Things to Make - Fortune Cookie Valentines

A few weeks ago, our neighbor brought us fortune cookies. According to the tiny strips of paper inserted inside each cookie, we all had uninteresting destinies (except for T's "you are not a person who can be ignored"), so the kids discussed the predictions they would draft. And then I (rather randomly) said, "well, let's try baking our own fortune cookies." And now we can't stop.

Turns out fortune cookies make for a great "team" baking experience - one kid writes and cuts out the crazy fortunes (this would be F), while another child (P) helps fold and insert the fortunes before the cookies harden (basically "speed" baking).

Plus, I've found the 4-5 minute baking time allows me to help with homework and/or cook dinner without becoming overly distracted (i.e. I can't read a whole article in 4 minutes).

Anyways, we like them so much that we're handing some out for Valentine's Day. The best part was coming up with the fortunes - from "you will travel to all 7 continents" to "you will dance with an elephant", I'm hoping we'll make the second grade smile.

FORTUNE COOKIE RECIPE:

Ingredients:

* 1 egg white
* 1/4 tablespoon vanilla extract
* 1 pinch salt
* 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 2.5 tablespoons white sugar
* 1 tablespoon of water
* Empty egg carton (or muffin tin)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Write fortunes on strips of paper approximately 4 inches long and 1/2 an inch wide.

2. Butter two baking sheets. Lots of lots of butter (otherwise the cookies will stick).

3. Mix the egg white with the vanilla extract until foamy but not stiff. Add flour, salt, and sugar to the egg mixture. Add the water. If the mixture is too thick add 1 more tablespoon of water.

4. Place batter (measured out as 1 teaspoon per cookie) four inches apart on the cooking sheet. Only bake 3 at a time (if this is easy for you, then you can try to bake more in the next batch).

5. Tilt the baking sheet around to assure that the batter is in a circle.

6. Bake 4-5 minutes or until the outer edge of the cookie turns a golden brown (JUST the outer edge).

7. Remove cookies from the cooking sheet using a spatula (I slowly pushed them off the sheet) and place on a wooden cutting board. QUICKLY, place the fortune in the middle of the cookie and fold in half. SUPER QUICKLY fold the cookies again by putting them into the empty egg carton (which I found to work much better than a muffin tin).

- Makes 12 cookies.

(adapted slightly from this allrecipes.com)

Places to Go - Learning About the Classics at Orphie and the Book of Heroes - Kennedy Center Family Theater (Washington DC)

As I've mentioned many times, this has been a LAZY winter for us, so in an effort to leave the house I bought tickets for Orphie and the Book of Heroes at the Kennedy Center's Family Theater. The musical tells the story of, Orphie, an orphan girl who lives with Homer in Ancient Greece (well, in a rather imagined Ancient Greece, which contains elements of modern and ancient life) and dreams of becoming a hero (a framed poster of Hercules hangs over Orphie's bed, girl crush style). In a somewhat random turn of events, Homer is captured by Hades, the god of the underworld, and Orphie travels to save him.

As my kids have almost no knowledge of Greek mythology, some of the jokes went over their heads, but still the play kept us all entertained - especially the three drag-queen sirens, who were funny enough to warrant a sequel, and the crazy-conceited Hercules.

Regarding the play's overall "theme", I have such mixed feelings about the media's obsession with telling girls "you can be knights, heroes, ?, too." As my kids never seem to question that girls can be whatever they want to be until books/movies/plays show girls who are mocked for trying (in this case, three mean "bullies" taunt Orphie's dreams of heroism).

But all in all, the kids seemed thoroughly entertained. On the walk to the car, T said the play was "awesome. but not as awesome as Medieval Times because those knights used their swords more", which is about as good of a play review as you can hope for from my 4.5 year old. P and F both called the play "weird", but then spent the ride home discussing their favorite parts, which, for me, demonstrates a successful performance (everyone laughed about Hades' habit of saying "What the here is going on here?"). And I always love how Kennedy Center children's plays come with a kids' activity book that discusses the production in a fun illustration-filled way.

The play runs through February 25. Tickets are $20. Click here for more info. (And if you're in the mood for cinema rather than theater, we saw the Lego Movie on Sunday, which is also pretty hysterical).

How was your weekend?



Of course, no visit to the Kennedy Center is complete without a run around the balconies, regardless of temperature.

