Cranberry Tinted Play Dough

We had a few cranberries left over, after our last batch of bread, and I decided to put them to a less fattening, holiday use, by making up a batch of dye for play dough.

I poured three cups of boiling water over about 1/4 cup of berries, and let them steep, until the the water cooled.

Then, just for good measure, I popped them in the microwave for five minutes, and let them sit on the counter until cool, and in the refrigerator, overnight.

This morning, I strained off the berries, and used 2 cups of the tinted water to make up a batch of very pretty, cranberry pink, play dough, following our usual, stove top, recipe.

• 2 cups of flour
• 1 cup of salt
• 4 tablespoons of cream of tarter
• 2 cups of water
• a few drops of food coloring (which we omitted this time).

Cook, stirring constantly, in a medium pan, over low heat, until thick, and rubbery. Remove from the pan, and knead, as the dough cools, until smooth. Store in an airtight container. Usually this recipe keeps for several months. I'm not sure how the natural dye will effect that, though I'm pretty confident it will last through Thanksgiving.

It's great to be a homeschooler.