16/06/2002 @23:44:09 ^00:58:25

Shame about Ireland... Like I was on about yesterday. I hate penalties!

By the way I've archived again.

How to make a copious quantity of playdough

You will need: water, plain flour, salt, cream of tartar, cooking oil, and probably some sort of food colouring.

  1. Put 2 cups (half-pint cups, you know, like mugs you drink tea from) of flour, 1 cup of salt and 4 teaspoons of cream of tartar (it's anyone's guess what that stuff actually is) into a bowl. Mix it all up.
  2. In a jug, add 2 tablespoons of cooking oil and lots of food colouring to 2 cups of water.
  3. Pour the flour/salt/tartar mix into a big saucepan, at least something you can heat on a stove. Slowly mix the water/oil/colouring solution in, until it is all thoroughly mixed up. It will start off stiff and lumpy but should be a fairly consistent colour throughout and quite runny when mixed properly.
  4. Now put the pan on a very low heat. Stir continuously, only stopping to scrap off any gooey lumps that get attached to the spoon. And stir it properly! Don't just go round the edge in circles, and leave the middle alone!
  5. The mixture will become more and more viscous, usually in the way of lumps apparently coagulating. As it becomes more solid, turn the heat down and keep stirring, and turning over the increasingly solid material in the pan (which will require some effort towards the end)
  6. Eventually the mixture in the pan will be one large fairly sticky lump that is almost impossible to stir. At this point remove the pan from the heat. It is important not to wait too long for this to happen, else the mixture will weld itself to the pan.
  7. Scrape out the blob in the pan onto a plate and knead it a bit. That is, give it a damn good pummelling:-) It will become slightly less sticky to your fingers and more sticky to itself, if that makes any sense.
  8. Congratulations. You have now made playdough. Don't eat any of it:-) To stop it from drying out it should be placed in an airtight container. Tying it up in a freezer bag or something should do.

This will produce quite a lot of playdough, about two or three pounds of the stuff. If you don't want that much I don't see why the quantities couldn't be scaled down.

(Credit: I got this recipe from Sarah who got it from one of the teachers at the school she's working at this term. If you're reading this, hon, and you think I've missed anything, please tell me:-) )