Gingerbread Party

GingerNoodles

Lotsa lotda TO-DOing at Casa de Noodles. In addition to the usual Christmas Crazy, Mommys 1&2 are having a Gingerbread Party. This is a party where kids come over and decorate gingerbread houses. My mommys have been making and baking ALL WEEK. The house smells so heavenly. I have never EATEN gingerbread, but I can tell you it smells great. And I do have some treats which are gingerbread.

There is a whole process to this kind of party, you know. Mommy #2 has been doing it for a long long time so for her it is almost second nature. This year, for the very first time, Mommy #1 helped. In fact, she MADE the gingerbread almost all by herself. Aunt T helped some. This is HUGE - a real rite of passage.

These are the unbuilt houses. Mommy made 8 of them. She will construct them with royal icing because otherwise kids are waiting up to 2 hours for them to dry and be capable of being decorated. She uses a mold she bought decades ago when she worked at Williams-Sonoma. It makes pieces for the houses more consistent and easier to build. She has made a house without the mold. She said to her that was fun but for less patient. . . probably not.

This is some of the candy she picked up. She tries to think in terms of traditional (butterscotch drops, peppermint sparkles, candy canes) and the fun (pixie sticks, nerds, and Peep trees). Someone always invents new ways to use a candy.

She also brings out the sprinkles. We always have a lot because Mommy and Aunts B&T tend to buy seasonal ones at end-of-season sales. Then we always have something usable. This is a Christmas variety which will go quickly, I think.

Just in case a house falls apart or an additional friend drops by, Mommy has premade kits that she bought at a Black Friday sale. She does NOT normally shop on BF but this year I had a pawdecure scheduled. To bide the time while I was getting beautiful, she went to Michaels. Voila! 

I usually have a pretty good idea of what I want to make come PARTY day. This is what I decided to make LAST YEAR

It so reminded me of TAHOE and some of the houses nestled in the mountains. Can't you just smell the PINE AIR and feel that crisp cold wind flowing off the snowy mountains?

Well, I bet you can guess what happened. Yes, try as I might THIS is what my house looked like once I finished DECORATING

It's all in good fun - eh? We can't all be like Martha Stewart and her team of bakers. It is the process and the sharing time with family and FRIENDS during the holidays.

And the occasional piece of candy or cookie that makes its way to MY neck of the woods.

This is how I spent LAST YEAR'S post-Gingerbread Party.

One can take just SO much fun.