Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Crepes!

For something a little different, we had breakfast for dinner the other night. I'd meant to make the crepes just for Starboy, but then it got late and they smelled sooo tasty.....that we ate the whole batch while they were hot.

I used this Williams-Sonoma recipe, substituting Trader Joe's Fig Butter for the fig jam. In this omelette pan, I ended up using 4 Tbsp of batter for each crepe, so we only got about 6 crepes out of the recipe. Oh, and since I started the whole project about 15 minutes before dinner time, I didn't let the batter rest for two hours as described. Sacré bleu!

I used a log of herbed chèvre instead of plain crumbled. I put the fig butter inside the crepe, since it wasn't going to be all that attractive to smear on the outside, and I didn't feel like going to the trouble to set up a squeeze bottle. Plus I wasn't sure how Starboy was going to react to weird brown sauce, since he has entered the Picky Toddler Eating Phase. The toaster oven was set on 200˚.

The flavor was pure perfection.

I have made this recipe in the past for a large crowd and it goes most smoothly if the crepes are prepared and stuffed in advance and then broiled just before guests sit down. I've found it takes about an hour to make the crepes for 12 people, and with delicate aromas like that, it's a pretty long hour for hungry bellies.

Yum!

Gnomy Village

Starboy asked for a new gnome house today to add to his collection. I'd thought I'd keep them all green and floral, but then there was a Christmas one....and then I forgot to buy the floral tissue at the store, and....here we are with the mismatches. Ah, well.

The gnomes are from Etsy shop You're Inspired. Here they are playing in their garden, which I made during a quiet day at Starboy's art class. (Glass beads, plastic gems, puffs and pom-pons glued to cardboard with white glue.) The theme of the day was icy frost on the green grass at the beginning of winter. Since Starboy's was "art," he's so far reluctant to play with it. But soon I think the gnomes will have more garden space.

Starboy's two caterpillars also frolicked in the green grass today. He also made those in art class, with Crayola air-dry clay, chenille stems, pompons and wooden beads. Great project. Rolling the clay is one of the many pre-writing activities that builds muscles in preparation for holding a pencil.
Here, I guess the truck driver is mushroom-picking from the garden. Those are simply water-color painted cabinet knobs (but not very carefully painted). The yellow spots don't show up very well.



Monday, January 30, 2012

More light table play

We followed the shaving cream extravaganza with glass bubbles and tissue paper. Starboy used the tissue paper as wrapping paper to make play "gifts," then we experimented with other papers on the table.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Shaving cream, be nice and clean.....

One of the great blogs I read is Play at Home Mom. They have really wonderful ideas for child-led exploration. The mom sets up an activity to "invite" the child to participate in whatever way he wishes. They have a ton of light table activities. I decided to try one with shaving cream for Starboy, who has been asking for something "new."

He started with glass bubble beads, shaving cream, and a few drops of yellow and blue food coloring.

Note: We do not have a cover for our light panel as described on Play at Home Mom, so I covered the panel with plastic wrap and made some holes for the vents. This turned out to be an excellent idea, as those creamy, puffy hands were clapping and flying, and so was the cream!