Holy Gingerbread Man!
Mo and I are now past the halfway point of our venture Partners in a Pair Tree –
Kelly and Mo Celebrate December!
Welcome to Day 13 – Gingerbread Basics!
The best part about my children’s introduction to gingerbread basics? I wasn’t involved.
I was at the helm of all of the other McKenzie Christmas traditions. Yes, the Special Breakfasts, the Tree Days and the children’s School Concerts etc. While I enjoyed these events tremendously, in the case of gingerbread basics it was truly a huge relief to step back and let someone else lead the charge. Who took over? Lance, my 20-year-old nephew of the infamous snow globe night.
Until then, my two children had encountered only a semblance of the Christmas gingerbread tradition. Throughout their early school years they’d participated in the creation of gingerbread-like-houses. They iced and decorated houses made from graham wafer crackers that had been affixed to empty whipped cream cartons with the use of hot glue guns. While festive, they were distinctly not the genuine article; not a whisper of gingerbread in sight.
It was with great delight that I accepted my friend’s offer to partake in her church’s “True Gingerbread Houses” event in December of 2002. My two were the perfect age; Henry was 7 and Meredith, 8. I had to beg off attending due to a prior engagement but thankfully Lance could go in my stead.
By all accounts the setup in the church hall was impressive. Clearly the parishioners had risen to the call. Over 50 freshly baked, sturdy, genuine gingerbread houses were crying out for decoration.
“Welcome children. Please come up and collect your icing and candy!”
Of course Henry led the stampede. After an hour’s worth of dabbling he managed to craft this modest effort.
True Gingerbread Basics.
Wait. What? You don’t believe me?
Well done.
Clearly that miracle was created by someone armed with years of gingerbread basics.
However Henry’s actual effort was impressive. Apparently he consumed the entire bowl of icing. By himself.
Due to the all-consuming need to disabuse Henry from his steadfast goal of gobbling up every single smartie, jujube, candy cane, licorice whip, tiny marshmallow and gumdrop within reach, Lance was unable to decorate his own gingerbread house.
However Meredith outdid herself.
Lance was suitably impressed. Not only did she manage to use the icing as intended, she worked on her house with great care. He noted the prudently placed roof adornments, the conscientious door knob and siding features, and the outstandingly sprinkled Christmas tree.
He was right. My heart still melts looking at this picture eleven years later.
In the end, the three of them came home declaring the event a huge success. This was due in no small part to the fact I wasn’t there. Henry lived his dream of endless candy, Lance could focus on simply enjoying his time with his cousins and Meredith got to create as she saw fit without any “loving” advice from mom.
My personal benefits of not being there? I had an epiphany of sorts. I realised that details learned after the fact carry much less weight than those details actually witnessed. For example, I was spared my usual maternal angst over my son’s digestive system or his future dental health. The best part though? Just having someone else take over the reins of experiencing life’s joys with my children. What a treat. Thank you for that Lance.
As my children grew older and the attraction of decorating gingerbread houses in a church hall lessened, we carried on the gingerbread basics at home for a couple of years with their friends and the miracle of pre-made kits. I suspect, as with all good gingerbread basics, more was eaten than was ever created or decorated.
It is with great delight that I add my day 13 ornament to the Partners In a Pair Tree. It is the photo of Meredith and her very first lovingly crafted gingerbread house.
Now I’m curious about you and your gingerbread traditions. Do you decorate gingerbread houses? Do you make the gingerbread from scratch or do you use the gingerbread kits? If you’d care to share, I’d love to hear.
15 Responses
What a wonderful story Kelly, and so true. Your pictures add such a great dimension to your stories too ! We have made a number of gingerbread houses over the years, all but one from a box ( the real thing was so much work) , and always lots of candy was consumed . These are treasured memories !
I’m with you Jane. The box ones are just the ticket at this busier-than-busy time of year.
