Play Dough!! Plus a secret ingredient!

So... I have been lacking inspiration for posts, and have been busy with life, but I do really want to get back into blogging. The best way I can think is to at least make a post when I am hit by motivation - however few and far between they are (maybe they will slowly start to become frequent again).

I have been wanting to do a project with/for the kids and play dough has been in the back of my head for awhile. One day I actually sat down and search the internet to find a recipe that was easy but would still yield some good play dough. I wanted a no-bake/no-stove-top recipe, as well as a recipe that did not require cream of tartar because here in Bulgaria I have not been able to find it (at least in the shops in the town I live in).
I found this helpful YouTube video and began by following it. You need separate bowls of water plus the added food coloring and oil, to which you add the flour and salt mix. I had four bowls, two with regular food coloring and two with unconventional attempts at dying ingredients from my kitchen, one I wanted to see if I could get a color from a very purple fruit tea, and another one I added an effervescent magnesium tablet that I had, that produces a very pink color, I wanted to see if it would transfer the color to the play dough.
I began working the dough of the first bowl (the magnesium experiment) and it turned out soft and very workable and I didn't have to knead it for very long at all (though the pink did not hold up and it turned out to be just white play dough, but that was fine). Next I turned to the tea experiment and right away it needed more water while I was kneading and I felt the minutes ticking by as I was working the dough, after a good while of kneading and collecting the falling scrapes and kneading some more I got it to stick together as good as I could but it was not a very good play dough consistency in my opinion and was rather hard to work with. I summed it up to a tea fail, thinking maybe the tea had a drying effect......or something(?). Picked up the next bowl containing the blue dye and began the process of mixing then kneading, and had the same hardships as the tea dough (I added both a bit more water and oil trying to get the same consistency and softness I had in the first play dough ball). The blue one did turn out better then the tea one, but still not as good as the first. SO I decided to grab a magnesium tablet and dissolve it in the green dyed water/oil that was my final bowl to mix up, just to see if that was what made the difference. After it was completely dissolved I mixed it and kneaded it AND! I had the very same results as the first batch!
I have no clue why magnesium would make a softer, better play dough (for a no-cook method), but it did!

The magnesium tablets I used.

I did get one shot of the dissolving table, before forgetting my camera again.

I redid two whole new batches for the dud colors - blue dye, and the tea experiment - with the added magnesium, and they both turned out great as well! The tea one yeilded a color that was not as purple as I was expecting (I used about 4 tea bags to the 1/4 cup of water) but it made a nice greyish-purple none-the-less.

Now the unfortunate thing is I do not have step by step pictures :( I was meaning to take pictures through the whole making-of process, but I got so wrapped up in making play dough and watching the kids having fun with the finished ones I completely forgot I had wanted to take pictures. Sorry! I did take one or two pictures though, not very informative, but at least you can see that the kids enjoyed it! If I make more I will try and remember to have my camera ready at each step.

All the good play dough balls.

The two 'duds' harder and much more 'flaky' or crumby.

Even Daddy was getting into the play dough action!

They seem to like the blue one!

I have been keeping it in the refrigerator, wrapped in cellophane when it is not being used, and let it sit out to get as close to room temperature before being played with - however seeing it in plain site on the table and waiting to play with it is a hard thing for toddlers.  The kids have been asking to play with play dough now multiple times every day! As soon as I see it beginning to dry out I will try restoring it as I would with store bought play dough, kneading it with a little bit of water. I have noticed if the kids play with one color for more then an hour it starts to get a little bit dry, and so far squishing it all together and wrapping it in cellophane has halted any drying and the next time they use it, it is back to normal.

Bulgaria, blogging, home...

So I haven't been blogging steadily, or really AT all, since our bike trip across the states and our time in Maine. We have been bouncing around seeing bits of Bulgaria, Romania, and such. However, now that we are at home in our own apartment and will be living in Bulgaria full time for years to come I think I should start blogging and writing again.

This is more a started/affirmation for myself post. I will be thinking within the next couple weeks where I want to take this blog, and how often I would like to create posts...in other words set a few goals. (Not very strictly of course seeing as having the kids and now Voda running the house I am leaving myself leeway...)

Hopefully there will be new posts very soon!!!

The Meaning of Ave.

Ave - All hail.

Aireon-Rohe - A melodious boundary.

