Jimmy Can Crack Corn: Masa Flour Playdough

Given that we live in a condo in the middle of the city with no real storage to speak of, lots of people ask us where we keep all the stuff we use to craft.  And the answer depends on who you ask.  Mom would tell you of it's all organized (read -- organized in her mind, jammed into closets and cupboards in reality).  Dad would tell you it's all over the place.  And Kane and I would tell you it's in the pantry -- because it appears everything ends up in the pantry in the end.  Needless to say, we're all excited when we find an art or craft project that allows us to use up random odds and ends.  Particularly when we end up buying too much of a perishable item (like the coconut incident of 2011).

We've also been on a quest to find new playdough ideas, so when the giant bag of masa flour (corn flour) fell out of the pantry last week and nearly spilled everywhere, a little lightbulb went off: masa flour playdough!  We started with our favorite playdough recipe, but had to tweak it a bit to get the consistency just right.  It smells like tortillas and has a super cool texture.  Mom tried to get us to open up a play Mexican restaurant, but we wanted to use it for our usuals -- birthday cakes, pirates and army men.  Here's how to make ours -- you'll need:

- 4 cups water
- 5 cups masa flour (reserve 1 cup)
- 1 cup salt
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 4 teaspoons cream of tartar

Combine water, 4 cups masa flour, salt, cooking oil and cream of tarter in large pot over medium heat, stirring constantly until most of the moisture is absorbed (we found this step went quickly with the masa flour).  Let it cool on some wax paper or the countertop.  We found ours pretty sticky at this point, so we folded in about 1 cup more of maize flour a little bit at a time.  Store in airtight container. 

We don't know enough about gluten to claim that this is "gluten-free," but we think it just might be.  If you know, clue us in!  Either way, it was super fun.

smells like chips! 

yes that would make a nice tortilla, mom.  now i'm going to cut it up.

singing my #1 hit "happy birthday to dora"

making a tower for the army men