THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, June 6, 1995 TAG: 9506060037
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E4 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: MOM, I'M BORED
SOURCE: Sherrie Boyer
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
A YEAR OF SCHOOL is ending and we have more cute art projects and spelling papers than we have storage boxes. But since art should be ongoing, we'll spend some time making edible art, the stuff you eat but never keep.
Make biplanes. A friend of mine offered these treats at her 4-year-old daughter's birthday party. They were so cute, I needed one for myself. And they're so easy that kids will enjoy making them for friends.
For each biplane, you'll need one rubber band, two sticks of gum, one square of wrapped candy (Kraft caramel, Starburst, etc.), one roll of Smarties and two Lifesavers (same color).
Place the square candy between the two gum sticks. Slide the two Lifesavers onto the rubber band. Pull each end of the rubber band up over the gum sticks. Then slide the Lifesavers apart (they are wheels now) and poke the Smarties in between. The Smarties become the plane's body and the gum its wings. The twisty end of the Smarties looks like a propeller.
Try finger-painting with chocolate pudding onto graham crackers. Much better than the highly acclaimed method of painting pudding on paper, which you then post on the refrigerator.
Turn your pudding into dirt cups. Crush cookies with a rolling pin and sprinkle into a cup, add instant pudding and cover with more crushed cookies. Poke a rinsed, real flower into the ``dirt'' and add a few gummy worms.
Make banana chocolate pops. Poke a popsicle stick into one end of a peeled banana. In five and 10 second increments, melt one cup of chocolate chips in the microwave. Watch that they doesn't burn. Stir in two tablespoons of water. Roll the banana pop in the melted chocolate until coated, then immediately sprinkle or roll it in coconut, crushed nuts or sprinkles.
Place pops on a plate or waxed paper and freeze until chocolate is hard. Recipe makes four. Use a separate recipe for more; the chocolate hardens too quickly (and a large quantity is unwieldy) when doubled.
If your children love to work with clay, they'll enjoy marzipan art. Buy prepared tubes of this almond paste confection (available at baking supply stores). Use just a little at a time (it's very rich) and mold the paste with your fingers to make little animals, people and shapes.
Marzipan is sturdier than play dough but more pliable than modeling clay, and it won't melt away with heavy handling. For color, add drops of food coloring. You can eat as you mold or leave the designs to dry.
Bake pretzels. Have your child mix together two packages of fast-acting yeast, two tablespoons of sugar and one cup of very warm water. Set aside until the yeast foams (5-10 minutes). Yeast is tiny plants that grow by using the sugar/water mixture for food.
When the yeast is ready, stir in 3 1/2 to 4 cups of flour, a little at a time, until the dough is stiff. Knead on a floured surface for three to five minutes. If you haven't kneaded before, pretzels are a great no-fail product. Just punch the dough and roll it around for a hit again and again. The pretzels will turn out fine.
After kneading, form the dough into a ball and set it in a large, non-metal bowl you've sprayed with cooking oil. Cover with a clean dish towel and set it in a warm place (the turned off oven, top of refrigerator, counter top) to rise. Dough will have doubled in about 30 minutes to one hour.
Punch it down, roll it into a rectangle and cut fat strips you'll shape into pretzels. Any shape will do; twirly logs, braided sticks, stick figures, loops. Beat one egg and brush it over the pretzels. Sprinkle with coarse or kosher salt. Bake on a cookie sheet at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes until golden brown.
Edible art. Good food, good fun and good for the storage dilemma. by CNB