GINGERBREAD COTTAGES

Charles shouted Kim and me to a Gingerbread Cottage workshop at the Community Church on Saturday afternoon.

There were lots of people there, including several young people accompanied by mothers, grandmothers and even one Dad! Everyone had great fun, whatever their age!

The basic building materials were supplied....pre-baked gingerbread walls and roof panels, a silver board base, a bag of royal icing, and a selection of lollies for decoration.

All we needed to do was actually construct the house and decorate it.

Easier said than done.

The gingerbread was a little soft, and apt to break unless handled very carefully. The humidity didn't help!

However, I forged ahead with my little model, and all was going well, until it started to wobble. I "shored up" the walls on the inside with some musticks, but to no avail. The roof, perhaps somewhat top-heavy with icing and M&M's, started to cave in.

My board was a mess of dried scraps of icing, as was the floor around me! It was really quite funny. Eventually I just gave up, and gathered up the rest of my lollies and put them inside the collapsing walls.

Most people managed to complete their cottages, which were then tastefully wrapped in cellophane for transport and gifting. I was a little too embarrassed to take mine up for wrapping, but Kim did that for me...after all, it was the only way I could get it home without dropping it everywhere.

Once we were home, I got some pictures first, then broke my cottage into biscuit size pieces,mingled with the lollies, in a jar. The family is already enjoying picking at it as they pass the pantry!

It really was great fun...and I may try it at home some time. Or perhaps I will stick to sewing!

Kim's artistic construction is shown at the top...I know that our visiting children are really going to enjoy it!

But mine will still taste as good!