So glad that others have experienced challenging gingerbread-house-making events, Kelly (and that you were able to miss it). 🙂 My husband’s birthday is shortly after Christmas, and we’ve been trying to create various gingerbread houses and villages for him for years. I started working with my stepdaughters (before my little ones were born), and though they worked hard, they invariably got bored less than halfway through and left the rest of the work to me. The first year, we actually baked our own gingerbread house in a lovely mold I had received as a present, but of course the gingerbread itself was not as beautifully detailed and flat as the mold indicated it would be, so putting the house together was close to impossible. But we did it. The following year, I was wise enough to buy pre-made gingerbread, and we did create a lovely gingerbread town (and I have pics to prove it)! I did vow at one point never to do gingerbread projects again, but of course when my little ones came along, I wanted to make sure they had the fun of creating the house for their dad, too…so we still do it. And that reminds me that I should buy a kit soon before they sell out and I have to resort to baking the gingerbread house myself again… 🙂
Donna – run out right now and pick up a kit. Right now! Not meaning to create panic but I noted they were sold out at my local store. Love that you have this tradition of creating a gingerbread village for your husband’s birthday. That is just so very special. I think I know the gingerbread mold you are talking about. I’ve coveted it for years. It never occurred to me that the details wouldn’t be the same. Huh. How on earth did you manage to put the the house together? Lots and lots of icing?
Yes, Kelly…we used lots of icing. I think the mold itself was fine, but perhaps I used too much baking powder because the finished product was very puffy and irregular. 🙂 A better baker would probably have better results, so don’t let my experience deter you from trying the mold. I did just check on amazon.com and found a house that’s already assembled that we can just decorate, so I’m going to cheat and go with that one this year! And then we can make gingerbread people ourselves that we can decorate to go with the house.
Oh I love that idea. Get the house already assembled and decorate to your hearts content. How clever to add little people to it too. Take a pic – I’d love to see how it all turns out.
We used to do gingerbread houses when my kids were younger but we’d just ice and decorate milk cartons which never worked very well. Too bad we didn’t think of hot glueing graham crackers to the milk cartons. Or just buying the kits. Next time! But, truth be told, my daughter was much like Henry and more interested in consuming rather than crafting.
How lucky your kids are to have Lance in their lives. It’s impressive that after the “snow globe incident” he was willing and eager to take on another holiday craft day! What a guy!!
Great story, partner – hard to believe we are more than halfway done.
Hahaha! Lance grew up in another city and he went to university here when my guys were little. It was perfect – he was keen to spend time with them and they adored him and still do. Yes – over half way partner. Looking forward to your post tomorrow!
My youngest just asked me today when we were going to make a gingerbread house! We haven’t done one in a while. Couldn’t have been last year, was it! No. Anyway, loved what you said about the joy of the event holding just as much weight even if you weren’t actually present. I feel that way a lot when Jim takes the boys on bike rides. I love hearing about their brave jumps, and their amazing rides. I truly get joy out of the stories. But I’m do glad I’m at home during the event.
Exactly. Sometimes it’s just lovely hearing about things AFTER the event. Happy that they get to do the scary, over the top stuff that builds character etc. I just don’t need to see it all the time!
We haven’t yet made a gingerbread house, but (is this wrong?) my fav part is that you were not involved! I purchased a kit last year that ended up being an epic fail…
Nope -you’re not wrong. The best part was that I wasn’t involved! Love to hear the story of your epic gingerbread fail!!!
Oh boy do I have a gingerbread tradition or two. I make hundreds of gingerbread men, trees, snowmen and angels for eery class party, bring a plate Christmas event. Then the week before Christmas I bake four gingerbread houses and we host a dinner for 3 other families and all the kids decorate a house to take home as a gift form me. Yes gingerbread is BIG in my home.
What?!? Karen this is truly amazing. I am so impressed. What wonderful memories you are creating for your children. Love to see pictures! I’ll zip over to your blog and see if I can spy some.