Things to Do - Random Links & Cherish This Day

One of the consequences of having the girls so close in age is that I never spent much one-on-one time with either of them. Thus, when the girls both started grade school, I was pretty excited to finally have time alone with my third child. But I must admit that I'm a little overwhelmed by one - turns out that playing (as in actual one-on-one down on the floor, I'm a dragon and you're a monster playing) is not my specialty.

Even when T and I go on adventures, at first I'm thrilled by how easy everything becomes - no fights over where to go, only one child who NEEDS to go to the bathroom, the ability to buy snacks without spending a zillion dollars (or to pack snacks without carrying a zillion pounds) - easy, right? Well, sort of, but I end up missing the chaos and confusion that comes with three.

So when T and I have after preschool plans, I often end up taking his friends with us. Usually three kids total, preferably two girls. Because this configuration is my comfort zone.

And I just stand back and photograph everything, watching their minds fill with wonder with every new discovery made.

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!! Click on over to Cherish This Day to see what everyone else has photographed lately.

RANDOM LINKS:

* Rich people.

* If your kids were Pottery Barn Kids. Funny.

* OMG, this almost makes me want another baby. almost.

* The Kids Should See This - awesome, new-to-me blog.

* Creepy, yet fascinating. I can't stop staring.

* I want to go here.

Things to Read - Winter Reading

I know I sound like a broken record, but it's been a cold, miserable winter thus far (yesterday we woke to freezing rain), so our family has spent A LOT of time camped out on the couch.

Luckily, at the end of 2013 all of the major news outlets released lists of their best books of the year (fyi - this website does a wonderful job at compiling the multitude of lists), so I was overwhelmed with reading options.



Revenge - I discovered Yoko Ogawa's Revenge through Salon's list of the most underrated books of 2013. I'm a huge Haruki Murakami fun, but I find his newest books sort of blah. So I was excited to learn of a new-to-me Japanese author whose writing also delves into the surreal.

Ogawa's interconnected stories are much darker than Murakami's work, but despite the book's namesake few of them actually seem evil or malicious. Rather most of Ogawa's characters come off as sad and lonely. From the woman who needs a purse made for her heart (which hangs outside of her body) to the lonely old man who oversees a museum of torture implements, nobody's life is going well. And, oddly, despite the stories' dark tones, all of Ogawa's characters provoke some sympathy from the reader, despite their tragic flaws.



The Luminaries - I pretty much hated this book, which is partially my own fault as I knew very little about the plot when I began reading it. I mainly read the Luminaries because it was last year's Booker Prize winner (and, if I'm being honest, I also loved the cover art and that the name reminded me of the Lumineers - both awful reasons for choosing a book).

This INCREDIBLY LONG novel takes place in New Zealand during the gold rush of 1866 and centers around a mystery involving a dead man, a missing man, and a passed out prostitute. Through conversations and recollections of various town members, you spend numerous pages and days trying to sort together what happened. I kept reading because I thought the end would contain some huge reveal or big surprise, but (maybe because I was so bored) I never ended up really caring how it all came together. I found most of the characters (and there are NUMEROUS characters) flat and uninteresting. Though the author tries to differentiate between them by piling on adjectives describing "the type of man he is", I found her character portraits boring as well. Yawn.



The Lowland - Ever since I read Interpreter of Maladies, 15 or so years ago, I've been a huge fan of Jhumpa Lahiri. And her newest novel, the Lowland, does not disappoint.

In a nutshell, the plot centers on two brothers and how their lives intermingle throughout the years, as one stays in their homeland of India and becomes involved with a (somewhat) radical student movement, while the other brother travels to America for his pHd. The novel starts off rather slow with Lahiri detailing the history of India's Mao-inspired Naxalite movement, but as the story moves to the relationship between the brothers I found it almost impossible to stop reading. So so good.



Divergent - Similar to the Hunger Games, Divergent is the first novel in a dystopian trilogy centered on a female heroine (can I just say, that as the mom of two girls, I'm LOVING all these female role models? Publishers keep them coming, PLEASE). I found the plot more far-fetched then the Hunger Games (yes, the world of Divergent is even less believable that the world in which we watch and cheer as young children slaughter each other on TV) and the writing not quite as good. But still, Divergent makes for some addictive reading, I finished it in two days. And, since I NEED to know what happens next, I'll probably knock off the other two books in the series sooner rather than later.

