When I was a small kid, I remember my mom helping us make homemade play-doh.  I must have also enjoyed the store bought variety because I recall the lever machine that pressed out snakes, spaghetti and shaped tubes.  Perhaps it was my early fondness for baking and cooking that guided my preference towards the do-it-yourself process of kneading and getting your own color just right.

Mini Whipped is a touch over two and we have had a number of tubs of play-doh around our house already.  Often she rustles in her project drawer, finds one of her play-doh accoutrements from animal cut outs to hamburger makers and asks in her sweet, high-pitched, cartoon voice, “Wanna play some play-dohs with me Mommy?”  An offer I can’t refuse!

I try to resist discouraging her inevitable mixing of the colors (why DO store bought red and blue make brown anyway?) and often find myself tuned out as I sculpt my own mini dinosaurs and lady bugs.  The pliable putty is practically a time machine reversing adult stresses and responsibilities.

My mom gave me a small container of alum months ago, reminding me it was a key ingredient in homemade play-doh.  Today, cooped up at home with a feverish baby and record breaking heat, we finally got a chance to make our own fun. Our inner Rodins came out as we sculpted and pinched, forgetting all of our woes if even just for an hour.

Homemade Play-doh Recipe

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 Tablespoon alum powder
1 cup water
1 Tablespoon oil
Optional fragrance – essential oil or 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
Liquid or gel food coloring

Put flour, salt and alum powder together in a sauce pan. Stir to combine. Add water and oil and cook over medium heat stirring constantly. Continue to stir as lumps form, eventually it will become the consistency of thick mashed potatoes. Remove from heat. Let cool until you can handle it.

Put dough on counter and use your hands to knead and form it into a ball. Separate into balls depending on how many colors you want to make. Flatten the ball slightly, add a few drops of color and fragrance if you are using it and fold it and continue to fold it on itself mixing in the color. For darker color, continue to add drops and knead.

Thank you to everyone for your interest and for leaving comments on my last post.  I am glad I broke my rule about giveaways.  I loved reading about everyone’s real deals.  My real deal?  All of you!  Thank you for making blogging so much fun.  I wish I could rent out the stadium and and take all of you who read, comment and send good vibes my way to the concert.

I am in a stage of life that offers me very little private time. Running a client based communications business and raising a child in an era of cell phones, text messages, twitter, and facebook means almost constant interaction with others.   My rare business trips offer me some of the only extended, uninterrupted alone time I ever have.  This precious time occurs with my seat belt tightly fastened.

On a recent overnight trip to New York I had a truly enjoyable and uplifting travel experience. Like me, you probably thought such a thing had become extinct.  On the Delta shuttle out of Chicago Midway, surrounded by mostly savvy travelers, I had the chance to slow down, relax and gain some perspective.  Many people in my life are experiencing struggles of late and I have been caught up in emotion while spiraling through the busy craze of everyday.

My first reminder that things are not always as they seem, was the voice of a female pilot who welcomed us over the plane’s intercom before two quite tough looking male flight attendants, one of them with hair in braids, prepared us for the flight.   I clutched my airport coffee with both hands and huddled against the window watching the landscape speed by before shrinking into the distance. Up, up through the dark clouds and light rain, the plane shook a bit from side to side.  I breathed deeply, sinking further into my chair, reflecting on all of the weightiness that adult life can bring.

My view of the gray and green grid below went blank as we entered the clouds and within moments, we burst through to smooth air and the most glorious blue sky. At first, I was almost stunned by the immediate change in surroundings.  And then I remembered, no matter what darkness temporarily impedes your view, that bright blue sky is always there, just above the clouds.  I spent the rest of the flight to New York and the flight back thinking, catching up on reading, gaining some needed big-picture perspective and rediscovering my blue sky.

This is primarily a food-centric blog.  But, as I have written above, Whipped is about food, drink and conversation from around the table. I foresee I will be talking about Fuerza Bruta around many a table and so will you once you go and see it!

Last night, I was lucky enough to be one of the first in Chicago to experience Fuerza Bruta.   Upon arrival, the audience was led through the historic Auditorium Theatre right up to the stage where we stood together for the duration of the performance.

Fuerza Bruta is a thrilling, experiential, new style of theatre.  It has the inventiveness of Blue Man Group during their opening season (before they made themselves boring), the physical beauty as well as the visual and auditory stimulation of Cirque du Soleil and the energy of the best concert you have ever attended.

Together with the performers, the audience moves around the stage surprised and engaged with each “act.”  It got a little messy at times and for some perhaps it was all too close for comfort.  But, I found that the proximity to the action and the physical interaction between performers and audience created an unbelievable exchange and crescendo of energy throughout the show.

