So.. gingerbread... First of all, here is the history of this Christmas time treat:
My mom used to make elaborate gingerbread houses. She won all kinds of awards. At school we often do "faux gingerbread houses" with the kids. In other words, we make gingerbread houses out of graham crackers. The last couple of years we have further cheated and done Christmas Trees with ice cream cones. We give the kids icing and candy and the decorate away...
Well this year Suzanne and I went back to our graham cracker ways... deciding that we would make enough for her class and mine... so 35+ houses... So last Sunday Suzanne and my friend Leigh came over... I made a couple of pitchers of margaritas... and with Josh's help we knocked those puppies out in no time.
And Thursday at school we let the kids decorate... They had a blast! My 5th graders helped Suzanne's 1st graders-- in some cases vice versa. We made a huge mess... there was lots of laughing... and even icing in eyebrows! (I myself managed to get icing on the BACK of my head. No idea-- don't ask!)
So, for those of you with kids in need of something to occupy their time-- esp now that school is out (YAY!) this is a great activity. The icing we used to put the houses together-- which incidently sets up like brick mortar-- is powdered sugar, Wilton's merengue powder, and warm water. The kids just used regular cake icing to decorate-- you can use food coloring to make it more festive if you want...
If you are not so much into construction, get a box of sugar cones... color some white icing green... and do Christmas Trees. Equally fun-- and a bit easier.
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