Play doh

Well, actually this post is about cream of tartar and alum powder. I make playdoh for the kiddos every few weeks. My kids mix all the store bought colours within minutes, creating a nasty brown mess, in order to create sufficient mass for their desired activites. It does drive me nuts - but telling a two year old not to mix the blue and red (which by the way makes purple) falls on deaf ears. Making the playdoh at home gives you massive quantities, with known ingredients (well almost known ingredients) and in one colour if I choose.

We then can smear, wrap, decorate, throw (???) it around the house and each child gets enough playdoh to drive me somewhat nuts.

My big question is what is alum powder? Some playdoh recipes call for cream of tartar and some recipes call for alum powder. They seem interchangeable. I found both at the local bulk store yesterday - so much cheaper than buying a new bottle of cream of tartar at the grocery store. The cream of tartar, however, was twice the price of the alum powder. Can I cut a corner and buy the cheaper ingredient?

Alright, this is almost a moot point (but an interesting one if you ask me) because for my several tablespoons of cream of tartar and a healthy dose of cumin (we use a lot of cumin - rib rubs, yum yum), it cost me a grand total of $2.61. I think the twice the price cream of tartar is probably within the budget - but I am curious.

Anyone?

My playdoh recipe ...

COOKED PLAY DOH:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup salt

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 cup water with preferred color food coloring

1 tablespoon oil

Mix all ingredients. Cook over medium hear until forms into a ball and becomes "translucent", not "milky". Knead dough. Store in plastic covered bowl in refrigerator when not using it.