Soap Clouds

Soap clouds in the bath beats store bought bubble baths any day. All you need is Ivory soap, a microwave, some food coloring (actually the food coloring is optional), and a Ph.D in science to explain to your kids how this actually works.

Seriously, how do you go from this

 to this?

I mean, I know you just nuke it for 30 seconds but what's the science behind it?

I'm calling this a craft instead of a science project because I can't explain to the kids the chemical properties inside an Ivory soap bar that makes this even possible.

So, HORRAY[!] for kitchen crafts.

Back in April Our Best Bites posted a massive soap cloud on their blog which I bookmarked for future projects. Back in April I was living in the jungle without Ivory soap and definitely without a microwave. We also didn't have a bath tub.

Now we have all of those things again so soap cloud making is possible.

I love the look of the plain white cloud, but my kids wanted color. Also, I didn't want our soap cloud to be as big as the one from Our Best Bites so I cut up the Ivory soap into 4 pieces and made 4 different clouds.

Then I mixed 2 drops of blue food coloring in a bowl with 2 teaspoons of water.

Enzo dyed the outside of his soap in the food coloring mixture

and then we nuked it in the microwave, on top of a paper towel, for 30 seconds.

And a pretty white cloud tinted with blue was born.

Maria on the other hand wanted more colors on her cloud. So I microwaved her cloud for 10 seconds, added a drop of food coloring, then microwaved for another 10 seconds, added another drop of food coloring, and kept on doing this until we had a cloud with 5 different colors on it.

Which one do you like best, the all white, the blue, or the colorful one?

Some questions I had before making soap clouds,

What is the texture like? 
I know it looks all soft and fluffy but it's not. It's solid but also crumbly, so unless you're planning on playing with these in the bath or in a kiddie pool I wouldn't recommend making it.

When it comes out of the microwave is it super hot?
I was worried about this because I knew the kids (and I) would be impatient wanting to touch it right away, but it was fine. It was warm for a couple of seconds but not hot. Granted my microwave isn't that powerful so if you try this at home touch it first before your kids grab it so you can make sure it's not hot.

Will your food taste like Ivory soap when you microwave it?
No. I thought it would but it was fine. The microwave smelled like Ivory soap for a little while but right after I gave the kids a bath we went back up to the kitchen to have dinner and I microwaved some food and it did not taste like Ivory soap. *sigh of relief*

So then what do you do with it?

Oh you know, you play! You put your kids in the bath and you let then go at it. The food coloring in the soap makes the bath water colorful and pretty. And because your kids are playing with soap it's hard to go wrong.

Kiwi Crate

I have yet to meet a child that doesn't love hands on projects. That's why I am so intrigued by Kiwi Crate, a subscription service that delivers curated "crates" with all the tools and materials needed for a variety of of age-appropriate projects. Kiwi Crate is designed for kids ages 3-7. In other words I think both Maria and Enzo would love it. I think the garden project, for example, would be a lot of fun.

Because I homeschool I tend to spend a lot of time online getting ideas for projects I'd like to do with the kids. However, most of the time I just end up giving them a big roll of white paper, paint, crayons, and let them make their own projects.

What about you, is Kiwi Crate something your kids would enjoy?

Babies and Limes

My little fruitavore.

This morning when we were snuggling in bed, trying to stay quiet so as not to wake up Enzo she turns to me and says

"I have a baby in my tummy too and when my baby comes out I'm going to nurse my baby. On one side I'll make milk and on the other side I'll make fruit juice, it's boring to just have milk."

She's content with the juicer for now.

Lunchbox Printables

Are your kids all back in school? I know that each State is different, some start back in August some in September. In Hawaii, where my mother-in-law is a teacher, school began in the end of July. Crazy right?!

Here in Brazil the school year is almost coming to an end. Already in the second week of December the school year is over. We were thinking that Enzo would start school next year, February, but he might actually start this week. We found an awesome private school that is surrounded by trees. It has a huge open space, a little soccer field, and a fun wooden playground. We went to visit yesterday and he loved it. I think it will be fun for him to make some new friends and since he loves comic books in Portuguese it's not a bad idea for him to learn how to read in Portuguese too. This means that I'm going to start packing  him a lunch. Actually it's more of a snack, he'll still have lunch at home and then go to school for a couple hours in the afternoon. But since this is Brazil and Brazilians are obsessed with food I'll probably have to send him to school with enough food to feed a small army. I talked to a mom today and she sends her daughter to school with a whole huge meal. I'll be sure to post more about school lunch in Brazil later on.

