We spent Thanksgiving with Kª and Kº downstairs. Il Principe, the Incredibly Little Hulk, and twin girls were also in attendance. I wasn’t allowed to bring any food with me, but I thought I’d bring something to keep the kids occupied at least: playdough!
This stuff is so easy to make that you can customize it in a second.
In a decent-sized pot, mix together 2 cups flour, 2 cups warm water, 1 cup salt, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, and 1 tablespoon cream of tartar.
I replaced a few tablespoons of the warm water with rose water and added a few drops of orange essential oil to the vegetable oil (I actually used almond oil, because it’s a better scent carrier than olive or canola).
Cook that on low heat, stirring often, and the mixture will begin to form the consistency of mashed potatoes.
Keep stirring.
When it starts to smooth out and pull away from the sides in order to clump in the middle, then you’re done. Test it with your fingers to see how sticky it is. If it’s still coming off on your fingers, keep cooking.
Pull out the dough and plop it on a piece of waxed paper until it’s cool enough to handle, which won’t be very long.
Then pull on a pair of protective gloves and separate the playdough into balls for colouring.
Add a few drops of food colouring to each ball and knead it in until the colour is even.
Once the colour is mixed in you won’t need gloves anymore. And if you’re not planning on colouring your dough, make sure to knead it for a while anyway, just to get the gluten going.
I made four different colours.
Then, obviously, you play with it.
When you’re ready to store it, seal it in an airtight container or wrap it tightly in plastic wrap. If it starts to dry out you can add a few more drops of water and knead that in; conversely, if it starts to get soggy due to humidity, you can always heat it again to get that water out.