So what have you been reading lately??

Things to Make - 20 (Easy) Painting Projects With Kids

It's been a winter of SNOW here in Northern Virginia, so if you're looking for some easy art projects to keep the kids entertained while indoors - here are 20 suggestions (click on each project's title for more detailed instructions):



I. PROJECTS USING LIQUID WATERCOLORS (OR FOOD COLORING)

1. Tissue Paper Tie-Dye - Fold the tissue paper into triangles and wrap with rubber bands (click here to see how to fold). Dip into different colors of paint then unwrap and watch the designs form.

2. Salty Watercolors - This is one of our favorite super easy projects. Use glue to draw designs on thick watercolor paper. Next, sprinkle salt on the glue. Finally "paint" over the salty glue, the color travels slowly through the designs - both fun to watch and fun to look at.

3. Watercolor Nature Prints - Collect interesting items outside (old leaves, acorns, branches, etc). Pour liquid watercolors onto a stamp pad (or use a regular stamp pad) and stamp the natural materials to make fun quirky designs.

4. Marbleized Paper Using Shaving Cream - Combine liquid watercolor paint and shaving cream in a pan, make designs using popsicle sticks or a fork. Press thick watercolor paper into the shaving cream and then wipe off. Voila, art.

5. Marbleized Paper Using Oil - Mix watercolor paint and vegetable oil (click here for the correct ratios). Fill the bottom of a pan with water and using eyedroppers add the oil/paint to the pan, swirl to create designs. Press thick watercolor paper into the designs, then let dry.

6. Winter Trees - Pour brown liquid watercolor paint into a small container. Use paintbrushes to draw a tree trunk on the page. Then add a few drops of paint at the top of the trunk. Use straws to blow the paint away from the trunk, thus making branches. Fun.



II. PROJECTS USING ITEMS FROM THE PANTRY

7. Secret Agent Messages with Lemon Juice - Paint with lemon juice on paper. The juice dries clear, but if you cook the paper at 350 degrees for a few minutes, your super secret spy message "magically" reappears.

8. Condensed Milk Paintings - Combine condensed milk and liquid watercolors/food coloring. Paint. The colors will look super glossy and thick.

9. Saran Wrap Painting - Paint with watercolor paints on thick paper. Cover with saran wrap and move the saran wrap around to make designs. Let dry, then remove the saran wrap. Lovely.



III. PROJECTS USING SOLID WATERCOLOR PAINTS

10. Toddler Googly-Eyed Monster Art - Ask a toddler to paint. Then have him/her attach two google eyes to their painting. All of a sudden abstract art becomes a monster.

11. Painted Snow Scenes - Use oil pastels or crayons to create a snow scene (my kids drew snowmen). Then paint over the sky with watercolors. You can also add salt to create the illusion of falling snow.

12. Valentine's Day/Heart Banner - Cut out a series of hearts from construction paper. Have the kids decorate the hearts using paints/markers/crayons, etc. Tape the hearts to a string and hang somewhere. Celebrate.



IV. PROJECTS USING TEMPURA (OR BIO-COLOR) PAINTS

13. Q-Tip Printmaking - Use a roller brush to thinly spread paint on a pan. Draw designs using q-tips. Then press a sheet of (thick) paper onto the design. Voila - a print.

14. Potato Stamp Prints - Carve a stamp out of a potato. Dip in paint. Create.

15. Paint Photographs - You can also use Sharpies to draw in details.

16. Paint a Cardboard Box - Create a castle. Or a boat. Or whatever you want.

17. String/Kitchen Painting - Dip the strings in paint, then use the painted strings to create designs of paper. Once your child tires of the strings you can also use: sponges, forks, superhero figurines and whatever else you find around the house.

18. Firework Painting - Twist four pipe cleaners to create a star shape. Dip in paint. Add glitter to make the night really sparkle.



V. ETC.

19. Suminagashi Marbleized Paper - Purchase a sumingashi kit (Amazon sells one for $13.50, just click here). The effect is very similar to liquid water colors and cooking oil (#5 above), but with the kit the colors are much more vivid and the designs are more pronounced.

20. Watercolor Pencils & Crayons - For a change of pace, Watercolor Pencils and Watercolor Crayons can be so fun to create with. Draw as you normally would and then paint with water.