What about you, do you pack lunch for your kids and if so do you try to decorate it in some way or another? I love the idea of lunchbox printables and I think Enzo would love it too. Here are some I'm thinking of using.

// 1 Back to School Lunchbox Printables
// 2 Lunch Jokes
// 3 Fruit Tags
// 4 Book Worm

Paper Popsicle Memory Game

We sure love popsicles! I just bookmarked this DIY Paper Popsicle Memory Game by Eat Drink Chick for a future homeschooling game to do with Baby Maria and Enzo. The wheels are turning in my head and I think I'll decorate with prints of Brazilian fruits so not only will my kids learn the concept of remembering but will also learn the name of different local fruits in Bahia.

On September 1st we move to Itacare, Bahia for a year. We are thrilled to move to somewhere so beautiful and so warm with an abundance of tropical fruits. Enzo was going to start school this Fall if we were in the States but because the school year is different here in Brazil he probably won't get to go to school until February. So we decided to homeschool. At first I was freaked out at the idea of homeschooling but now I'm actually pretty excited. For one thing Enzo is eager to learn (yes, I'm counting my blessings!) and for another it will give me more time to spend with my kids doing something besides just beach bumming all day long.

In the next couple of weeks our family will be going through some exciting changes and so will this blog. I'm going to start a new series called Kitchen Schooling. Since I parent at my best when I'm in the kitchen I figured I'll probably teach at my best when I'm in the kitchen as well, using concepts I'm comfortable with, like popsicles for example :) Also, my blog template will be going through some major transformations thanks to Ana from Liven Designs and Erin Jane from Jane Reaction. Kitchen Corners will become a food+Design blog. I'll still post recipes and stories about the fam. In addition I'll share some of my favorite products and concepts, DIY and art installations, beautiful things that revolve around food. And as always I appreciate your feedback, so when the time comes to install the new template do let me know what you think.

Also, if you have any homeschooling tips or sites that you like or even fun projects you run across on the web please share them with me. I want to do a good job at this homeschooling thing. Good thing it's only Kindergarten. I figured if at the end of the day all I've done is cooking projects with him he'll still be o.k right?!

{image source}

New Uses for Old Things

I recently saw the New Uses for Old Things: Kids Edition on Real Simple and now our dice has a new and important role to play (no pun intended) during dinner time. All I can say is Yay [!] for minimizing tantrums and maximizing fun. It's the little things that makes all the difference during meal time.

the New Zoku Quick Pop Character Tool Kit and the New Zoku Duo Quick Pop Maker

Hi friends,
Just a short post to wish you a happy Memorial Day. Memorial Day means that summer is here right? And summer means popsicles right? I'm going to answer yes to both and also tell you that if there is one product you must have this Summer, according to mama and babies and Christian is nodding his head yes too, it would be the new the Zoku Duo Quick Pop Maker. Without a doubt it's worth every penny.

Today we're going to be playing with our new toys, the Zoku Quick Pop Character Tool Kit and the New Zoku Duo Quick Pop Maker generously sent to us from Williams-Sonoma.

If you're new to my blog, hi! If you've been here a while you know that I am simply smitten with the Zoku Quick Pop Maker. We already had this one and now this new one came out just in time for our move to Brazil, because it's more compact it will actually fit in our suitcase and because it's cheaper there is no excuse why you shouldn't get one. Trust me, you will use it all the time. Every single day if you like and not only that but in the long run you'll save money. If you don't have to buy popsicles because you can quickly make it at home you'll save money. Not only that but if you make your own popsicles you decided what ingredients you're feeding your children and yourself which for me is the biggest bonus of all. Priceless, really.

If you are not familiar with the Zoku Quick Pop Maker let me introduce you to my favorite product, the kitchen gadget most used in this home. The Zoku makes popsicles in less than 10 minutes. You leave that little baby in your freezer and when you want to make a popsicle you simply pour some juice inside and in less than 10 minutes you have a perfect ice pop not to mention all the fun things you can do with the Zoku like pumpkin pie pops, pops with chocolate inside, or pops with left over Halloween candy. Now we're making character pops like the ones you see above.

Zoku always makes us happy

or sad when our pops are all gone.

Baby Oatmeal Breakfast

Little Miss Maria is on a new sleep schedule. She never consulted us on her most recent decision to wake up at 6:30 every morning. She just expects us to go with the flow of course, because she's bossy that way. Christian is usually surfing at that time so that means that I am the default parent responsible to get the baby before she wakes up the entire neighborhood with her screaming "Mama, Enzo, Mama, Enzo, Mama..."

