ADVENTURES IN ECO-PARENTING

LEAH KLEIN MAKES GOING GREEN CHILD’S PLAY

THE SWEETNESS OF FLOWERS: A FUN-FOR-THE-WHOLE-FAMILY CRAFT THAT’LL HAVE
YOU NOT ONLY STOPPING TO SMELL THE ROSES, BUT EATING THEM, TOO

Every spring, I experience my ’70s childhood again. My hippie chick, flower child, easy, breezy,
beautiful—oops, sorry, a little too much Top Model viewing after the kids’ bedtime—state of mind
comes back to me. There is something about buds on trees and tiny crocuses peeking through
the dirt that makes me focus on the small stuff. No, not sweating the small stuff. Focus on the crocus…
the small stuff, literally.

I start to notice the birds singing early in the morning. It doesn’t bother me that it takes us half an hour to walk around the block because we stop to smell the lilacs or someone notices an ant walking across the sidewalk.

Responsibilities fly out the window with the breeze. We spend hours at the playground running, biking, watching the clouds drift by and making dandelion bouquets. You know the kind: stems of all lengths, limp (okay, half dead), yet so touching because it was carefully The Sweetness Of Flowers picked especially for you.

May is a month of parties: real ones and tea parties with the teddy bears. There are baby or bridal showers, birthday parties and Mother’s Day celebrations. You don’t have to have flowers, but just the right blossoms make each of these events so much better. Flowers are beautiful on the table, but they are even more impressive on the plate.

I know, you spent the first years of your child’s life telling her not to pick things and eat them, and here we are picking flowers, herbs and vegetables, and putting them on their plates. I am very careful with my kids when it comes to growing herbs and visiting our farm share to remind them that we don’t eat all plants and berries. Edible flowers are a fun way to help children make something beautiful and simple that you can actually use for any elegant party or as a special treat for your mother, friend, sister or even teddy bear, if you must.

A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose…until you paint it with sugar crystals. The most difficult part of this project is finding some organic roses. Depending on where you live, this may be a bit easier for you. Whole Foods Market sells organic flowers, but it depends on the season and your location as to availability.

Children of almost any age can do this activity. All you need are the roses, fine paint brushes (clean ones, not the ones your toddler just used to paint a self-portrait), some egg whites, and caster sugar or superfine sugar (not powdered sugar; this is a fine sugar still in crystal form that is usually in the baking aisle).

Once made, the rose petals keep for a long time in a tin or other container. They can be sprinkled over a cake, or for real oohs and ahhs, you can rebuild the rose in a dollop of whipped cream.

Crystallized Rose Petal How-To

Tools:
Parchment paper
Baking rack
Two little bowls for each child
Paintbrushes

Ingredients:
Superfine sugar (also known as caster sugar)
Organic roses
Egg whites (you can use pasteurized egg whites if you have any concerns about using raw eggs)

Things to do yourself:
Gently separate out the rose petals and make sure they are clean and dry.
Prepare a couple of small bowls (little prep bowls work great here) with egg whites.
Prepare a couple of small bowls (as above) with sugar and a small spoon.
Lay out some parchment on cooling trays. (The petals will stay out for several days to dry, so try to set them up somewhere safe and out of the way of trouble.)

Things to do with the children:
Older children can help separate the petals from the rosebud.
Pat the petals dry.
Children of all ages can paint the egg white onto the rose petals and sprinkle with sugar.
You can either sprinkle the sugar over the petal once painted with egg white or you can dip the petal into the sugar for a thicker sugar coat.

Drying and storing the rose petals:
Be sure to leave the petals out for several days until they become very dry and brittle.

Using the rose petals:
The rose petals can be sprinkled over a cake or can be re-formed into roses.
To re-create a rose, just put a dollop of thick whipped cream and place the rose petals in the cream in a concentric circle.

Leah Klein fondly remembers painting rose petals in her caterer aunt’s flat in London for her beautiful cakes. She is mom to two dandelion florists and writes as the Boston Food Mom for Examiner.com at http://www.examiner.com/x-1240-Boston-Food-Mom-Examiner.