Tis the Season ... Making Gingerbread Houses

The boys and I got together with my girlfriend and her son to make gingerbread houses!  I of course had to make the gingerbread house from scratch ... lol.  Sometimes I need to listen to Rick and just buy one.  BUT it sure was fun to watch the boys decorating them, that was when I was being sick in the bathroom.  YUP I got sick right as we started to decorate the houses.  Next year I will buy the cookie cutters instead of using a piece of paper and cutting each one out.  They weren't perfect but still worth it!

I found the recipe for the house and icing along with a template to use to cut the house on Sweetopia she even has a video on there if you need a little extra help!

Gingerbread Cookie Recipe

Ingredients:

2 Sticks unsalted butter
1 cup packed dark-brown sugar
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoons ground cloves
2 large eggs
1 cup molasses
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder

Instructions:

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix butter and brown sugar on medium speed until fluffy.

2. Mix in spices first, then eggs and molasses.

3. Sift together flour, salt and baking powder and add to bowl; mix until just combined.

4. Wrap dough in a disc shape in saran wrap. Let it rest by refrigerating until cold, about 1 hour.

5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Roll out dough on a lightly floured work surface or between two sheets of parchment paper to about 1/4-inch thick.

6. Cut shapes out with cookie cutters and place them approximately 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

7. Refrigerate until firm; at least 15 minutes to 1 hour.

8. Bake cookies until crisp; 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.

Royal Icing Recipe

Ingredients:

6 oz (3/4 cup) of warm water
5 Tablespoons Meringue Powder
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 kilogram (2.25 lbs.) powdered icing sugar

*** Note; if your meringue powder has no vanilla flavor (vanillin powder) in it, add a teaspoon of clear vanilla to this recipe.

Directions:

In mixer bowl, pour in the warm water and the meringue powder. Mix it with a whisk by hand until it is frothy and thickened…about 30 seconds.

Add the cream of tartar and mix for 30 seconds more.

Pour in all the icing sugar at once and place the bowl on the mixer.

Using the paddle attachment on the LOWEST speed, mix slowly for a full 10 minutes. Icing will get thick and creamy.

Cover the bowl with a dampened tea-towel to prevent crusting and drying.

Tint with food coloring's or thin the icing with small amounts of warm water to reach the desired consistency. 

I doubled the recipe to make 3 houses!

A little extra dough for a few men too!!

They may not be professional looking but the boys loved them!

Hope you try this!  So much for the whole family!

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE. 

It's a Christmas Miracle ...

The snow has stopped and who knew I would be so excited to see rain again! The roads are looking a lot nicer and for the first time in almost 2 weeks I took my car out of 4 wheel drive. Yup it was a glorious day, except since it rain that meant no ZooLights. Rain + Kids is usually a cause for me to have a nervous breakdown. Public and me having a nervous breakdown may send me to a padded room. Hey wait do you think they would let you take a book? What I could actually get to read in peace! So today I decided to venture to Wal-Mart, you know I could walk the isles and when I need to scream at Cole to come back no one turns a head I fit right in ... LOL. What a thing to be proud of! After our Wal-Mart trip we decided to do Gingerbread Houses. I bought 3 house for Cole, Roy and my girlfriends daughter Kailey to do. Roy got the one house that didn't want to stay up, maybe it was a cosmic payback for Christmas. Who know but his in the only one that didn't work. Cole's and mine looked like a diabetic coma waiting to happen. I never claimed to be Martha or even close to Betty Crocker (unless it's making her cookies my Semi-Homemade way). So let's just say my pipping abilities were on the thick side, hey I guess it's like the way I live my life rich and full ... LOL.

So here are some cute pictures of our decorating skills along with a few of my presents from Rick. He picked them out all on his own, yes gasp and be impressed! Plus a fun one of Cole playing bowling with the set that my MIL crocheted for him and Caden. I love it they are super soft, since you know they have already hit a lamp and bounced off with out breaking it. She so knows my world! Hope you all had a wonderful Saturday!

Me and my new hat and scarf (gloves on bed, I forgot)!

(Yup it's perfect for the cold time of year)

Check out my new Fossil purse

(Wait that doesn't look right, it's too big)

That's better (don't look at the messy bed)
Don't you love the deep thought looks!
Me and the boys decorating our house.
Cole and the Gingerbread House
How it looks on the box (I'm sticking with that was a professional with a real pipping bag, not this cruddy one I cut the corner on. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!)

Our diabetic Coma waiting to happen.
Cole and the bowling set.

Isn't she amazing, this is the coolest set ever.

Cole in bowling action!