Gingerbread House Christmas Traditions
Christmas traditions last a lifetime -- Start a gingerbread house tradition with your family
When the years have come and gone, the moments that make your Christmas memories special are the Christmas traditions. Quickly forgotten are the bright colored toys and the latest electronic gadgets. What remains is the special times created through traditions. If you have never done any of the traditions of Christmas, no time like the present. A great tradition to begin is the gingerbread house. Here's the how and why of making this tradition special.
Gingerbread house history
Ginger is a spice from Indo-Malaysia and not only tasty, but good for upset stomach. Cakes, cookies, and candies made use of this spice for several thousand years. All types of gingerbread became popular in Europe, but tradition says the idea of a gingerbread house came from the Hansel and Gretel fairy tale written by the Grimm brothers.
This charming story about a brother and sister getting lost in the woods and finding a gingerbread house trimmed with candy caught the fancy of bakers everywhere. From that point on, these houses became traditions of Christmas and remain one of the Christmas traditions in my house as well.
Making your first gingerbread house
When it comes to making a gingerbread house part of your tradition, consider a couple of things. Creating simply a tradition of fun memories for your children, or do building a "for-display-only" version? This is very important.
In my case, our gingerbread tradition is a fun, free-for-all that the kids looked forward to every year. Were our houses museum pieces? Would they win the blue ribbon at the cake-decorating contest? Ugh...not exactly. But to my children, masterpieces were created, and that's exactly what I wanted.
Kids absolutely love doing this. Making a gingerbread house with my children for the last 18 years created lasting memories, and I will continue doing this with my future grandchildren. I guarantee my children won't remember what they received for gifts every Christmas, but I bet you they remember those gingerbread houses.
If this is the type of tradition for you, it's pretty easy. At most discount stores, buy gingerbread House kits. These kits come with everything you need to build one complete house and the best part -- no baking. This makes this tradition easy with as little mess as possible.
Now, creating a beautiful masterpiece for your tradition? Search gingerbread house recipes on the Internet. Make sure the recipe specifies for a "gingerbread house". The dough needs to be quite stiff and able to stand up so cookie recipes will not work.
Next, search out instructions and pictures for ideas and inspirations. I love inspiring pictures of absolutely fabulous gingerbread houses.
The Christmas traditions you start today with your family last a lifetime. Whether it is a gingerbread house or any other Christmas tradition, start now on those wonderful memories.