Gingerbread house making party

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I must admit, I have been in the Christmas spirit this year since long before the holiday advertising began. I have been waiting for the appropriate date to come around so that I could properly express my holiday glee and start making merriment all over the place. I always love thanksgiving, in fact it is one of my favorite holidays. It usually trumps December holidays in my book. But, this year I couldn't wait for Thanksgiving to come so that I could start to decorate the house, send holiday greeting cards, drink eggnog, and of course, finally host my gingerbread house-making party.

I have been wanting to host this part since I saw the article in a December 2006 issue of Martha Stewart Living. I can't say that I always follow through with things in a prompt manner, but I always get around to them.

Anyway, the party. It was a small group of women who got together with me to attempt to emulate the perfection of Martha. I should note here that we actually made gingerbread cottages...not really houses. Much easier becuase you get to use graham crackers.

I provided the basics, the crackers, frosting (glue), a few different types of candies and of course tea ,to give us creative energy. My guests were all asked to bring a bag of candy for decorating as well.

While ours did not turn out quite like Martha's (We are pretty sure there was some foul play involving glue guns on her end. We needed massive amounts of frosting to keep our walls together and she somehow got away without it oozing all over the place) they were all awesome in their own right. It was fun to see everyone's creations come to life.

From a skiing Santa,


to a candy laden house fit for Hansel and Gretel,

to our entire village full of homes and creatures,

we all had a great time figuring out how to make these little cottages.


Would you like to make these yourself?

Here's how:

Each cottage requires four sheets of graham cracker. Make sure you buy the widest ones (it turns out there is some inconsistencies between graham cracker brands- who knew?)

To make the frosting:
Combine 1 lbs. confectioner's sugar, 5 Tbs. egg white powder, and 1/3 cup of water. Stir it all together until no lumps are left. We doubled this recipe and it was just the right amount for four people to make a couple houses each, some village creatures, and to have a few homes fall apart.

Place some frosting into a sandwich sized ziplock baggie and cut the smallest possible hole from one corner. You will use this to dispense the icing.

Some pointers:
Go ahead and decorate your walls first. Letting them dry flat will keep your candy from slipping down the wall.

Once your walls are decorated start putting the house together, walls first, then roof. Use a stout spice jar placed in the middle of the house to help you hold it up.

The most important part of keeping your house together is to be patient. Use the icing as your glue and them hold the pieces in place until they are relatively stable on their own before adding the next piece.

I can't wait to make more of these. Everyone took their creations home and now my village looks more like a lonely cottage in the middle of nowhere with a random gummy bird.

Next round will involve some almond sliced, dark licorice, pretzels and lump candy (beautiful rock candy from the Asian mart...seriously says lump candy on the package).

Thanks Martha!