Bay Meadows

Nothing makes a more impressive centerpiece during the holidays than a homemade gingerbread house.  Line-up that fondant, those candy canes, gum drops and more. It’s time to gather together to create something special for all to enjoy. When you are ready to decorate, pair up the evening with a cookie swap, spike the punch and you have a holiday hit! Get to know neighbors by hosting a cookie exchange and allow each guest to help personalize your Gingerbread Home Masterpiece. Here’s how to organize a cookie swap – get the checklist. Warning: Your home will smell tasty! For an alternative twist you might consider baking Gingerbread Cake topped with Butter Rum Toffee Sauce and serving up some German Mulled Wine and Hot Cider. Snap your finished creations and share them with us @baymeadowslife on Instagram!

Whether you’re a novice or a seasoned baker and builder, here are a few building basics that can assist in your gingerbread house making endeavor:

Baking:
Use this gingerbread recipe to get the kids in the kitchen, create some magical memories and start a new family tradition. This dough is easy to work with while the sweet smell of gingerbread fills your home. Here are 55 styling ideas to get you inspired to create a masterpiece.

Once you have the dough made you’ll need to choose a style for your home and make gingerbread house pattern by cutting out pieces of stiff paper. The sky’s the limit when designing your gingerbread home, here are a few creative residences that may peak your interest: Gingerbread Cottage, Hansel & Gretel’s Gingerbread House, Mini Gingerbread Houses, Swedish Gingerbread House, Pixie House, Simple Gingerbread House. Roll your dough, cut your patterns, bake and let dry.

Building:
Whether you’ve chosen a flat, bungalow or cottage – you’re ready to start putting up walls and adding a roof. Royal icing is a smooth, hard-drying icing is perfect for the mortar that holds the gingerbread pieces together to form the house making as well as cementing decorations that last. Here are a few steps to smooth construction of your home:

Pick a solid base for your gingerbread house and line with aluminum foil or wax paper.

Pipe icing along the borders of the pieces, press together and hold in place for a few minutes. You can prop with cans if needed.

Fill in any gaps or add additional support with icing. Let set for at least an hour before attempting to add the roof pieces.

Add the roof, chimney and other accessories using the same method as above.

You can cement any broken pieces back together with a little patience and icing.

Invite Friends and Neighbors to Get Decorating:  Line-up your pick of all the colorful candy that you have selected to adorn your abode. Red Hots, small gumdrops, candy canes and hard candies are all great choices, you can use chocolate truffles for a stone wall around your house, and even some waffle-patterned cookies for roof tiles. Gum drop stained glass windows can easily be created using gumdrops, jelly candies, mini gum pieces and crushed hard candy pieces. You can add an interesting yard to surround your gingerbread project with these easy landscape ideas including popcorn, pine, candy cane, gingerbread men and gumdrop trees.

Royal icing is edible and can be used to make decorative designs around the walls of the house, a scalloped roof, as well as glue pieces of candy to the house.

If you’ve mastered the gingerbread house and still have a hankering for gingerbread baking, try these new twists on our traditional favorite: Gingerbread Train, Gingerbread House Pops, Gingerbread Cookie Wreath, Gingerbread Martini Recipe, Gingerbread People.

Experience Midurban life. Bay Meadows is a family-friendly neighborhood with lots of open space to enjoy all-year long. Whether it’s growing your own vegetables in an organic community garden, playing a game of pick-up basketball after work, team building over bocce in the beer garden, picnicking with family on warm summer nights or with a run around the park, there’s no shortage of green space to explore. Check out life out and about at Bay Meadows by following us on Instagram.

featured image credit: luluto.blogspot. jp