Play Date, Measuring Spoons and Gingerbread 2015

Hello! Happy December! It's been a while.

We are having some issues with our internet. It happens once in a while. I live in an old neighborhood and our wiring sucks. As is there's nothing they can do about it if they do come out. It's infuriating at times. But our city is just now getting the permits to zone a fiber network and though I am hazy on the details of how that will all go down of course, it will much improve my internet experience.

So I haven't been writing, reading or commenting much because without WiFi I started to eat through my data real fast on the phone and had to exercise some discipline.

In the past week I hosted a fun play date. C has been taking a quality time art class on Fridays with a couple of friends. It's great, the teacher sets up different craft stations and we all rotate through. But last week she had to miss class. I really look forward to the adult interaction so I invited the boys over to our house! I set up our water table filled with popcorn like at class for C a few weeks ago and I set it out with more fresh popcorn, set out play-doh and tools. Both the sensory table and play-doh are the boy's favorite station at class. Then I bought some juice boxes and the stuff to make these:

It was a super fun play date with good conversation. I love it when that can happen! Then on Friday afternoon we headed over to dog sit for the weekend. We had to pack a bunch of kitchen stuff to drive across town because it was the previously scheduled Gingerbread Weekend 2015. 

This was our fourth year making a gingerbread house. See previous year's here. This year we got it together. We had a planning meeting about a week before to set up a game plan. (This was the third year Kathryn was able to join us.) We made all the dough and templates Friday night. A note for next year, we are going to design the templates even further ahead and do them on the computer for more accuracy. Also, the dough stays workable for about 20 hours. At the 24 hour mark it gets very crumbly and hard to roll out. 

On Saturday during the day we baked, and also assembled C's house. Which was a lesson we learned from last year. Saturday night we decorated and built. We decorated the walls prior to assembly but did the roof as it was standing. Due to our design this was a good decision. However we had for the first time, some structural problems. 

I brought over the stand mixer, piping bags, our perfectly sized pot, ingredients pre-measured in ziplocs, all the other ingredients needed and decorating materials and our board/trays. What I should have brought were measuring spoons. We were stuck with these as choices: 

It did not go well. The metal ones had such a shallow bowl that it was impossible to level off and make sure you were doing it right. The adjustable pampered chef ones were equally horrible. The only time you could be sure it was accurate is if it was on the smallest setting. Get the Tupperware spoons people. They are wonderful. And they sit flat on a counter so you can fill them and set them down until needed as little mini prep bowls. 

These. Get these. 

Anyway, the inaccuracy in our teaspoon measurement really made our royal icing cement weaker and led to some problems. But we prevailed. C got to do his own little house this year again, and because 3 batches of dough was slightly overkill we made him a tree too. Which was cool because it was interlocking and self standing. (Thank you Great British Baking Show!)

I made him a snowman after he went to sleep. He really did a nice job. Husband piped on the icing where he asked for it and he stuck the things he wanted where he wanted them. He must have good design in his genes because I think it is very tasteful. 

He of course wanted to eat it Saturday night and all day yesterday. We needed to get back to our house for our annual picture. They traveled well and survived until now without having been eaten so now it's anyone's guess how long it lasts. 

Our 2015 gingerbread house:

Our notes for next year include: buying a bigger cutting board for our house to live on. We may not necessarily make a bigger house but more room to work would be GREAT! Also next year may be the year we go to full out whimsy and full color. Or maybe not. We've got time. 

There you go. Happy Monday friends!