Imagine Childhood : Magic & Memories That Last a Lifetime

... saturday links

Happy Saturday Everyone! Here are a few things that caught our eye this week.

- What Wonderful idea for the Thanksgiving table.

- Keep little hands warm and happy this winter with these adorable DIY hand warmers.

- Check out the largest gamma ray explosion ever recorded!

- Have fun getting lost in this pretty little video, we did.

- Take a peek into the tiny world of nanotechnology, small is beautiful!

- We're pretty sure these are the perfect pre-Thanksgiving-dinner snack.

 

xox

~ i.c

. . . light the night

Cold, clear nights equal great star watching. But sometimes the dark can be a little scary, so for the littlest explorers in our lives, a constellation night light is just the ticket.

Armed with  Kite Paper, our favorite Astronomy Book, wooden picture frames, boxes and embroidery hoops, we got to work.

Start by letting the kids pick out their favorite constellations, and have fun learning about the stories behind them.

 Follow that up with star drawing practice, a little bit of connect-the-dots...

. . .some easy assembling. . .

 . . . and suddenly. . . 

. . .the dark isn't so scary anymore.

I had a blast hanging out with my favorite little explorers the other day and we decided to make some night lights. The goal was not perfection, but learning a little and having a lot of fun. The Big Dipper was by far their favorite constellation, closely followed by Orion and Cassiopeia.

I picked up a the frames, plus a few awesome supplies from Imagine Childhood before the play date. For the night lights I went to the pre-made, plain wood section of the craft store. It took a bit of imagination, but in the end I picked a rotating multi-sided picture frame, a circular box, and a few small embroidery hoops. I let the girls pick out what they wanted to use and we went from there.

The rotating picture frame actually worked out really well. After the girls picked out constellations and drew them on the paper (with a little help), I used an exacto knife to cut out the stars, and then cut the paper to fit in the photo slots. Blue paper for the stars with a piece of white paper behind it. The last thing we did was put an LED light in the center. One light ended up being a little too dim to really show off the constellations, but I think adding another just might be the ticket.

Happy Friday!

~ Jordan

 

*Last time in Crafts and Activities: Holiday Catalog and a Giveaway!

... tell me a story: bird bingo giveaway!

 The temperatures are dropping, and our feathered friends are flying South for the cold winter months ahead.

So what is an avian enthusiast to do...

 ... when only a few cheeky little friends remain?

Keep them right here with us, that's what. Keep your birding skills sharp through the winter with Bird Bingo!

 FIlled with lovely illustrations so bright and vibrant you may think your favorite birds are right there with you, plus the added fun of a classic game, the time will fly by...

 ... and before you know it, warm days and our dear feathered friends will be back, and you'll be ready for them. This delightful game is new to us this year and we love it! That being said we think one of you lucky folks should have a game too!

For a chance to win Bird Bingo, simply leave a comment on this post by 8am MST Thursday November 28th. The winner will be chosen by random number and announced later that day.

And the winner is... Nancy who wrote:

"lovely! very sweet packaging. we're doing Feeder Watch and have been enjoying our time with the neighborhood birds."

 

Thank you to everyone who participated!

 

~ Jordan

 

P.S. Here are a few great ways to keep our feathered friends who do stick around well fed, warm and cozy this winter:

- A Winter Home for the Birds

- XOX Bird Cookies!

 

*Last time in Books and Stories: Elsa Beskow Minis

. . . the empty fridge: persimmon tart

The Empty Fridge is a monthly series where we challenge that formidable void and make the best of what's on hand.  Join us each month for a new installment, and feel free to share your empty fridge recipes in the comments for this post!

Up this month: Persimmons

Before this, I had never tasted a persimmon.  I'd seen them around at the farmers market, but without a plan or recipe, they just didn't make it into my basket. My husband always said they looked like something from a painting, not something to eat.  So, recently when they showed up in our CSA box, I wasn't quite sure what to do with them.  But there's nothing like an empty fridge. . .

. . . to spur some good old fashioned. . .

. . . experimentation. . .

. . . and I think the test results are good.  Oh. So. Very. Good.

Almond Persimmon Tart with a Raspberry Glaze

Tart Dough (via David Lebovitz)

• 3 oz unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/8" teaspoon salt
• 1 slightly rounded cup of flour

Tart Filling:

• 3-4 ripe (but still a bit firm) persimmons
• 3/4 cup sliced raw almonds
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons raspberry preserves
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons butter

 

Preheat the oven to 410. 

Place the flour, water, oil, salt, and 1 tablespoon of sugar in an ovenproof bowl.  Leave it in there until the butter is melted and bubbling and just beginning to brown.

Pull the bowl out of the oven with an oven mitt or cloth and use that to stabilize the hot bowl while you quickly mix in the flour.  When it forms a ball and pulls away from the edges transfer it to a prepared tart tin (I didn't have one so I just used my spring form tin).  The dough will be hot, so be careful.  When it has cooled enough to handle, press it out into the tin with your hands, trying to keep it as even as possible.  Prick all over with a fork and bake for about 10-15 minutes or until it is golden.

While your tart shell is baking, remove the top leafy section of the persimmons and cut them into 1/8" slices.  In a food processor combine the sugar and almonds and pulse until you have a fine sugary almond meal.

Spread out the sweet almond meal your tart shell in an even layer.  Arrange the persimmon slices in concentric circles and drop small pieces of butter all over the top. 

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until the fruit is tender.

When the tart is out of the oven, place the water and raspberry preserves in a saucepan and heat until the preserves loosen and form a glaze (about a minute).  Brush the glaze onto the tart making sure to get inside the cracks.

Serve with vanilla ice cream, and enjoy!

 

With the Kids: Head to the farmer's market or your favorite grocer with the kids and grab a few persimmons. Learn more about the persimmon fruit. Ask them to try to predict the weather with a persimmon seed. If you have some time to kill before you can bake, paint a still life of the fruit.  A quick image search revealed that my husband was right, lots of people are painting persimmons. Plan a persimmon tea or picnic with their friends and make an afternoon of it!

 

~ Sarah

 *Last time in the Empty Fridge: Kettle Corn Cookies

 

... nature walk: yateley, hampshire, UK

This week's lovely nature walk comes to us all the way from the English Countryside of Hampshire, UK. There, Dean and his family explored the Autumn colors and beautiful fungi growing in the wild areas around Yateley and Cray's Pond. Thank you Dean for sharing your wonderful adventure with us!

If you would like to contribute to our weekly Nature Walk series, you can learn more about submitting photos here, or you can also visit our Nature Walk Group Pool on Flickr to add your adventures to the collection.

Thank you again Dean for sharing!

 

*Last time in Nature Walks: Hoh Rain Forest, WA