Deeanne Gist - www.deeannegist.com - Inspirational Romance Author

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Homemade Gingerbread Houses

One Christmas my mother-in-law gave me a Pampered Chef gingerbread house mold. I remember unwrapping it, shooting a glance at her and saying, "I'm not sure whether to thank you or ring your neck."

We both laughed because I never do anything in half-measures. If I'm going to make a gingerbread house, I'm gonna do it up right. So ... each year I made between 7 and 9 houses. I'd mold them, bake them, and build them. Then, I'd sit the four kids around the table armed with candy, marshmellows and cake-decorating implements.

They'd make one for their school teacher, one for each grandmother and one for us. On New Year's Day, they'd gather around our gingerbread house and slug it, hammer it, and pound on it until it was in small bite size pieces. Then ... they'd dine.

That tradition ended when the kids entered Junior High and had about 8 teachers each. Not happening.

Last night, our 17 year old came home and decided she wanted to make a gingerbread house for some project they were doing in German class. She had no idea how much work was involved.

Here she is pressing the gingerbread dough into the mold:

Now she is gluing it together with egg whites and cream of tartar. (A tricky step.)

Next she frosts the house and decorates it.

And here she is, with a beautiful gingerbread house (while behind the camera-man is one messy, messy kitchen!)

Here's some close up views of the front and back. It's cute, isn't it?

Do you do any kind of Christmas baking? Tell us about it.

posted by Deeanne at 11:23 AM

16 Comments:

Meg said...: What a cute house! And what a lot of work!!

My homemade Christmas specialties are few: caramel corn and banana bread for gift bags, and cinnamon rolls or sometimes aebleskivers (ball-shaped Danish pancakes) for Christmas morning. It's all easy. Easy is good!
Sandy said...: Uh .... not like that, Dee! Wo! You take baking to a new level! ha! Believe it or not I was once a Pampered Chef consultant and the gingerbread house mold is something I never had nor did I sell very many of! And I went into over 160 kitchens.

We're making the roll out cookies this week, the kind you frost. And my favorite to make is toffee candy.

Your daughter is a cutie!
Barb said...: 160 kitchens is a lotta kitchens...
Gasp--we have that mold! 'Cept the kids have gotten old and not as excited about it as your daughter. Hey you guys--look how happy Miz Dee's daughter is making her gingerbread house! Actually this year I wanna make foojins at Christmas or after, which sound suspiciously like Meg's Danish pancakes. 'Cept these are a yeast dough with raisins in 'em and you roll 'em in powdered sugar while they're still warm. Prolly this week we'll be doin' the frosted cookie thing too...
Deeanne said...: Oh! I wish we lived closer and could do a Christmas Goodie swap! I've never heard of aebleskivers or foojins, but I've certainly heard of frosted sugar cookies and all of it sounds yummy to me.

Sandy: We want pictures of your masterpieces on your blog, okay? And my husband has forbid me to go to any more Pampered Chef parties because I kinda want, well, everything! (He calls them "Pampered Dee" parties. ha!) If you were a consultant, you must have all that stuff. Wow.

So, from Meg & Barb's comments I'm surmise some of y'all do a big Christmas breakfast instead of a big Christmas lunch with turkey and all the trimmings?
Barb said...: Pampered Dee parties!?! That sounds like it could cover more than kitchen accoutrements!
We'll do a nice breakfast, then skip lunch and then do a nice dinner. Those who can't control themselves between those 2 serious meals can snack. If Sandy or anyone else wantsta throw a really great eggnog recipe up for me, I'd appreciate that!
Sandy said...: Maybe I'll post pix of my Faithgirlz tomorrow - they are making wreaths!

No eggnog recipe, but I did hear last week that leftover eggnog is excellent in pancake batter!

Pampered Dee parties, I like that! I had almost everything, yes. And I use my stones almost daily!
Sharlene MacLaren said...: Barb, did you say you want us to throw it up? Pa-leese. Let's have a little more class. (Ha!)

Shar
Meg said...: Yes, wouldn't it be fun to do a cookie exchange? I used to do that with my MIL and SILs, before we spread out across the country.

We don't do a really big breakfast. Just cinnamon rolls, usually, and Orange Julius. (Not exactly like the kind you can buy at the mall, but close.) Then we do the turkey or ham thing late in the afternoon.

I have a couple of Pampered Chef baking stones. I love 'em.
Barb said...: Shar, that's grooooooss! Your holiday food sounds great to me, Miz Meg. No pampered stones here tho, boo hoo. Whaddya do with stones in a modern kitchen anyway? Your husbands don't wear animal skins and carry clubs, do they? :o0
Katybug said...: Barb, if you have never used a Pampered Chef stone, then you have not truly baked! They are FABULOUS! I refuse to make cookies on anything else...unless I'm just absolutely desperate. ;-) Everything bakes so evenly and perfectly...cookies are just the right amount of crispy/chewy, cakes never burn...I really need another rectangle stone and rectangle baker. Those are the ones I use most. They are truly worth every penny. I love Pampered Chef products...they make me look like I know what I'm doing in the kitchen! :-)

Our baking is very nominal, but it's easy and fun. We make slice-&-bake sugar cookies & decorate them with cream cheese icing (Betty Crocker makes the best canned version) and sprinkles. My 7-year-old daughter feels like such an expert in the kitchen, and my husband calls them "baked love". :-)
Barb said...: Wow, I'll hafta find me some baking stones. Obviously I haven't lived yet, culinarily speaking!
Sandy said...: Darn! Wish I were still selling PC! I could have myself a little catalog show right now!

We made toffee candy in our barpan (stone) last night!
Sharlene MacLaren said...: Check out Ebay for those PC stones, and anything else you have a mind to buy. There is a nice selection. Of course, don't tell any PC consultants that I sent you there. Yeah, I have a PC stone and it's great for cookies. I'm no gourmet in the kitchen, though.
But I love to try new recipes when I have time.

Blessings,
Shar
Deeanne said...: I have a stone and I can't figure out how to use it. I know you're supposed to adjust the bake time somehow, but I can never remember exactly how and my cookies don't turn out right.

Anybody know the formula?

P.S. Left the house at 8:00 this morning and just returned home (7:00pm CST). I'm so wiped I put my pjs on already. So, I'm gonna play hookey today and will post something new on Friday. Forgive me?
Sandy said...: Bake time, sister? It must be your recipe! Seriously, bake time is pretty much same. I back my cookies at 350 on a stone. They should never burn (may get dark, but don't burn) and they are delic!

Check out my updated blog today. Probably brings back memories since your girls are grown now!
Sandy said...: That is *bake* not *back*!