This post comes from 2013, from my old blog - enjoy a flashback and a delicious gingerbread recipe!
This year I decided that I was
finally going to make gingerbread houses.
And not the graham cracker ones either!
One of the most enjoyable
parts of a gingerbread house is, of course, finding all of the candy and
trimmings! Without an actual candy store
in the area, I was forced to get a little creative. Most of the candies (M&Ms, candy canes, red
hots, watermelon slices, and gum drops) were found in my grocery store’s candy
aisle. I thought that chocolate Pop
Tarts would make the perfect roof tops, so those were in the breakfast aisle.
And the rest? Well, that’s all Halloween Candy! It was the perfect use for all that candy
that was just sitting around!
The boys made their houses first.
My husband and I built the
houses, complete with roofs about an hour before the boys started. I wanted to give the royal icing a chance to
dry and make a nice, study structure.
Do you remember making those
graham cracker houses in elementary school?
Inevitably, someone would be working with a heavy hand and the whole
thing would go tumbling down and tears of frustration would be flowing. Definitely not what I wanted. I wanted a fun time for the whole family.
My 4 year old decorated his
house completely by himself – I only added the royal icing. He would point to a spot, I’d pipe the icing,
and he’d do the rest! Didn’t he do a
great job?