Monday, December 26, 2011

A Palm Springs Gingerbread House

Christmas Dinner at my house is a nice long relaxing day. I decided to plan an activity with my guests to kill time while dinner was cooking! I decided on a Gingerbread House project. This photo is the finished result--looks pretty good, huh? I've never done one before, so it was all new to me. I had all the goodies ready in bowls for us to pick and choose:
  • Gum drops in two sizes
  • Spearmint gumdrop leaves
  • Sprinkles
  • Christmas cookies
  • Assorted hard candies
  • Candy Canes
  • Colored sugar sprinkles (red and green)
After mixing up a batch of confectioner's sugar for the icing/adhesive, we went to work:
Here is the basic structure of the Gingerbread House, sitting on a cake pedestal for ease of decorating and access. I actually like the simplicity of this as it is, but that would have defeated the purpose of this being a time-filler activity!
We started using a pastry bag to squeeze the confectioner's sugar icing. But soon we realized it was easier to just use a spatula to just smear it on! One trick I learned "on-the-go" was that the confectioner's sugar needs to set up a bit or it slides off, or doesn't work well as an adhesive. When it is a little crusty in the bowl, you know its ready to use.
Here is the finished Gingerbread House, from the other side. Check out the awesome Santa sugar cookie we put on the back, I think it rocks! Surprisingly, neither Sheldon or Duncan (pictured) showed much interest in it. I thought for sure the gumdrops would go missing. It turned out to be a really fun way to spend some time waiting for dinner. Maybe it will be a new Christmas Day tradition for us in Palm Springs!
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3 comments:

  1. OldLady Of The HillsDecember 26, 2011 at 12:35 PM

    It looks like so much fun, Rick! What a terrific idea! You should make this a NEW Tradition in your house---and maybe the Gingerbread Houses will get bigger and bigger as the years go on....! Really Lovely!

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  2. KathyADecember 26, 2011 at 5:49 PM

    I think that's a wonderful way to have fun at Christmas. I'm surprised, too, that the pooches showed no interest in the gum drops.

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  3. JeniDecember 27, 2011 at 4:35 AM

    I've always admired gingerbread houses, thought on several occasions about trying my hand at that but never got brave enough to give it a shot. Your post made me rethink the idea and perhaps -if my memory holds up for another year -I may just take the time to give this a whirl! I'm sure the kids would definitely enjoy the process -especially eating it once completed too!
    Hope you have a great New Year -along with Sheldon, Duncan and Owen! Peace.

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Thank you kindly.