I think she gets up at 6:30. It could very well be that she is up much earlier than that. I wouldn't really know because I am in deep sleep in the early hours of the day. For the millionth time, I am not a morning person!

But I am a mother and I get up in spite of my body begging me to ignore the crying child. I get up and bring her to my bed because one thing is for sure, she may be a whole lot of naughty but she is also a whole lot of cuddly too. I never knew that such a small person could know how to give so much affection. Her hugs and kisses don't make me any less tired but they do make me a better mother. If it weren't for her waking up early we would probably never get alone time together.

So down to the kitchen we go, the two of us, where she holds on to my legs and watches me closely as I make her breakfast.

Railway Breakfast Set

If you have a trainiac in your midst you are sure to appreciate this railway breakfast set. I spotted this on babygadgets and immediately thought about Enzo. We're busy purging things for our move, but one things is certain his train tracks we will never sell. Not only that but I am seriously thinking about buying this railway breakfast set.

My Enzo would go crazy for this, and come to think of it so would his little sister. They both like to build train tracks together. I would have to get each of them a railway breakfast set so they wouldn't have to fight over it, of couse. But how cute would it be to have the two of them sitting together munching on their breakfast, on the floor, next to their elaborate railroad creation? Sometimes Enzo can build railroads for hours, a little tray to put a plate of cheese and crackers on top would be perfect to keep him fueled up.

Do you know any train lovers that would enjoy this railway breakfast set as much as Enzo?

Food is Fun {Activity book by Anorak}

Once upon a time there was a quiet afternoon, in which the baby slept and Junie, the neighbor came over to play. And the mail man dropped off a book.

All about food.

It's called Food is Fun. I had to share this book with you. I just had to. I wanted to immediately frame every single page. Junie wanted to read every single page. Junie is a super reader. She's 4. Amazing right?!

I haven't had the chance to read the whole thing but I'm dying to, mostly because I want to learn more about Spam and the history of forks but also because they have 2 whole pages dedicated to heart of palm. I love heart of palm.

----------------------------------

What: Food is Fun an activity book for kids (and adults too) filled with easy recipes, educational facts and the most incredible illustrations and typography you will ever see.

Who: Anorak Team, the same folks who create the the happy mag for kids

Purchase: yeah you can buy it for £15.00 and get free shipping if you're in Europe. If you're in the US shipping costs an additional £4.00 GBP. Heads-up, Anorak magazine will be coming to the US next week. Seriously good news. Check out your local Barnes and Nobles.

What really happens at dinner time

Well, if you try and feed the baby she'll bite your hand off.
If you leave Enzo to feed himself he won't eat.

Fine, in all fairness if Enzo is thrilled about dinner he'll quickly eat it on his own. 90% of the time he's not thrilled. That's the problem. So Christian, because I seriously refuse to, is ever so patient and spoon feeds him bite, by bite, by bite.

Christian's Spring Quarter started on Monday, we have 10 weeks ahead of us where Christian will be gone during dinner time. I think Enzo is going to starve himself.

Recently I had the opportunity (and I don't use the word lightly in this situation) to tell Dr. Michele Borba my situation and ask for her advice. The lady who's on national T.V and has written over 20 parenting books gave me a couple minutes of her time to answer my questions. I was sure she was going to tell me to be firm, to make Enzo feed himself. He's 5 for goodness sakes.



But mostly as you can see in the interview, she just told me to relax.
Relaxing is good.

p.s. If you want to hear more dinner time challenges and share your own stories visit Ragu's Facebook page Mom's the Word on Dinner. If you want more of Dr. Borba's advice follow her on twitter, she's a twitter queen.

Birthday Boy

I have always wanted to be a mother. I'm not sure why. No one really glorified the task for me, so really I have no one to blame for immersing myself into motherhood at the ripe age of 23 (I guess I can also blame a certain Christian Palmer for having something to do with it).

When I was 13 I had my first ultrasound because of an ovarian cist. It wasn't a big deal but I was terrified that the ultrasound would revel some terrible truth -- a horrible medical condition that made me infertile. My 13 year old fears were unfounded because 10 years later I became a mother. And it only took me 45 hours of labor and 4 hours of pushing to make it happen. But it happened. I gave birth to a 9 lbs baby boy. Before I had Enzo I had set schedules and color coded calendars, I was seriously the perfect mother. My imaginary kids were always clean and nicely groomed, and never misbehaved.

