Gingerbread

I have the best gingerbread recipe (from the red and white cookbook), and even Aaron who doesn't like many sweets likes these. We decided we were going to build epic gingerbread houses. I have always wanted to make them for real by cutting them out of dough - instead of milk cartons and graham crackers (even though they make gingerbread flavored graham crackers these days) or instead of the kits. Lets face it, the gingerbread in the kits is an insult to real gingerbread. Aaron decided he was going to make epic cardboard cut-out plans with exact measurements and whatnot... 

We were supposed to make them last weekend, but after attending a debate contest where I judged public speaking and Aaron monitored kids preparing speeches, we had to spend Sunday working on final papers. Disappointing, but the consequences of graduate school and extra curricular activities.

I started poking around. At the coffeeshop I flipped through "This Old House" (I have eclectic taste) and was looking at their gingerbread entries (you should look at some of these). Good grief! They featured books you could buy with plans. I thought about buying one, but if I ordered it online it wouldn't get here in time and I didn't feel like driving into town to try to hunt one down. So I just looked through theirs and wondered at the construction and decoration. Suddenly gingerbread houses, even simple ones, looked too complicated.

While Aaron was napping I played with the cooky press (yes cooky - this one is at least circa 1950 - the kind with the screw hand crank). It was actually pretty easy and the cookies do look really pretty. I had mixed the gingerbread dough the weekend before and taken it out of the fridge so it had to be used now, but construction houses seemed like too much work. Even Aaron was voting for simple cookie-cutter shapes.

We decided on Christmas trees because of one I had seen online, but first we needed a pattern. I handed Aaron some paper and scissors and we tried our hand at patterns. It's a lot harder ((and funnier) than it looks and there is a learning curve. It took three or four before we got one we liked and that could work. No luck with a snowman pattern. I rolled out the dough and Aaron and I cut out the pieces. We were going to make two trees with four sections, then we made some extras in case they got broken, and then we looked at how much dough there was and decided to make four trees with some extras and a handful of shapes to use up the rest of the dough.

Aaron and I worked together to put together another Shepard's Pie. It was so good the last time I couldn't wait for another one, plus it was relatively easy. After dinner, I mixed some frosting and we put the trees together. My confectioner's sugar was not the glue I had hoped and the trees leaned precariously, plus there was serious design flaw in regards to stability and support. We opted to use the industrial strength tube frosting that I've had for over a year, that requires no refrigeration, and yet still tastes sweet and sugary. Ugh, preservatives and chemicals.

Eventually we got four trees put together and two of them decorated. Throwing sprinkles at frosted sides does not work (you can see my failed attempt). All of the trees looked unstable, but somehow stayed standing. I think they look magnificent. Aaron is disappointed with the quality and I had to let him know that when it comes to some things, the curve between 12 and 29 is not as great as one would imagine - finished products from both probably look about the same. Interestingly, they look way better in the photos than they do in real life. AND they still taste delicious!

I frosted the remaining cookies so I could try out these decorating markers Kelley had gotten me eons ago. How cool! Edible markers to draw whatever you want! Why had I not tried these earlier?

Mom asked if we used slots in our construction- and DUH! Why didn't we think of that? So there are plans in the making for next year's gingerbread creations. That and decorating them first and then putting them together might be a lot easier, especially in regards to sprinkles. :)