This is a picture of the finished bear my daughter made from a Build A Bear kit at her birthday party. We purchased the kits from Joann’s. The kits come complete, including the stuffing, needle and thread, so there is no need to purchase anything extra.

Here’s a closer view of the stitching:

As you can see, the holes are not spaced real closely which has the advantage of not as much stitching for the children, but the disadvantage of visually obvious stitches. Make sure to snug the stitches up so there is as little slack as possible, without puckering the fabric. If the gaps really bother you, you can stitch with smaller stitches using a regular needle and thread, or even a sewing machine. But, I would remind you that if this project is for the kids, a little ‘imperfection’ is okay. The important thing is that they are making a bear themselves and can be proud of their accomplishment!

These Build A Bear kits do take some time and patience, as well as a little skill. Have enough clear space to work in, a big table or something similar. Be sure to explain the basic instructions (I would recommend going over the instructions ahead of time, rather than at the party for the first time!) The kits will get spread out, so watch out to help prevent all those little pieces from getting lost or mixed up with others.

Get each child off to a good start, with an explanation, a small demonstration and correct length of knotted thread. Expect to have to help along the way as well, and to be handy for questions, tying knots, tightening stitches, undoing mistakes, etc.

I would not recommend this kit for children under 5 or 6 unless they have an adult all to themselves to help quite a bit, as they probably will not have the patience or coordination to finish on their own. By age 8 or 9, most children will need fairly minimal help, depending on whether they have had any sewing experience before. One adult per 2 children (or 3 if they are older) is a good ratio. Much more and you may become a little frazzled.

If you choose this as a party craft, you will not need to plan much else for additional activities. You may not have the time (or inclination) to iron on the clothing designs, and that’s okay. That’s something that can get sent home in the kit afterwards. However, do try to finish the bear itself so that the children can hug them and take them home ready to play with.

And, as with any craft with children, don’t forget to take a deep breath every so often when those messes and mistakes happen, or someone is on the verge of tears because “it isn’t turning out right”. If you can stay calm and cheerful, it will turn out all right in the end.

Some of these photos are better than others, but this gives a pretty good representation of what was blooming along the street at the time.

Croissants

Dough:
3/4 cup milk
2 tsp yeast
1 3/4 cup flour
2 Tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt

Butter Layer:
1 1/2 – 2 Tbsp flour
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter

Prepare the Dough (several hours, or the day before):

Heat milk in microwave or in saucepan over low heat just until warm (about 110*F). If it feels, too hot, let it cool to lukewarm (will feel comfortably warm on wrist or back of arm). Add yeast and stir in.

Combine flour, sugar and salt in a bowl and pour in milk and yeast mixture. Stir together until combined, using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. The dough will be a soft and sticky ball. Don’t try to knead it! Cover with plastic wrap or sealed lid and refrigerate for 4 – 12 hours (or a little more – just get back to it by tomorrow!)

Prepare the Butter:

To prepare the butter, sprinkle 1 1/2 Tbsp. flour on a sheet of wax paper. Roll the cold butter in the flour. Cut it into chunks and push it back together into a lump, if you like. The idea is to keep it cold, but get it soft enough to flatten out. Put another piece of wax paper over top and push at the butter with your rolling pin and your hands until it’s malleable, but not melting. If starts to get too warm and soft, let it cool off in the fridge before resuming work. As you push it out, add up to another 1/2 Tbsp. of flour if necessary, to keep it from getting too sticky. You’ll want to try to get it into a rough rectangle about 6 x 9 inches, but it’s okay if you need to piece it together later, though. When done, put it back into the fridge (still between the sheets of wax paper) to stay nice and chilled while you prepare the dough.

Layer the Dough and Butter:

Remove the dough from the fridge. Lightly sprinkle the clean counter with flour, and dump the dough out onto it. Sprinkle a little more flour on top, just enough to keep your hands from sticking to it. Push and stretch the dough out into a 6 x 12 rectangle. Turn it so that the short ends are at the top and the bottom.

Take the flattened butter out of the fridge, peel it off of the wax paper, and lay it on the bottom two-thirds of the rectangle of dough. Piece as necessary.

Now, just like you fold a letter (except backwards), you’re going to fold the unbuttered top third of the dough down over the middle. Then fold the bottom third up over the middle, to make 5 layers of dough and butter.

Lightly flour the counter and dough. Turn the dough so the short ends are at the top and bottom again. Using your rolling pin, start to flatten out the dough. Start by pressing shallow indentations into the dough, then continue to gently flatten and roll out the dough into a 6 x 12 rectangle, being careful not to push the butter out the edges.

Now, fold both short ends in towards the middle, leaving about 1/2″ of space between the ends. Then fold in half.

Gently roll again out into an (approximate) 6 x 12 rectangle. Wrap loosely in plastic wrap (this will allow for expansion as it rises) and place it in the fridge. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, and up to 24 (although, if you plan on leaving it in the fridge this long, place a plastic bag over top, or another layer of plastic wrap so that it doesn’t dry out).

