A Joyful Gingerbread Party!
Once upon a time there was a joyful gingerbread party. Family and friends gathered with gingerbread house kits. The children were thrilled to taste the varieties of candy placed carefully on the table. Sugar paste and marshmallow fondant were shaped into snowmen, angels, and penguins. After sampling the sugary creations, laughter filled the house as joyful children enjoyed every moment of the holiday fun!
It was a lovely day outside, so the children gathered on the lawn for a friendly game of kickball, followed by long, leisurely walk around the neighborhood. The sun was shining and hearts were all full. Little did they know the party was just beginning inside the house…
As soon as the children’s voices faded in the distance, Charlie, Barret, and Lincoln made their cleverly planned escape from the confines of the garage into the confection coated floors of the Scott home. The barracade of boxes at the garage door was no match for this duo! It was an amazing feast of leftover pizza with perfectly placed plates and gobs of garlic sauce packets ready to be sprinkled all over the floors! After the wonderful feast of pizza, the pups sniffed out the beautifully decorated gingerbread homes that were somewhat tucked away in the laundry room where they were safely waiting for the children to take them home. It didn’t take much effort to dismantle the gingerbread creations, causing a cascade of sugary sprinkes to scatter on the laundry room floor.
You can only imagine the sheer shock when the joyful group of children returned from their walk and were greeted at the front door by the two festive pups! The evidence of a dog party was scattered throughout the house. After a quick investigation, the kitchen door to the garage was found standing wide open. It was quite a chore to scrub the garlic butter, sugar, icing and cookies from the entire first floor of the Scott home. There were tears when the children discovered the gingerbread houses had all been sampled by Charlie, Barrett and Lincoln. Thankfully, they found it a little funny that the pups had enjoyed their own joyful gingerbread party. It was a day we will never forget!
How to Host a Joyful Gingerbread Party:
Whether you enjoy decorating gingerbread with your family or a small group of friends, a gingerbread party really is a fun tradition! Here are some tips and recipes to make your party easier:
- Cover the workspace/table with a disposable plastic tablecloth. This way, you can fold the corners up and throw all the sugar, sprinkles and extra candies away when everyone is finished! This makes cleanup a breeze!
- Purchase gumdrops, starlight mints, m&m’s, etc and place them in disposable punch cups on the table for the decorators to use. Pretzels add extra texture and shape to roofs and fences around the house too!
- Hot glue the gingerbread house together. It is so much easier than trying to put together with the icing. Most people don’t eat the gingerbread house anyway. When you are finished, cover the glue with icing. No one will know and your house will stay together while you decorate it! Thanks to my friend, Kristin, for this suggestion!
- Dollar Tree gift boxes are perfect to place the gingerbread house base in for the car ride home from a gingerbread party!
- Use the recipe below to make marshmallow fondant to shape snowmen, penguins, angels or extra trees to place around your house.
- Sugar cubes can be “glued” together with the royal icing to make little igloos!
- Styrofoam cones can be covered with gumdrops to make a perfectly adorable gumdrop tree!
- Use “fake snow” to finish your gingerbread house. It really adds a lot to the scene!
My favorite holiday memories:
Marshmallow Fondant
Equipment
- Microwave Safe Glass bowl
- Rubber Spatula
- Toothpicks (to use for gel food colors)
Ingredients
- 1/2 bag mini marshmallows
- 1/8 cup water
- 1 pound Powdered Sugar
- 1/2 cup Crisco Vegetable Shortening- more or less for greasing your hands and work surface
- Gel Food Coloring of your choice
Instructions
- Place the marshmallows in the microwave safe bowl. Sprinkle the water over the marshmallows.
- Microwave for 1 minute. Stir and microwave for 1 more minute. If the marshmallows are not completely smooth, microwave in additional 30 second intervals, stirring after each until it is completely smooth.
- Add the powdered sugar and begin to stir to incorporate it. Mix as much as you can with a rubber spatula. Now it's time to get messy. Make sure the marshmallows are cool enough to touch without burning you! It's best to work with it while it is a little warm.Coat your hands with a generous ammount of shortening and begin to work the remaining powdered sugar in by hand. If at any point it seems dry, just sprinkle a little more water in and keep kneading. Once it has formed a ball of "dough" you can turn it out onto a well greased work surface and continue kneading until it is completely smooth. (1-2 minutes should suffice)At this point you can separate into sections and color with your choice of gel food coloring. Gel is best because it won't change the texture of the fondant. You can find it in the cake decorating section at Walmart or your local craft supply.
- Rub a thin coating of shortening over the entire fondant and wrap in a layer of plastic wrap. Place in a ziplock freezer bag and allow to rest for a couple of hours before using.
In all things find some JOY
It is the season of joy! We could have let the dog party ruin our wonderful day, but we found a way to laugh about it! We had to scrub the floors through tears of laughter. Whatever you are facing today, I pray that you can find joy!
James 1:2 (NIV)
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds…
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