Fuerza Bruta moves seamlessly from being beautiful and breathtaking to loud and dynamic.  The show is sexy, unexpected, sensual, active, vibrant, entertaining and colorful.  Though it is full of tricks, it didn’t feel gimmicky.  I left the theatre feeling a bit more alive than when I entered.

If you are severely claustrophobic or can’t physically stand for an hour, you might not want to go.  Everyone else, wear comfortable shoes, open your mind to a new type of theatre and prepare for an hour like no other.

Watch a video preview here and buy tickets here.

Dear Linda,

It is a rare moment in life when a large, white cargo van pulls up to your house and unexpectedly delivers a heavenly coconut cake made by a woman you have never met.  On this rainy, chilly Chicago day, that exact scenario tipped my day from great to unforgettable.

I can still remember the evening that I tasted my first bite of your coconut cake.  After a less than satisfying meal, your son saved the day by producing a fluffy, heavenly cloud of white cake that was said to have come from your kitchen.  As if it was an oasis in the desert, we scrambled, forks clashing as we scraped it right out of the pan.

When I received your coconut cake recipe and was able to reproduce it in my own kitchen, I felt honored.  But as we all know, things baked by another’s hand often taste better, especially when the recipe is her specialty.  So today, when a windowless van, seemingly driven by a dog, brought one of your cakes to my door, I felt luckier than the folks holding the giant publishers clearing house checks.

Almost immediately, we popped off the lid, dipped our fingers in the fluffy frosting and served ourselves heaping mid-morning slices of cake.  One serving was clearly not enough so to show you our full appreciation, we helped ourselves to another.  By the second serving, the sugar high was sufficiently mixed with the euphoria of eating a surprise cake.  The smiles nearly broke our faces:

You are clearly a special lady.  It is no wonder your boy is one in a million.  I would like to say that I look forward to meeting you in person some day.  But, I must be truthful in that the mystique and great honor of having a Coconut Cake Fairy whose very face eludes me is something quite remarkably romantic.

Sincerely yours,

Caroline

p.s. I heard your macaroni and cheese is the best ever?!

As part of their annual Balsamic Blowout, my pals at Zingermans have schemed up a fun contest.  First, make a video about Balsamic Vinegar.  That’s right, any type of video, even with your iphone or low budget camera.  Upload it it YouTube and you could win a trip for two to Bologna, stay in a 4-star hotel and enjoy a private tour of a balsamic vinegar factory.  Some contests feel like a long shot… this feels possible.  Come on gang… you KNOW you have some funny, clever idea for a balsamic video.   You can find details and your competitors here. If you make one, let me know and I’ll help get out the votes!

At the beginning of the week, a friend stopped by after work to share a cocktail and visit my (somewhat) new house.  She brought with her this bunch of yellow tulips.  They have been a source of bright, happiness all week long and a reminder that my own tulips should peek their little heads out of the ground in just a few short months.  The end of February can be pretty brutal in Chicago.  Yellow tulips from a friend put a BIG band aid on my winter blues.

Mid way through the week, another surprise.  A friend that I don’t see often enough tried to visit Whipped and found the site was down due to bandwidth issues.  He is a web savvy fellow and knew that might mean I had more visitors than usual to this blog.   To “celebrate” not being able to get to my blog due to excessive visitors, he sent me the book On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen.  The Amazon package showed up at my office unexpected and the treasure of a book inside lifted my spirits above the clouds.

It doesn’t take much to surprise someone with an unexpected gift.  For me, the effort and cost that went into these offerings was multiplied a dozen times in the good energy my friends gave me.  This weekend, I have been cooped up at home with an ugly flu bug unable to keep my social plans and falling behind with my “to-do” list.  But, I haven’t felt sorry for myself.  With these yellow tulips brightening my kitchen and an awesome book about my favorite subject… I am feeling lucky for the people in my life.

I’ve done it.  After a bit of lurking, I have actively jumped on the Twitter bandwagon.  I wasn’t sure I could handle another avenue of communication.  And, I am still not sure I have much worthwhile to say on a regular basis.  But, I don’t want to be that old curmudgeon that curses change and gets left in the dust.

So Tweeple, I have overcome my Twitanoia and will try not to get Twitphilia.  If you want to meet up in the Twitosphere, Whipped is here.

I am usually not so eager. I wouldn’t normally come forth asking for such help from strangers. But I could use this. Life has been hectic. Very hectic. And, a jaunt to NYC would be so grand.

Willing to help? VOTE HERE for the Kourabiethes, Greek Butter Cookies in the cookie category. And IF I win and you leave me a comment telling me you voted, I will send you these cookies.