Aumvati - Possessing the power of Aum (the universe).

Nuada - Protector.

Varanasireku - The powerful ruler of the holy city Benares.
This is taking a city name in India that we thought was beautiful, and adding 'reku' on the end. Reku is also in Soeren-Raedeks name, and is Icelandic in origin. Reku means powerful ruler.


I don't think I mentioned Soerens full name and meaning in my blog yet so here is his full name + meaning:

Soeren-Raedek, meaning "Stern counsel, of a swords edge." Soren is Danish/Dutch/Scandinavian (which is most of my background), Chris thought of it one day and mentioned it, and it just clicked, and it means stern or strict. "Rad" comes from Old Germanic and "Raed" comes from Olde English both mean counsel or advice. "Ag" or "ek" comes from Norse and Germanic origins meaning "awe, terror, fear; the edge of a sword". And I combined raed, and ek, and fellin love with it. So we combined them to really give a meaningful, powerful name which paid homage to our Scandinavian/Old European roots; Soeren-Raedek. We really liked the look of the double vowels and it helps a little with the phonetics. The "oe" makes is a long "O" and the "ae" makes it a long "A". Or well, it is supposed to anyways, but people will still mispronounce it.

Sivananda (Siva (She-va)- is Sanskrit, meaning 'The bliss of Siva (or God, Divine, Universe, etc.). It was originally just used as a place holder because Chris had a little obsession with the amount of syllables in naming the baby, so that the name would sound like a poem. Chris really wanted to have a Vedic/Indian name because he is Hindu and worships Lord Siva. It eventually just crept in and stayed. Sivananda is sort of for our feelings that he is a gift from the Universe, Divine, God and children are bliss.

James, meaning 'The supplanter'. Well, James had been a topic of debate throughout the pregnancy. Chris' middle name is James, I personally have a love for the name because my deceased grandfather's name was James, and Chris as well had an uncle whom he really cared for whose name was James . So that name is in honour of three people. It was still up in the air whether or not James would be in his name. Once he was born, I decided finally that it WOULD be in his name.


Athanazereku, (Ah-tuh-NOSS-re-koo) meaning, 'The immortal powerful ruler'. This is another bit of a story. Chris' Great (Great??) Grandfather was named "Athanase" and he really wanted an "older" name from our family. One that isn't still often used. I found the name "reku" while researching the name 'Soren' actually. It comes from Icelandic and means powerful ruler. Then, the same day I found out that Athanase was actually ancient Greek and meant "immortal" so we put them together to make "Immortal, powerful ruler."

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Bulgaria Update

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It is getting colder in Bulgaria, but even though the leaves are all starting to fall to the ground it is still just as beautiful as colorful trees. The rolling hills, trees, villages, and back roads have Chris and I driving and driving, just wanting to see more. Each village has such an individual personality, and the houses vary in slight ways from village to village. We are now staying in a village about 6 km from the last village we were staying at. It is a very small village named Osikovo, with a single road in and out. Every morning at exactly 8:30 one of the villagers walks the goats of the village that he 'nannies' past our door and into the hills for food, water, and roaming space. It is a simple, yet very foreign way of life compared to anything we have seen in the states. As winter closes in huge piles of wood appear in front of houses and slowly you see more and more people out cutting and storing away wood for the winter. Many houses go through anywhere from 5-10 tons of wood a winter, and wood stoves are all that is used aside from a rare electric heater in a house that can afford it. Villages thrive on supplying themselves and the nearby villages with what everyone needs. Bulgaria itself is very proud of the fact that it does not import much, if anything, and is much more involved with exporting goods as well as supplying itself with its own goods. Springs are clattered all over the country side as well as in ALL the villages. And the natural water springs are never barren of people! It is a gorgeous site, we love the springs here.
Almost every house has its own garden and animals that provide them with the bulk of their food, and what people don't have they trade among themselves for. Bartering is very huge in the villages, trading your home grown tomatoes for a bit of cnpnhe (pronounced "Seer-i-neigh") which is goats cheese, is much more common then paying for it. Walnuts are in abundance everywhere, and every tree that is not on personal property (and sometimes even the ones that are) is free game for anyone gathering walnuts, which is most of all the villages. There is a tree right outside from the land we are watching over and about twice maybe three times a day people come by with bags searching for fallen walnuts. Here in the villages the residents collect walnuts and sell them for 1-2 Lev (Bulgarian Dollar) a kilo, which works out to equalling roughly 50 cents to a dollar U.S. money. A friend of ours who also lives in Osikovo takes care of his Baba (Grandma) and his cousin by collecting walnuts, finding odd jobs around the village, and cutting and stacking wood for people. He comes by regularly and gives us Bulgarian “lessons”, drinks beer, and teaches us little things about the nearby villages and villagers.
Chris and I have enjoys the local wine and beer, home made and store bought. Beer here is dirt cheap and rather good so we have had to restrain ourselves and practice self-control :D.
As for the kids Soeren is loving all the animals that he sees EVERYWHERE and is learning Bulgarian as well as expanding his ever growing english, the Bulgarians and English folks that know him call his language 'Soerenski'. Ave is growing like crazy and took three steps on her own the other day! She is loving all the friendly Babas and guys the love to pick her up, give her massive amounts of attention, and talk nonsense to her.

