Hubble, Bubble...

We've been on Grandparent Duty this week. Great fun, but exhausting! Rosie asked if she could create some 'mythical magical potions' like she had done at home with Mummy. She just needed a few kitchen ingredients and she would sort it all out...

I decanted a few of my baking 'sprinkles' into small plastic pots. Then she asked for salt and sugar.

That was easy, and I added 2tbsp yellow cornmeal, and some demerara sugar. "This could be Dragon's Blood"  Rosie said, handing me the blackcurrant squash. I put a tiny drop of green colouring into a beaker of water. 1tsp sumac gave a pot of deep red powder.

Rosie took everything out to the table in the garden, along with plastic spoons and mixing bowls. Then requested pen, paper and scissors so she could prepare labels. She had lots of fun mixing up potions, and by lunchtime, all the little pots were empty and strange concoctions were in evidence. I was impressed by her renaming of everyday ingredients

fairy dust

shooting stars

sun powder

moon dust

dragon's blood

and my favourite - the green water was algae sneeze! Rosie insisted on leaving her bowl of potion outside overnight "tomorrow it will be thick" she said. 

I made a magical concoction of my own this week too - I put a spoonful of apricot jam in the bottom of 4 glass jars, then topped it with a creamy mixture of kefir, whole milk and a sachet of gelatine. It made a refreshing, cool dessert after Sunday lunch. I have named it Kefir-cotta. The kefir continues to work well - I left it in the fridge, unattended, all last week as we were away a lot, but it revived again quite happily on the Saturday. I really do like it on breakfast granola, and in fruit smoothies.

Rosie returned on Wednesday to check her potion - which had mysteriously become a sparkly jelly. She was very excited that her prediction had come true [I confessed to her parents that a wizard called Dr Oetker had sprinkled his special granules overnight!]