11 December 2011

Gingerbread House


Gumdrops, candy canes, marshmallows and more!  Valerie was determined to make a gingerbread house with the kids this year, and I think we came up with a delightful little candy clad cottage.

Gingerbread house kits abound at the stores these days, but to me that feels like cheating.  It's just my nature to try to make things from scratch; especially things that are edible, so I figured a gingerbread house should be no different.

I modeled the gingerbread house design from the Santa houses that Nonna and Grandpa used to make.  I measured the dimensions of the Santa house and cut templates out of construction paper.  I found a recipe online for the gingerbread and got to work.

I rolled out the dough, put the templates down, and cut around the templates.  I baked the gingerbread and then cut around the templates again after it came out of the oven.  I whipped up some royal icing and waited for the pieces of the house to cool before assembly.

It was nerve wracking working with those pieces of gingerbread, knowing that one could snap if I made one wrong move.  Thankfully, the pieces held together and the house went up without any issues.  The house was ready for decorations, and the kids were all too ready to help.

I was also nervous watching Ari and Emilie's little hands as they put the decorations on.  There was one mishap early, but it was easy to fix, and they were otherwise very delicate and careful with the way they worked.  I am delighted with the way our gingerbread house turned out; it has just the right amount of character and charm.

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