* i am reposting this story because theo will be home from college in a few days and then we can start our HOLIDAY BAKING! as neurotic and clean as i am, i never mind the mess of the gingerbread houses! x0x0x
i can’t remember when i started making gingerbread houses… it’s probably an extension of my love of my childhood dollhouse. i do know that baking them with my children is one of my favorite christmas traditions. they are messy and sticky and my kitchen gets a thorough dusting of powdered sugar every year, but the extra mopping and wiping is worth it. we eat way too much candy, lick loads of frosting off our fingers (i always tell our recipients not to eat them, just use them as decoration!) and we usually feel a bit sick afterward. some years are more structurally successful than others - more than one house has had to make due with a cardboard wall as a result of a “kitchen earthquake.” the candy roof design has evolved as well. in the early days they were a kaleidoscope of random candies and today there is careful thought put into the layout of licorice squares, lifesavers, gumdrops and mike and ikes. the recipe is the same as the modern one we did last year… just a more traditional pattern.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS! x0x0x
to read about a modern gingerbread house click here
