nice when you can also find something that fits aesthetically with your home.

Chicken Little helped me install one section.

Here's what it looks like installed. This section was a little too long (they come in 10-foot sections), so I doubled it back around to take up the extra length. Cutting it wasn't an option because the perimeter binding is reinforced and tying the netting itself would damage the barrier. It worked well this way, and is not too obtrusive, in my opinion. 

The netting came with eye screws to secure the net at the bottom where it can't be looped over a banister- however I found it easier to simply use a staple gun. I stapled at the bottom of the spindles to keep it secure and taut. I think removing the staples later will be easy enough, and this way there aren't screw loops poking out at people.

The netting is working well- I can relax a fraction knowing it would take a lot of pushing to dislodge it. I wonder what Chicken Little will get into next!

Dandelion farm

Little Bear and I have noticed that many of the farms we see while driving are named. One day, looking at our rather modest garden, he announced that our garden should be called Dandelion Farm.

I thought this was apt, and we decided to make a sign. 

We used a scrap piece of wood from the garage, Little Bear painted it orange with tempera paint, and I added letters in Sharpie marker. We added a few decorative dandelions too. A few coats of Modge Podge Outdoor, and we had a great-looking sign. 

Father Bear helped finish the project, and now we are official!

I think we'll plant some perennials just under the sign, or maybe allium for the pom-pom effect to mimic dandelions (rather than actually farming them).