For the first time I have been solicited for baking advice.

Give me a moment....this may never happen again.

Okay, here goes;
Gingerbread houses are not that hard, believe it or not! Really, I promise. They are however very time consuming so here are my tips for creating a gingerbread house.

1) Buy a kit! No really, the first two houses in my previous post are both made from two Costco kits combined together.

2)If you really want to make your own gingerbread, use a basic gingerbread cookie recipe. You can find them all over the Internet but here's the one I used;
1 C butter, margarine or shortening
1 C brown sugar
1 C molasses
5 C flour
1-1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t cloves
2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/3 to 1/2 c water
"in a large mixing bowl beat butter until softened. Add sugar and beat until fluffy-three minutes. Add molasses and beat well. Combine dry ingredients and add to the batter a little at a time, mixing in each addition. Divide dough in thirds and shape into balls. Cover with plastic and chill for several hours."

bake 10-12 minutes @ 350

3) Find a pattern online
You can create your own but that is a lot of time it's easier to use someone else's work.

4) Work with a friend. Especially a friend who is good at decorating cakes. I work with a dear friend of mine every year. I am the house builder, frosting maker and candy collector, she is the detail icing work/Christmas tree maker and color coordinator. We work well together.

5)Make your royal icing and keep the air from getting to it (we just put a sheet of plastic wrap directly on top of the icing in the bowl. You have to put the wrap on the icing, not the bowl or the air will still get it. This stuff hardens quickly and is like cement once it dries.)

6) Plan on wasting a lot of money on candy.
Seriously, I buy extra candy because our houses evolve as we go. I spent $21 on Necco wafers and we didn't use one, they just didn't look right.

7) Have a vision. Try to have an idea of what type of house you want, otherwise you end up with a house that looks like a kindergartner made it. (That is good when you are actually making it with a kindergartner.)

8) Hot Glue. Seriously, use hot glue to build your house. Royal icing is great but takes even longer than hot glue to dry. Unless you are actually planning on eating the gingerbread, hot glue is fast and very effective and will keep your house standing long after it has been finished.

9) Plan on six hours! If you want a really finished looking house it takes at least this long to put it together and complete the fine details.

10) Don't be surprised if you spent the better part of the six hours following the completion of your house just staring at your creation. Sometimes it's just fun to sit and admire your handy work.

That's it! I hope you enjoyed this little "gingerbread houses" mini class from me because I sure as heck enjoyed spouting the information.

Happy gingerbread making!