I will update more as soon as we have a more steady supply of internet. Which will be within the next month or so, fingers crossed!Photos on Facebook!

As Promised..

PICTURES!!! Facebook is much easier and quicker when it comes to photos so here is the link.


Sorry no big update right now, I am having a beer called Kamenitza at the local pub, with some great people! :)

Culture Shockish

Our family journeys across Europe have begun, first stop Bulgaria!!

I had an advantage in terms of Bulgarian culture shock since I lived 4+ years in Puerto Rico with my family. Upon our arrival to Bulgaria I kept saying “wow...this looks familiar”, of course Bulgaria isn't Puerto Rico, this was mainly just an easy way for me to adjust to such a different environment. Chris had a bit more “Culture Shock” then me, which I think has to do with this Puerto Rico advantage I held. After jet lag and adjusting passed we had a fun couple days at a first annual music festival in the Village of Voditsa, where we met many travelers, foreigners, and locals alike. I think Soeren-Raedek came close to meeting as many, if not more people then we did, as he was constantly high fiving people I had merely smiled in passing to. Our email contact list is much fuller then it was a week and a half ago when we arrived in Sofia, Bulgaria I can say that much. Even on our train ride from Sofia to Voditsa we met a wonderful guy named Angel whom certainly lived up to his name. Angel told us quite a bit about the area and helped welcome us to Bulgaria with tips and first person info. (It was a 5 hour train ride and Angel was riding with us for 4 of those hours...so you can only imagine how much we all talked!)

Even though we haven't been here but a week and a half it feels like 3 or more! We have been taking in so much of the culture, the language and getting to know our hosts better. So far our work has contained of husking walnuts (which we will be doing more of the rest of our time here), relocating mud bricks, taking down the festival site, removing a vegetative menace simply called “creeper”, piling firewood, gathering vegetables, cleaning and preparing a future “rocket stove” site, and more. In the following days and weeks we will be doing much of the same things and more, this rocket stove is the big project ahead of us, it is an L shaped mud brick oven about 2+ feet or so high, that has a channel down the center of it where the smoke passes through, thus if sat on will also double as a warm bench to sit on. I will of course know MUCH more about it by the end of the week. I will also be taking pictures of the progress to post here on my blog.

One thing every single Gendron family member loves so far about Bulgaria is the farmers/shepherds, that walk their cows, sheep, or goats, up our street every day. Most of them take their herd to the field on a hill nearby (where the festival site was located) to let the animals graze and get fresh spring water for awhile. It is awesome to see and hear the shepherds yelling and guiding their large herds around! I get a kick out of it every time, I love it!

As for our communication with the world outside of the Village of Voditsa we will be trying to make posts or at least small updates every couple weeks (give or take), all depending on how busy we are and how motivated we are on our non-volunteering days (days off, if you will). Even though we haven't been here long our days off have been spent going to the nearby larger city of Popovo, spelled in Bulgarian as; Попово.

We will try to be updating at our earliest convenience! We have internet available to us, it just all depends on when we get around to getting on the interweb! 

Thanks for wanting to keep updated as well as reading!! I am going to need to resize the pictures because they are all to big to be uploaded quick enough - I will do a follow up post with pictures as soon as they are ready! Sorry! :( Here is the one picture that uploaded:

Soeren getting walnuts out of a barrel.