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!