Once a year for practically as long as I can remember, we have pulled out the cookie sheets and begun the baking. The process is long and arduous, but always yields satisfying results! Early this week, Abby and I whipped up the dough. Then came the most difficult step. In order to ensure successful architecture, the pieces must be the exactly perfect thickness. Too thick of pieces leads to a house that will not stand up or stick together. Too thin of pieces means broken pieces. Indeed, the pressure for perfect rolling is intense! While this pressure has been known to drive some to insanity, I do not balk in the face of such intimidations. If you don't mind a bit of boasting, let me just say that my pieces were the perfect thickness. Truly, it was masterpiece rolling!
The baking also requires talented artisanship. The pieces simply cannot be too soft or they will fall apart. However, one must be extremely careful lest they overcook and become too crispy (leading to cracked, broken pieces). Of course, all of this pressure must be balanced out and managed by stuffing one's emotions with lots of gingerbread dough! ;-)
Creating the concrete also presents a difficulty. If your frosting is too thin or liquified, the houses will not stick together. But if it is too thick or doesn't contain enough moisture, the houses refuse to comply. Actually, even if one manages to create the perfect "concrete," there is no guarantee one's house will stick together. So as you can see, the construction phase is extremely trying. Sticking the pieces together requires intense perseverance and patience. You have to hold them until the frosting dries enough to stay hard.
Now those of you who know Emily...I am sure you cannot imagine her putting together a house. You are correct in that assumption. I had to enlist the services of Emily's best friend Nicole for the house construction. While Nicole and I held the houses together and held our breath in anticipation of any problems, Emily went flitting around the room stirring up all sorts of trouble. She did, however, capture a little video on the construction sight. Please note: we did not originally plan on posting this video on the blog, so it's kind-of silly. You have been fairly warned.
After much hard laboring, the houses were finally put together (and if you're wondering about my orange hair in this picture, please refer to my last blog)...
Now all of this baking and constructing leads up to the annual Gingerbread House Party at the Franklin's. Here are a few shots of Emily, Abby, and I decorating our houses. We decided to coordinate our houses this year to create a little storefront street. I made a little Cigar Shop. Emily chose a Skate Shop with a skating pond out back, and Abby devised a cute, classic candy shop...
A quick flashback to the Gingerbread Party 2006...
And now back to 2007, here are the finished houses...
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