New Traditions

31 December 2013

I had to add one more picture to this blog!

What a team!

With all the MOVING activities in the month of December it has been a challenge to even acknowledge the holiday season, much less relax for even an hour.  But some things are worth finding the time for.  Three years ago Carol gifted me at Christmas with a book entitled "The Gingerbread Architect".  The book is lovely, with about a dozen gingerbread house designs.  There are step-by-step instructions for each house, with a lot of license for re-design/decorating along the way. I had never done anything like this before so while I was anxious to roll up my sleeves I was realistic about my capabilities.  The houses are "ranked", from 1 gingerbread boy to 4 gingerbread boys, to signal their difficulty level.  For our first attempt Lauren and I made the "Cape Cod" house.



2010 - Cape Cod Gingerbread House

 We had so much fun making the house, and doing some things differently from the book instructions.  And the lessons we learned; we knew we would do it again, if nothing else because we knew we could do an even better job next time.  Lauren was in South Africa the Christmas of 2011, and I just couldn't muster the interest without her.  It really is a team effort; so much more fun.  But in 2012, with Lauren back in the United States and with us for the holidays, we did a second house.  This time Katherine came to help; even more fun.

2012 - Victorian Gingerbread House

This was a "2 gingerbread boy" house.  It was considerably larger than the Cape Cod house.  But we were definitely up for the challenge.  We were particularly happy with some of the details; the roof shingles and snow, the entry door and railings (great job, Katherine).  And we had liked the rice-krispy-treat trees and wreaths from the first year that we did them again, as well as the frosted-pretzel fencing.

Here we are in the holiday season of 2013, but with so many things on our minds relative to getting settled in the house I wasn't holding out much hope that we would find the time or energy to do a gingerbread house.  But .  .  .  Carol said she was coming to visit with Katherine over the New Year's weekend and half-week.  I decided having her in town was too good an opportunity to pass up.  Carol is (in my opinion) a gourmet baker.  This is just the kind of think I knew she would enjoy.

Luckily I hadn't lost the book in our move.  We selected a "3 gingerbread boy" house for this year - Tudor style.  I made the dough on Friday night, and baked almost all the gingerbread pieces Saturday night.  We were ready to start assembling Sunday, when Carol and Katherine arrived.

busy assembling

Most of Sunday was spent assembling the house (sorry, no pictures).  We worked all afternoon and into the evening, and by about 9:00 pm all the gingerbread pieces were on the house, except for the doors and overhang supports.  The front overhang is the part that makes this house a 3-gingerbread boy house.  I'm still amazed it hasn't fallen.  It is held to the roof and walls only with icing.  I propped it up with soup cans overnight, giving the icing lots of time to dry.

Starting the roof and adding "wood" timbers

Monday night was decorating, which is definitely the most fun.  And the roof is always a really big part of the house.  I have enjoyed seeing the roof go on each year.

Gingerbread-eating expert in the background

Lauren is becoming our "roof" expert.  She has done the roof every year.  It takes a long time!  And this year we ran out of shredded wheat squares!  It was one of the reasons we had to stop for the night Monday.  But we were very close to being done; New Year's Eve would be spent on the finishing touches.

New Year's Eve Snacks

Cucumber Cups - delicious

By the end of each of our house-making sessions we were all feeling overwhelmed by the smell of sugar - too much!  We didn't even nibble that much, but definitely felt sugar-overdose.  Carol and Katherine brought some wonderful "good" hors d'ouvres for us to enjoy while we were putting the finishing touches on the house.  You can see in the picture above some of the "details" - lamp posts, wreaths, and a Christmas tree, next to the cucumber cups.

2013 - Tudor Gingerbread House

Et voila!  We really enjoyed the landscape details.  We thought of a lot of ways to do the sidewalk and fencing, ending up with gourmet mini-jelly beans with licorice "split-rail" fencing.  I made four gingerbread Christmas trees.  We each decorated one; lots of rivalry there.  We all love Katherine's lampposts.

The back is as pretty as the front

One thing I enjoy when we do these houses is that every side of the house is different, and a delight.  The book does not do justice to that.  There isn't a side of the house that isn't interesting with it's own unique details.  We all love Katherine's lampposts, and the snowball "forts" in the side yard.

Nick had only one requirement for this year's house - that he be allowed to eat it!  Within a couple of hours of completion the nibbling began.  The roof is particularly tasty :o).  But that's okay.  We all took lots of pictures.

So the tradition continues, and in our new home.  Happy New Year, everyone.

P.S.  Lauren and I both have the idea of making a gingerbread house of our NEW HOME.  Next year, definitely.  Stay tuned.