Holiday Traditions

The new frosting recipe produced a bombproof glue, and better tasting (if you like plain, unadulterated sugar) frosting, but ease of application was another story. Ziplock bags with a corner cut off seemed reasonable, but they tended to burst at the seams when squeezed, depositing large blobs of frosting everyplace except on the gingerbread houses.

A trip to the kitchen store netted a cake decorating set after waiting in a queue of last minute shoppers. The woman in front of me appeared to be doing he shopping as she waited , grabbing random items and putting them in her basket as she passed them.

The littles arrived just as I finished making yet another batch of frosting ready for loading into the newly purchased decorator. It came with detailed nstructions on how to make flowers, leaves, spirals, waves and stars, but not how to assemble the device itself. While I muttered bad words under my breath, the kids went to work with knives and bowls of frosting, not particularly unhappy about the lack of fancy swirls and stars on their houses. They could always just pop the candy directly into their mouths, bypassing the necessity for tedious placing and glueing....

In the end, I found the decorating kit I bought last year and failed to notice during yesterday's reconnaissance. A good time was had by all and the sturdy little houses were loaded into the equally sturdy Blue Apron boxes we'd saved for the trip home. Next year, I think the kids can help me make the houses....

I've added an extra picture of another holiday tradition...Will's birthday. We had dinner at The Dry Creek Kitchen in Healdsburg...a lovely evening and a wonderful meal.