Making Playdough

This morning, Benjamin and I made homemade playdough from my mom’s recipe. He was a big help.

We made some bad decisions:

Throwing caution to the wind, Benjamin decided to “taste it.” He explained that it was “not very good.” Mama thought it would be a good idea to use all natural food coloring made of hibiscus and beet extract. This did not turn out to be a good idea. The stuff smelled terrible. Just use the regular stuff, we learned. This discovery also solved the mystery of why the red velvet cake I made earlier this week tasted so much like beets. I don’t like beets and especially not in cake. So we made a second batch.

Worked out great sans the nasty beet smell. Here’s the recipe:

2 C plain white flour

2 C water 

1 T oil 

1 t cream of tartar 

1 C salt

Optional: ground cinammon (makes it smell so good)

Note: After cooking (below), fold in more flour if it seems to need it. 

Place all ingredients in a medium or large sauce pan. Cook slowly, on medium-high. Stir until it thickens. Allow to cool. Divide into 4 quarters and fold & knead in a different food color into each quarter. Keeps best in fridge, in screw-on or locking plastic containers.