Wow! Is Christmas in only a few days already?! It's just amazing how time goes by, isn't it? At times it makes me want to hold my little ones a bit closer, for they won't be little very long. That's why I try to incorporate my children in the many things that I do. It not only teaches them important and useful things, but it also allows them time with me. I have five children, 7 years old and under, I homeschool my two eldest, I take care of our home. . .so my time is split in many different ways. I don't always get the time I want to spend with each of them. But having them do things in the kitchen with me gives me the opportunity to do things with them collectively or one on one.

One of these times this week has been to make a ginger bread house. I have never made one before and thought it would be an extra special thing to do with my children. And it was! We all had a blast! We made on big one and on Sunday, December 21, we are having our family over for supper and games. There are 10 cousins, ages 10, 8, 7 1/2, 6, 5 1/2, 4, 2 1/2, 2, 11 months. and 4 weeks old . So I was thinking for something fun the older children could do and I thought of gingerbread houses. I would make them and construct the houses before they get here, while they could decorate them how they choose to. But since I had never made one before, I figured I'd better try out a recipe and see how it all will go together.

It all went off really well! Every one had fun and they came out with some very interesting houses! Grandpa and Grandma were the judges and since there were 7 houses to judge, there were 7 categories(this way no one was the "winner" and no one was a "loser".) I forgot to take pictures of them decorating their houses, but I did get a few of the finished products. I have shared them with you at the bottom.

Gingerbread dough

6 cups of flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 baking powder
1 cup of butter (2 sticks)
1 cup of dark brown sugar
1 tsp. ground ginger
2 tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. ground cloves
3 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs *
 1 1/2 cup of molasses

* if you are using whole wheat flour, you will need 3 eggs *

Directions:
1. Mix all the ingredients together in your mixer and mix until well incorporated. Chill in the fridge for about 1 hour. While your dough is in the fridge, find or make the template that you want for your house. You can find templates in books and on the internet. I had an idea of what I wanted my house to look like, so I just got some notebook paper and cut it out. As you will see in the pictures below, I cut the front and back pieces out with the gables. But you can do them separately if you wish. And it is easier to cut out any doors or windows you want in your house before you cut out the dough.

2.Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. On a very well floured surface, take a portion of the dough and roll it out to about 1/4" thick. You will also need to flour your dough often to keep it from sticking to your rolling pin.

Place your template on the dough and cut around it with a sharp knife.

Place the cut out house pieces on a baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes.

Take out of the oven and allow to cool completely (overnight is best, but the pieces will be totally cooled in about an hour).

Royal Icing (aka "the glue")

3 egg whites
5 cups of powdered sugar

Directions:
1. Beat the egg whites and the powdered sugar together in your mixer until well mixed and thick. Add  food coloring now, if you wish to have colored frosting. Put frosting in a pastry bag with a large tip.

To put your house together, start with the front or back piece. Liberally apply the frosting to the bottom of the piece. Place that frosting side down on the the base (a piece of cardboard covered in foil works well). A second pair of hands works well at this point. Take one of the sides and liberally apply the frosting to the bottom and to the side where it meets the front/back piece. Place it onto your base, making sure the two pieces touch as much as possible. While someone else holds them down and together, fill in the gaps with more frosting. Hint : wet your fingers a bit before touching the frosting. The frosting is very sticky and thick, and will stick to your fingers if they are not wet. Your damp fingers work well to "pack down" the frosting into small opening and crevices.

Repeat the steps above for the remaining pieces. Once you get the to roof, apply the frosting to where the roof piece will touch. Apply gentle pressure to ensure the frosting sticks to the roof piece. Fill in the gaps where needed.  Once your house is together, let it sit for about 30 or so minutes, to let the frosting "set".
(You can see that the front piece broke. But the frosting works great as a glue and as you'll see below, I found a way to hide it! And you wouldn't think so, but I did have enough candy not eaten to finish my house!)

Get ready to decorate! This is where the fun begins! Use your imagination and allow your children to help. Maybe let them do it, with a little guidance from you. This will be a great time for you all and it just might be something you will return to do next year.



(And of course, your house needs a Mr. and Mrs. Gingerbread!)

( My son's gingerbread house. Nice and simple, it reminds me of a small chapel.)

( My 5 year old daughters. I like the smile made out of MnM's.)

(My 8 year old niece's. That is a Christmas tree in the corner there. And her gingerbread girl has her Christmas dress on, I'm told.)

( My 7 year old's. She won "most unique". This totally represents her personality!)

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

Jennifer Dewing has experience in the restaurant business. She turned in her chef's hat and donned the many hats of a stay-at-home mother 7 years ago. She is now the mother to 5 children, 7 years and under. She home schools her eldest two children. Her husband is a professional chef and in their house, food is a big part of their family. Come visit her at The Days' Dewings.

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