Gingerbread House

So, I'll admit it: we cheated a little on this gingerbread house. We used a pre-baked kit. But I swear it wasn't on purpose! In a hurry, I grabbed the box, assuming it just had the house-shaped cookie cutters, and that we would be responsible for baking adequate gingerbread walls and roofing elements to maintain structural integrity. I somehow missed that this part had already been done for us (despite the fact that it said "PRE-BAKED!" all over the box). Basically all we had to do was mix the icing and assemble the pieces.

However, the decoration was all me and Chuck, and it required some feats of craftsmanship. The kit came with some candy, but we were disappointed in the selection, so I purchased additional candy (Twizzler Bites for the roofing shingles, Dots for decorative features, Fruit Roll-Ups for the windows, candy canes).

Please take note of the following features, as we are quite proud of them:

• hand laid brick walkway


• Spanish-style shingled rooftop (complete with smoke-spouting chimney and skylight)


• flower-filled window boxes


• large be-bowed wreath


• towering evergreen trees in the front yard (decorated for the season)


• intriquitely detailed front entrance

Gingerbread-Apple Upside-Down Cake

I saw this recipe in today's New York Times food section and had to give it a try. I'm glad I did! This was a light and fluffy gingerbread cake with a caramely/appley topping... yum.

The only ingredient I didn't have in my pantry was buttermilk, but I improvised by using milk and lemon juice. I didn't want to make a whole cake since it was just me and Chuckie, so I halved the recipe and put it in some mini-springform pans (which may not have been the best choice since some of the caramel leaked onto the bottom of the oven). They were so cute, though! I cooked them for about 30 minutes... until a tester came out clean.