rain play:

more morning garden:

making bread and applesauce,

indoor play, outdoor time, and

cleaning up!

summer = P O P S I C L E S

our friend lily kaplan has begun a summer series of Fun with Food workshops for the little ones.

yesterday was our first one: making ice cream!

COFFEE CAN ICE CREAM

- 1lb coffee can
- 2-3lb coffee cans*

*(the cans need to be metal for the cold factor, but plastic lids are great! i was able to find kroger brand still does metal! everyone else has gone plastic...)

- 1 pint half and half
- 1/3 c sugar
- vanilla bean
- rock salt
- ice
- duct tape
- any other toppings or fun flavors...it might be fun to crush up ginger snaps or cookies or add fresh fruit!

- pour cream and sugar into smaller can, seal, and duct tape...
- place in the larger metal can, fill with ice and rock salt alternatively, seal, and duct tape...
- kick or roll the can for 10 minutes!
- open the larger can and pour out water
- open the smaller can and scrape ice cream off of sides and give a good stir. now is a good time to add any flavors like vanilla bean, fruit, or crushed cookies...

- replace lid on smaller and seal again with duct tape. place inside large can, add more ice and salt, and reseal with lid and duct tape.

- roll another 10 minutes...
- unwrap everything and enjoy!

we made these today:

the garden around the corner

while we have been tending our wee plants, we have really been getting inspired by the garden around the corner. we took a walk over there a few weeks ago and visited with karen who is the go-getter behind it.

this garden was carved out of a kudzu-covered vacant lot behind some houses and a church by the bare hands of many volunteers from the neighborhood and beyond. it is in its second year of growing. the garden was recently awarded for its efforts.

they have a 'museum' of all the artifacts they have unearthed: