Mash berries well. Place in
pot with water, vinegar and
sugar. Bring to boil, then re-
duce heat. Simmer five min-
utes.
Allow to cool, then pour
through cheesecloth.
To use with your ink, you
can create your own old-fash-
ioned quill pen out of a feath-
er (an adult will need to help,
as this requires a knife or scis-
sors), or look for a wood stick
with a fine point at your fa-
vorite craft store.

Have Your
Car And
Eat It, Too

Looking for a great gift for that
young man who wants his
own wheels?
Check into "Car Cookies,"
offering edible cookie vehicles
in your favorite styles, like
Mustang and Thunderbird.
These low-sodium, low-fat
cars (okay, so there's one
drawback: they're all the same
color) taste just like animal
cookies, and they make a per-
fect lunch box surprise for
your little Mario Andretti.
They're even officially li-
censed by the major car com-
panies, so don't think you're
getting a burn steer from some
used cookie-car salesman.
"Car Cookies," which are
kosher (Kaf-K, dairy), can be

Q.

ook

ALL NATURAL P._.,AVCA:::
LOW 5004UM-LOW FAT

found at Elie's Wine Market in
Royal Oak.

You've Got
It All
O
Mapped
u

Remember when you were
young and you had to memo-
rize all the states and their
capitals and exactly where
they were on the map?
S000000 boring. (Now, of
course, you remember Jeffer-
son City is the capital of some
Midwestern state — Kansas,
Missouri, Nebraska? — and
you couldn't exactly distin-
guish Oregon and Wyoming
on a blank map...)
Here, at last, is a great new
way to help children of any
age learn about geography.
And best of all, it's fun.
There are several possibili-
ties for this project. If you
have a large, open wall in
your basement you could tape
up a piece of butcher paper.
Or you could buy a notebook
and fill it with blank paper.
If you're opting for the for-
mer, you'll need to make an
outline of the United States,
complete with each state.
Leave plenty of open space

(about 10" is good) for each
state. Or if you think you can
make do with something a lit-
tle smaller, you can buy blank
outline maps of the United
States at many office-supply
stores.
If you're making a note-
book, draw an outline of one
state on each page, until you
have compiled the entire
United States. You'll also
find blank maps, called Maps
on File, at the local library.
These may be photocopied
without violating U.S. copy-
right laws.
Every day, your child
should make an effort to learn
a new state and its location.
Allow him to write the name
on the state (where you live is
always a good place to start.
Next, consider Grandma's
house, or where the child
was born, or the state
that's home to your
daughter's favorite sports
team).
Now it's time for the
fun. You can decorate
your map with all kinds
of treasures. Find a pic-
ture postcard or vaca-
tion photo from each
state, then affix it to
the appropriate space.
Learn about the state's
natural resource, or a

product for
which it is fa-
mous, and add
that, too (a tiny
bag of salt, for
Utah's Salt Lake
City; some sand
from the beaches
of Florida; a cof-
fee-with-chicory
recipe from
Louisiana; a
Chicago Bulls patch from Illi-
nois). You also might want to
look up the names of famous
people from each state, jot
them down on a small piece
of paper and attach it to the
map.

Busy Bees

If you are looking for a lovely
little gift for a lovely little new
babe, consider some of the
nice products from Burt's
Bees, Inc., in Raleigh, N.C.
According to InStyle maga-
zine, Bob Hope and perennial-
ly perky actress Brooke
Shields love Burt's Bees lip
balm. We love Burt's sweet-
smelling buttermilk soap and
powder.
The soap is all vegetable,

with buttermilk and honey
mixed in — a perfect combi-
nation for fresh baby skin.
And it smells s000 delicious.
The powder is talc-free and
contains soothing slippery elm
bark.
Burt's Bees soap, powder
and other products are avail-
able at the Deborah Roberts
Design Room, 206 W 11 Mile
Road, in Royal Oak.

Something
Fishy
Is Going
On Here

So maybe Mom is not really
interested in buying a pet fish
because, let's be honest, who
is going to end up cleaning
out its bowl?
Here's a fun, easy project
that will let a child create his
own fish that never requires
even a bite of food!
You will need:
a piece of thin cardboard
crayons
a pencil or popsicle stick
a piece of tape
On one side of the card-
board, have the child drawfan
empty fishbowl. On the other
side, corresponding to
the center of the bowl,
have her draw a fish.
Decorate with blue
sparkles for water or fish
gills.
Last, use tape to affix a
pencil at the bottom of
the cardboard. Then have
your child twirl the pencil
between his hands. It will
appear as though the fish is
in the tank.

FEBRUAR Y 1997

You will need:
1 cup berries (blueberries or
raspberries work well)
I /2 cup water
1 tsp. vinegar
I tsp. sugar
cheesecloth

9