Did I tell you that last week when I went to Target to buy the rest of Enzo's party decorations Baby Maria managed to pee on the floor and then proceeded to try and splash in the pee puddle? Enzo was encouraging his little sister like crazy -- to act crazy. And I, in full parent mode, almost peed my pants laughing at her.

Yeah, that perfect mother of my dreams died the minute this little dude was born.

This weekend we celebrated Enzo in full pirate party extravaganza. Remember how I told you I wasn't going to blog last week because I would be busy preparing for Enzo's party? Well... the preparation really took full steam the day before the party. Sometimes I pretend that I have more time than I actually do and before I know it I'm disoriented trying to figure out where the time went because I swear I was just giving birth to Enzo yesterday and today he's giving opinions on how to decorate his birthday cake.

DIY- Turning a picture into a Valentine

Because I like food and because I like pictures I thought this idea of combining both to create a Valentine was absolutely charming. I saw it first on Design Mom, and she saw it somewhere else, and that person saw it on another blog and so the vicious cycle of copying good ideas continue.

This is a really easy project and I'll walk you through the process of editing your pictures on Picnik, a free online photo editing service I swear by, so that you can make your own picture perfect Valentine.

Baby Maria 1. Kitchen Safety 0.

Glob Paints Giveaway

Glob sent Enzo a box of Natural Color Blend Packets to play with this week. I think it's safe to say that I will never buy conventional paints again. Yeah, I definitely won't. I'm smitten with Glob. The paints are made from fruits, vegetables, flowers, and spices with natural food-grade ingredients. Every box comes with a packet of 6 colors; lemon vebana, blueberry, pomegranate, tangerine, plum purple, and basil green. It comes in packets with powder which you then add water to until you reach the consistency that you like and BAM! Paint! Beautiful, vibrant, incredibly fruity smelling paint. 

And today we get to giveaway a box of Natural Color Blend Packets to you. We hope you win but if you don't I think Glob paints would be a very fun Christmas gift so add it to your wish list. 

They seriously have their ideas in the right place, specially about the environment. All the paints are 100% biodegradable, there is minimal packaging, and a little goes a long way. 

To Enter: You have to be a Kitchen Corners follower. If you're already a follower leave a comment saying hi. If you're a new follower leave a comment introducing yourself and if you have a blog and would like to leave your url please do so. I enjoy meeting my readers! Please make sure your comments link back to an e-mail address so I can contact you if you win.

+1 more comment: You can get more entries by subscribing via RSS or e-mail to Kitchen Corner's feeds. 

+1 more comment: Follow me on Facebook and/or Twitter.

+1 more comment: Share this giveaway! Sharing buttons are right below this post. Just leave a comment telling me how you shared.

Giveaway closes: Midnight PST Thursday December 9nd. The winner will be contacted via e-mail and announced next Friday.

Have a lovely weekend!

xoxo

post-edit: The giveaway winner is FootPrints. Enjoy.

DIY Holiday Foodie Gift Series- Nutella Play Dough

We play with homemade play dough a lot. In fact we use our cookies cutters more with play dough than with actual cookies. So today I made Nutella play dough because if I was on my death bed and had one one last breath to take in I would hope that someone would put a jar of Nutella up to my nose.  It's that good.

I've made chocolate play dough before but other than looking brown it doesn't smell like chocolate, so really what's the point? Nutella on the other hand did not disappoint. This play dough smells like Nutella but tastes like nasty salty play dough, of course. So please make this for a child that knows the difference between play dough and chocolate cookie dough. All the ingredients are technically edible but I would still recommend giving it to an older child. I'm just thinking in terms of Enzo and baby Maria, basically don't give this to a 1 year old. 

I  think this would make a really cute present. You can put it in a glass jar and decorate it with a ribbon. If you're fortunate to live by an Ikea I would get the toy baking set that comes with a rolling pin, cookie cutters, and some baking pans. It's one of Enzo's favorite toys. He actually uses the rolling pin a lot when he makes pizza  and we've put the toy cookie sheet in the oven many times and it works just fine. This is why every time I drive by Ikea I make sure to blow them kisses.

Anyway, what do you think, Nutella play dough with a toy baking set? Do you know any kids who would enjoy this? If so here's the recipe.

