How can you have a Halloween party without Goblin Goo? Or Magic Potion? Or fake blood?
That's the message from Liz Heinecke, aka the Kitchen Pantry Scientist of Edina, who creates her magical concoctions at home with her three children, ages 5, 9 and 10. A former medical researcher who has a master's in bacteriology, she now cultures more germs than ever, as she notes on her website, www.kitchenpantryscientist.com.
Her experiments are well suited for the young crowd at a Halloween gathering. So let's break out the beakers (no safety glasses needed here).
• Goblin goo: In a medium-size bowl, mix together 1 cup of cornstarch and 1/2 cup water, with a little food coloring (purple, green or red would be Halloween-oriented). Use your fingers or a spoon to combine them. Goo will be the consistency of syrup. Messy alert!
When you roll the mixture into a ball, it will act like a solid. When you run it through your fingers, it will act like a liquid.
Science principle: Cornstarch goo is known as a non-Newtonian fluid, which doesn't have the normal properties of either a liquid or a solid. The cornstarch molecules are like long ropes. When left alone, they look like a liquid; when you move them around, or "agitate" them, as scientists describe it, they act like a solid.
• Magic potion: Parents may want to do the prep for this in advance. Chop a head of red cabbage into small pieces and add it to a pan with enough water to cover it. Boil the cabbage uncovered for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Let it cool and strain the juice into a jar or bowl. (Save the cabbage for a meal.)
Pour about 1/4 cup cabbage juice (this is the "magic potion") into two clear glasses or bowls and set them on a white piece of paper so you can watch as the color changes.