Best homemade play dough recipe that I've ever tried

Today is play dough day! We have all been there before, haven't we mamas? Oh, the salty mess of it all!  All for so-so dough that isn't all that pleasant to handle, crumbles all over the place, and is sure to be tossed within 2 days, tops! BUT we forge ahead anyway, in hopes of making those inclement days a little more fun for our peeps. Great news! Thanks to bestrecipes.com, I have stumbled upon a wonderful  play dough recipe that is actually pleasantly soft, and keeps for three months or so. Here's what you do:

First, we put Mr. Man someplace safe 'n sound so I can putz around the kitchen without worry.

(insert gratuitous, adorable baby shot here...)

Get your ingredients ready! You'll need:

1 Cup water

1Tbsp. cooking oil

1/2 Cup salt

1 Cup flour

2 Tbsp. cream of tartar

Food coloring (optional)

Since I like to squeeze in as much math as I can for my kinesthetic learner, I will typically challenge him to figure out alternative measures for the recipes we try. (For example: "How many 1/3 cup measures will we need to use for a whole cup of water?") *It clicks! -But I digress...

Combine water, oil and salt in a sauce pan while simmering on low heat.

Turn off the heat and quickly wisk in flour and cream of tartar.

You'll note that right away, the flour starts to pull away from the sides of the pan, forming a ball.

Work quickly, you're amost done!

Now's the time to add food coloring. I have found that eventually the colors are best kneaded into

the dough, but at this stage its fairly hot to touch, and should be removed from the pan to cool.

Once you feel that the dough is cool enough for them to touch, have them knead all of those wiggles right out onto the dough.

*You can even tweek your recipe and add those .20 cent no-sugar-added packets of kool-aid into the simmering water to lend color and a pleasant smell, but I will defer this until my princess is over her "everything is to be tasted' stage!

       See? Nothing to it! My guys love it, anyway.

I threw in a little reference to Magic Eraser since I usually keep one within reach at all times!

--->And don't be hatin on my fake wood laminate countertop! I call it "retro" and figure it will be hip again in ten years or so ;)  Tres Chic!

Have fun!