Gingerbread House 2011 done! Now the waiting begins....

 Can you see the stash of candy in the background? I had to really be creative this year as the candies I used 12 years ago, the last time I created a house, are not available anymore. Luckily, Red Vines are still easy to be found, which I used for the bricks, as well as sugar wafer cookies, although these were doubledecker, which I didn't notice until I got them home. Eeek! They kept trying to separate in layers and were a bit bulky. I tell you this in case you want to create a gingerbread house using some of the elements I have.

 Lifesavers were used to make the stained glass windows, although I would really try to find some yellow candies to crush with the lifesavers as I couldn't find the rolls and in the bagged ones don't have the yellow lifesavers anymore. I put a tealight through the back door to illuminate the windows so you could see them better. Note to self, if wanting to use tealights, make the door big enough for them to go through all the way. :-)

 Spearmint gum drop leaves were harder to find this year, it took me trying at 3 stores before I found them, but I also found some very cool Kukaburra licorice that is similar to millifiore flowers, and were easy to slice. Yay! I wanted to get some pastel mint parielles, but the only store that carried them wanted $8 for them, no way was I going to pay that! Note to friends, they would make a nice Christmas present....I'm just saying.....the Smooth and Melty mints are the best!

 This was the first year I used Necco wafers for the roof, and I like the way they worked out. I used chocolate non-parielles and silver draggies as embellishments which my mother-in-law says looks like diamonds.

 

All parts of the house and grounds are edible, which to me is the best part of a true gingerbread house. Now the waiting begins, we shall see who the winner is. I did have one woman pass me as she and her son were leaving the store and she gasped as she saw the house and said, " Oh, your house is so beautiful! It's the prettiest one here that I've seen!" So, if nothing else, I know that at least two people were delighted at what they saw, and that's the reason to created these. To delight the adults and evoke memories of childhood past, and to delight children and conjure dreams of sugar plums....

Gingerbread House 2011

 It's been sooooo long since I created a gingerbread house, something I love to do if given an opportunity. A local business is offering a $500 dollar 1st prize so that was incentive enough to try my hand at creating one again. It will be an interesting process and project as my FIL is at home from the hospital after a second bout of pneumonia. Although hospice is tending to his needs as far as prepping for the day or getting him ready for bed, I'm the primary caretaker now. He's so sweet, and so appreciative of all that's done for him that he makes it easy to care for him.

While he naps, I will try adding a bit here and there to my little house, in hopes of having it done by Saturday night. Things look a bit rough so far, but as with all creations, you start out with a rough up and then add detail until you have a finished product, with all flaws or oops! parts fixed or covered up. Lucky for me that frosting is a magic eraser or the perfect cover up, as this has been a challenge so far, working in a tiny kitchen without all my tools of the trade at hand. Wish me luck, this will be fun, but we shall see if it gets done. :-)

Gingerbread Bats and Pumpkins, What fun!

Emmett and grandma, (that would be me) made some gingerbread bats, ghosties, and pumpkins last week. We had so much fun! Emmett especially loved testing the frosting.....
again.....
and again.....
and again. I wonder what time he went to sleep that night? Giggle! We used my favorite gingerbread recipe. It's definitely time tested as I used it numerous times to win grand champion of the Fairbanks Daily Newsminer Gingerbread House Contest. Here's the recipe so you can start planning now for creating your own gingerbread cookies, or even a house for the holidays.

Gingerbread Dough

5 c. flour, 1 t. salt, 1/4 t. nutmeg, 1/2 t. cloves, 3 T. cinnamon, 1 t. ginger
1- 1/8 t. baking soda, 1 c. shortening, 1-1/4 c. sugar, 1 egg well beaten,
1 c. light molasses, slightly warmed, 1/3 c. water

Sift together 1 c. flour, salt, spices and soda. Cream shortening, then add sugar gradually, beating until light and fluffy. Add egg, then slightly warmed molasses. Stir water into mixture. Stir in sifted flour and spice mixture gradually. Add the rest of the flour one cup at a time, until dough is soft and moist to the touch of your finger. Cover and chill 6-8 hours. Roll out on oiled foil to 1/4 or 1/8th inch thickness. Bake at 350 degrees 8-10 minutes. If you are making house pieces bake as dark as you can get it without burning. It's very important to bake house pieces long enough. Cookies don't need as long.

Tips for making gingerbread houses.
1. As soon as you take the pieces out of the oven lay your pattern over each piece and trim with a very sharp knife. This will insure that your pieces go together nicely. If the pieces start to harden before you get them all trimmed put them back into the oven just to warm them enough to trim easily.

2. In the widest frying pan you have, melt about 1 cup or more of sugar at a moderately low temperature until liquid. Dip one joining side into the hot sugar mixture and then quickly match up with other piece to make a corner. Continue to do this with all your pieces. The hot melted sugar makes a wonderful edible glue that hardens quickly and nicely. If you get drips on your pieces, wait until the sugar hardens and you should be able to remove them. This makes it a lot faster and easier to put all the sides and roof together, and it's much sturdier. I hope to make a small video to show you how it's done.
If you have any questions just drop me a line.