Nutella Play Dough
(printable version)

• 2 cups flour        
• 1/2 cup of powdered cocoa
• 1/2 cup salt
• 1/2 tablespoon cream of tartar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons nutella
• 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 cup water

1. Boil the water in a small sauce pan.
2. In a medium sized pan mix the flour, cocoa powder, salt and cream of tartar.
3. Add the boiling water, oil, and nutella to the mix and stir on medium-low heat until it is thick.
4. Cool completly before kneading the dough.
5. Knead the dough on a floured surface until it no longer sticks to your hands.  

                           For the month of December I will be sharing DIY foodie Holiday gifts. If you're interested in sharing a DIY foodie gift on Kitchen Corners send me an e-mail and I would be happy to have you do a guest post. To see the whole DIY Holiday Gift Series click on the button on the sidebar.

Happy Holidays!

Peanut Butter Candy Apples

This is certainly the time of year for apples and candy.  I like to tell Enzo that this is a candy apple even though it's just peanut butter. 

Take that sneaky chef!

Peanut Butter Candy Apple

(printable version)

• 1 apple
• 1 tablespoon peanut butter
• 3 tablespoons granola
• your favorite kind of spinkles

1.  wash out your apples really well so you get the wax off the apple. If you pick the apples from a tree it's easier to wash.
2. Dry them off completely before spreading the peanut butter on them.
3. Place a stick (I had the neighborhood kids pick their own sticks. Make sure it's from a non toxic tree) in the apple. Make sure the stick goes all the way down. This will make it easier for you to put peanut butter on it and easier for the kids to hold. 
4. Spread peanut butter around the apple. I like to use a spoon for this, somehow it makes it easier.
5. Mix the granola and sprinkles together on a plate.
6. Roll the apple around the the granola mixture. It will stick easily to the apple because of the peanut butter.

This is an easy recipe to make with kids.

They'll love finding their own sticks

and rolling their apples on granola and sprinkles.

oh, and that cute kid is unfortunately not my son. 

It's a cute neighbor who likes my cooking.

I wish he were mine!

Halloween Snacks

Enzo has a Halloween party at his preschool and I have to bring a snack to share with the class. I might just bring the monster eyes but I kind of want to make something new.

I like the snack-o-lanterns because it's made from short grain rice cooked in carrot juice, which I personally think would taste delish, with the green pepper on top...yum. It's the type of snack that some kids would love but others would hate but the teachers would appreciate the no sugar factor for sure.

The orange smoothie is super basic and would be an all around hit. I would use plastic cups and maybe substitute the orange sugar crystals for purple crystals, something I have in my pantry left over from Easter and if I don't use it now it's going bye-bye real soon.

Which one do you vote for?

(photo source)

Smiling Planet- Earth Friendly plates+bowls

Smiling Planet sent baby Maria and Enzo a package of beautiful goodies. Baby Maria has been wanting to use plates. She sees us using plates, she sees her big bro using plates and she points her chubby fingers and screams. Smiling Planet's plates are perfect, they are tall enough so that her food won't slip off and they are absolutely gorgeous.

Enzo loved the bowl, he calls it the apple sauce bowl. He asks me to put apple sauce in it enough to cover up the picture and then as he eats away the illustration in the bottom appears. For a 4 year old this is pure magic. Even though the package was for the kiddies I feel like I got a treat with the coloring book everyone dreams of peace even when they don't which features the same illustrations that are on their plates and bowls and helps to keep the babes occupied while I put the finishing touches on dinner. Cool products that help make meal time fun makes me smile big smiles.

Painted Pumpkins

(photo source)

Have you bought pumpkins already this year? Normally we do it in the beginning of the month but the beginning of the month was 90*F. I was sipping ice cold lemonade and could not wrap my mind around going to a pumpkin farm in the sweltering heat of .... October!

The weather has now taken a turn for the worst (I hate cold, hate it) so I can finally start thinking about getting the kids all warm-y in their sweaters and heading out to the local pumpkin farm.

This weekend we'll go for sure.

Family Circle has great Halloween ideas, including a series of tutorials on painting pumpkins. I'm not a huge fan of pumpkin carving because Enzo wants to do the carving and I don't really like giving him sharp objects. I'm thinking of busting out the paint instead and letting him go at it. I do have to say that the white ghost pumpkins are my favorite and the green squares are also pretty cool. Maybe Christian and I will do the carving and Enzo can do the painting.

Here are the links if you want to go at it with your paint.
Scaredy Cat pumpkins
ghost pumpkins
geometric patterned pumpkin
family initial pumpkin

Are you a pumpkin carving type or  a pumpkin painting type?