paint cut paste

this activity isn’t so much about making art and more about appreciating the cycles of nature… it just takes about 50 cents to do it. this time of year, nurseries are bursting with buckets of bulbs for all kinds of flowers. one of our favorites (all winter long) are paperwhites (narcissus) because they are such fragrant flowers.

i brought a paperwhite bulb home for novi so that she could watch it grow and learn about flower bulbs. watching a bulb produce a flowering plant is a good lesson in patience for a young child, yet they grow relatively quickly so it’s not such a drag.

we happen to have a vase especially for bulbs, which has a little cup shape at the top to hold the bulb with a small neck so the bulb doesn’t fall in, but if you don’t have this, just push toothpicks into four sides of the bulb and balance it on top of any glass cup or jar that you have. i recommend a clear one, so that your child can see the roots as they begin to shoot down.

it was fun for us to keep our bulb in the plant window in our kitchen. we made a ritual of checking on it each time we washed novi’s hands in the kitchen sink. she looked forward to this time.

it only took about ten days for the bulb to shoot its roots down and stems upward, and bloom into lovely little white flowers. now our whole kitchen smells amazing from these tiny blooms!

next we are going to watch an avocado seed sprout… then maybe garlic… and sooner than later, perhaps another trip to the nursery for some spring tulips for our outdoor garden.

okay, so we don’t have any snow here in the SF bay area, but most of my east coast friends and family have been enduring the white stuff for weeks. i’ve gotten several requests for my family’s snow ice cream recipe, so i thought i’d share the ritual here that i’ve been enjoying since the 70s. it’s the yummiest snow activity i can think of! (hot cocoa is amazing, sure, but this is such a treat!) we made snow ice cream last march when we were living in virginia, so i’ll put those photos here for nostalgia’s sake.

first put a big bowl (about a gallon sized bowl) on your deck or porch to catch the freshly fallen flakes when it’s about to snow.

then bring it inside and stir one can of sweetened condensed milk into the snow. then add a one teaspoon of vanilla extract.

if you don’t have a can of sweetened condensed milk and can’t get to the store, you can always use vanilla pudding (my mom’s recommended substitute) or a cup of sugar and a cup of cream or milk… but NOTHING beats some good ol’ sweetened condensed milk, so stock up for the winter!

eat it immediately. if you don’t finish it, you can freeze some, but let it get soupy before eating it again. you can also add crushed pineapple (my mom’s fav) or other fruit, but i like mine straight up!

enjoy… and don’t you eat that yellow snow! now i’m counting down the days until my family can make snow ice cream in tahoe… sooon…