Gingerbread Houses
Growing up, Christmastime in my house {Sarah’s} meant many exciting things, but the one I looked forward to the most was our annual Gingerbread House decorating party! You see, my mother didn’t do holiday entertaining half way. Everything was homemade from the pie crust to the whip cream, and this included the actual gingerbread used to make the houses we decorated. Weeks before our annual Gingerbread House decorating party, she would bring out the molds and start whipping up batches of gingerbread from scratch and assembling houses with homemade icing. Our kitchen counter and dining room table would be covered with houses just waiting to be adorned with colorful Christmas candies.
When the party day arrived, all my friends and their own moms would arrive decked out in early 90’s Christmas gear with bags of candy for decorating and bottles of wine for celebrating {Kendall Jackson Chardonnay if you are staying true to my mother!}. The girls would huddle around the dining room table, and we’d spend hours creating gorgeous candy crusted dreams while all enjoying the whimsy of the season, and of course, Carole King Christmas on repeat. It was a wonderful tradition my Mom created, and as soon as I had my own child, one I knew I’d carry on.
I couldn’t wait to get started, so Maggie went ahead and hosted her inaugural party last year! Now, we used gingerbread house kits purchased at Kroger and had babies in high chairs and toddlers perched on their knees at the table decorating. I’m sure more candy and frosting ended up in little mouths, and maybe some of the kids never made it in from jumping in the bounce house outside to actually decorate anything. But the intentions were the same as the ones my mom instilled years ago. Celebrating the JOY and LOVE found in this holiday season together…with those who we walk through life with.
I hope I can leave these same lasting impressions on my own children that my mom left with me. And when my babies turn into big big big kids, I can figure out that homemade gingerbread recipe, dig out the molds from her kitchen, pour a glass of Kendall Jackson and really get to business!
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