The Scent of Gingerbread

Do you have the time to bake, design, engineer, cut out, assemble and decorate your own architectural wonder—a Gingerbread house this Christmas? Don’t sit there slack jawed… just say YES!!!

You CAN make elaborate houses or very simple pleasures, edible and non-edible.

We all remember the alluring Gingerbread House in the fairytale, Hansel and Gretel; beautifully iced, decorated with candy and waiting to trap the unsuspecting pair. We have made Gingerbread Houses in our house for years. 

They are never perfect. I do not like perfect. 

If the Egyptians had used our same architectural paradigms, it would have been the great shack of Giza (that subsequently fell into the Nile 2999 BCE).

BUT, they are our own design. The tradition is a delicious custom of the season that delights young and old alike & everybody gets to help decorate.

Gingerbread has it's beginnings in the 11th century. Back then, it was heavily spiced, sometimes soft and spongy and sometimes crisp, served with a lemon curd and cream. It has always been a sweet treat. 

Germans took Gingerbread to the next level in the 18th century, shaping the spicy delicacy into different shapes; hearts were popular, as an example, that were lavishly decorated with colorful icing and tied with festive ribbons.  

Often we make gingerbread men and women, icing them and hanging them on our tree.

Our European immigrants by the 19th century had brought their cherished family recipes to the United States—people all over the world now continue this meaningful tradition.

I use A4 size paper—a sheet of typing paper—those are my walls. We cut a triangle for the roof. They are glued together by Royal Icing. (Powdered sugar and egg whites, and pinch of cream of tarter). It acts as a glue and snow. So simple and so effective.

One of the main reasons I continue this tradition is because of the fragrance that permeates the house—with the ingredients of molasses, ginger, ground cloves and cinnamon. It is an affordable room deoderizer that nothing can compare to.

My only problem was when our dogs were alive, their noses would follow the smell and on at least two occasions I returned from an errand to find half of my gingerbread house eaten. But this quickly spun into a Germanic myth about Grendel and what REALLY lives in the murky depths of Battle Creek Park.

The picture attached are a couple of gingerbread houses my children have helped make and decorated over the years. 

As you will see, our daughter Niamh is the Bakery Police. 

She thinks her mom and dad are not, fiscally mindful parents with her inheritance. She is disgusted when people spend money like there’s no tomorrow. Her mission in life is to save. Money is what she is interested in.  (In our children we have a fiscal conservative [the eldest, Niamh], a spendthrift [the youngest, Ronan] and a moderate [Oisin, younger than Niamh by one minute] in the house). 

I want to preserve as many friends as I can. Cooking and entertaining is a labor of love and I try to teach my children this.  

In addition to presenting lovely food, presenting tasty meals—the prize above all else is the warmth of the host and the ambience he or she creates.

But, to my little daughter, it is more meaningful to ration out Christmas goodies even to our very dear friends. In her world, entitlements (except for her) are OVER. In fact, she would vote to charge folks when they come to dinner!!! Ahhh yes, the season of giving.

Children these days!!!