Cut the Croissants:

Sprinkle the counter lightly with flour. Remove the prepared rectangle of dough from the fridge and unwrap. Carefully roll the dough out into a 12 x 12 square.

Cut in half, making two 6 x 12 rectangles. A pizza or pastry wheel works best, but you can use a sharp knife, too. Grab opposite corners (eg. upper right and lower left) and gently stretch the rectangles a little. This is so you can cut out those triangular croissants a little nicer, especially those first and last ones.

Mark out each rectangle into about 6 triangles (I ended up with a little more), each with about a 4″ base. Using your pizza or pastry wheel (or knife), cut them out.

Roll the Croissants:

Now, take each of these triangles and stretch them across the base (bottom), so that it’s about the same length as the other two sides. Then, turn up the bottom about 1/2 inch and hold onto it with one hand, while with the other, grab the point and stretch it out another 2 or 3 inches. Roll up the croissant.

Place the rolled croissants point side down on pans lined with parchment (or wax paper, in a pinch) about 2 inches apart, and curve each croissant a little to make a crescent (moon) shape. (It’s best to use pans with low sides, if you can, as the butter may run off when it melts in the oven and make a mess. With sideless pans, you may want to not place any croissants too close to the edge, or place another pan underneath in case there are any drips.)

Let Rise, and Bake:

Cover the pans of croissants with plastic wrap and allow to rise until about doubled in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Since the dough came out of the refrigerator, it will take awhile.

Set your oven racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat to 375*F.

Brush the risen croissants with egg wash (not too much, or it will puddle underneath, and you don’t want that). Put in the oven and bake about 25 minutes, until they are a dark golden color. They will also feel very light for their size when you pick them up (full of air, you know!)

Serve with jam, marmalade, or Nutella for brunch or tea, along with tea or coffee. Fresh fruit also makes a nice accompaniment.

The recipe I used wasn’t Mom’s, and although it was good, I can’t say it was quite the same. But maybe only Mom can make tea ring that good…

Here’s a picture of how my tea ring turned out:

I’m also hoping to catch up on my recipe backlog this week.

I hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend!

And, believe it or not, I’m once again tackling a BOOK. No, not reading one. Writing one. I’ve started writing books before, but never made it past those first few pages (or paragraphs!). I’m hoping I will, this time. Maybe posting this on the web will give me that little bit of extra incentive and accountability?! I won’t be finishing the book this week, that’s for sure. This is more like a Yearly Challenge!

Although, now I’m thinking of it, I just might pound out a children’s book in a little less time….

They turned out not too bad, though I’d like to try it again with real mashed potatoes when I have the time. You may also notice they are rather irregularly shaped and not paper thin… I’m no expert!

Lefse is definitely a little time-consuming as far as rolling out a huge stack. A half-batch might have been easier, but, oh well. At least it helped use up some of that big box of instant mashed potatoes that our family just doesn’t care for otherwise. So, all in all, it was worth the effort.

We had our Lefse with Yellow Pea Soup. Another traditional Swedish favorite.

Yah, you betcha. I said Lefse. I’m going to try to make Lefse this week.

I remember trying to make Lefse years ago. I was still at home with my folks, and they were temporarily living in northern Minnesota at the time, in Great Aunt Kate’s old farmhouse. That farmhouse had seen better days, but it sure had a character all its own. The floor upstairs was covered in a patchwork of about five different floorcoverings and had a decided tilt. If you weren’t careful, stuff would roll off the dresser. And there was a neat, old, sort of trundlebed under the eaves, where one side pulled out to make it wider. It was the first trundlebed I’d ever seen. And a half-finished patchwork quilt we found, with patches of velvet and pretty embroidered stitches, and boxes of old patterns from the 40’s or so. That fall I picked my first wild plums, and took pictures of wild hop vines climbing the fences by the old red barn. I got to drive my grandparents’ old green Chevelle Laguna, our dogs met a skunk for the first time, and a little half-grown grey tiger-striped kitty – the tiniest cat I’d ever seen, with ears half frost-bitten off – found shelter and a home by our fire in a cold Minnesota winter. That was the sweetest little cat. Back to the Lefse. I had high hopes for the Lefse. But the dough turned out stiff and tough and I just couldn’t get it rolled thin enough. We’ll see if I do any better this time. I think I’ll try a recipe I’ve found that uses potato flakes instead of ‘real’ mashed potatoes. I’m thinking maybe I’ll get ‘em rolled thinner made that way.

I’ve been sick, and it was a 2 day job, and I didn’t get them done til last night, but I did it! Whew! Wow! And they’re all eaten up. They were GOOD! I couldn’t believe I had actually made them.

I’ll get the instructions done up and posted later this week (hopefully!) Definitely a multi-stage recipe!