Well, my loyal readers, I have been neglecting you. I feel the cold breath of Christmas on my neck and I fear it will arrive before I've finished all the gifts! I can't show you any more pics, either, because it's too close and what's left is for people who read the blog! Yikes!
So, to entertain you, I have pictures of our annual GBH construction! (Ginger Bread House, you silly.)
Here is my lovely sister Linda and her confectionary abode. Her classic use of green piping for the roof treatment, green chewy holley over the front door and marshmallow snow person make this a treat for the eyes.
Next, we have Andrew, Jay and Vicky with their cookie carnaval! I don't know if Andrew actually adhered any candy to the house (most of what touched his hands went directly into his mouth), but he and Jay, with Vicky's help, have made a great house, and you can see how proud they all are! I particularly like the snow person, even though he needs some assistance standing. Oh, and the jelly garden is quite enchanting.
Finally, you have Simon and myself displaying our 2007 entry. This is the first year we've done the cereal/thatched roof, and I do like it! Also note the coconut snow and the lovely jelly stained glass window on the end of the house (completely conceived and created by Simon). That mass of red frosting and chocolate covered peanuts is supposed to be a fireplace and chimney. Jay declared the chimney "really, really beautiful," so I feel appreciated.
I don't know how many years we've done these, but we always have a great time. I can't wait to do another one!
Oh, and a shameless plug here for the Wilton GBH kit. I can't believe we used to make the cookies ourselves! It would take at least an entire day to get the cookies made, and then we'd invariably have a damaged one or three, and have trouble putting them together because of unevenness or something. Don't do it! For $9.00 you can get one of these kits, complete with frosting mix and candy. We usually add more candy and stuff, but even if we didn't we'd end up with great houses. You can't even buy the baking stuff for $9.00 a pop, and frankly, our time is much better spent doing other things . . .like decorating! One tip - buy them early, early, early in the season. Last year I didn't get them til late and we ended up having to buy the huge size houses. This year I got them way back at or before TG, and it was EXCELLENT!
We've been decorating our houses together for many years, and we all look forward to it! Vicky and I have each tried our hand at making the houses from scratch, but have found that the kits are so cheap and work so well, it's just not worth an entire day of time fussing with dough and baking (at least for us, most of the time).
Simon created a village of huts with crackers, we have some villagers, and a very fancy church with a mosaic (my work).
Last night we had a CATastrophe. Our little furry siblings have visited the village. Here is Samwise, guarding the scene of the crime and trying to look innocent. Catzilla does not look innocent to me!
