VINTERSAGA
Gingerbread Haus
Published: 12/9/2020
By: Gordon Dawson
2020 will be the year that goes down as one of the craziest in our lives. So many moments have happened to endure or overcome. But as the Christmas season quickly approaches and plans have had to be altered, my family decided to make the best of it and do things differently. This year, to stay socially distant, we've made more nightly trips in our car to see Christmas lights all over the city. Even though no one will likely see it, we still decorated our home festively to fill with the season's spirit. We've splurged on food and drink to help support our local eateries. However, we realized there's one thing we've never done as a couple nor in my entire life. We made our first gingerbread house. We took a template with both our creative heads and adjusted it to meet our decorative taste, and had a blast doing it.
This got me thinking, "What started the Gingerbread House craze?"
According to PBS.org, Gingerbread houses originated in Germany during the 16th century. The elaborate cookie-walled houses, decorated with foil in addition to gold leaf, became associated with Christmas tradition. Their popularity rose when the Brothers Grimm wrote the story of Hansel and Gretel, in which the main characters stumble upon a house made entirely of treats deep in the forest. It is unclear whether gingerbread houses were a result of the popular fairy tale or vice versa.
Reuters.com writes the largest gingerbread house was constructed in 2013 by the Traditions Club in Bryan, Texas. Coming in at 35.8 million calories and covering an area of 2520 square feet, the sweet house was declared the biggest ever by Guinness World Records. Its recipe mixes 1800 pounds of butter, 2925 pounds of brown sugar, 7200 eggs, 7200 pounds of all-purpose flour, and 1080 ounces of ground ginger.
In this season of Christmas, we made our gingerbread house from a kit purchased at IKEA, called the VINTERSAGA, Swedish for "a serene shelter from the winter cold." However, we modified ours to resemble something more in line with where we'd want to live. Hopefully, you'll find something creative and fun to make into a holiday tradition with your family.
Context
Thoughts
– Have you ever made a gingerbread house? From scratch?
– What traditions are you keeping with your families?
– What changes has this year caused with your Christmas traditions?
