home made gingerbread house

We attempted our own gingerbread house from scratch this year - these were the recipes we used:

gingerbread (for cookies or a house)
makes 36 cookies or 1 house

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp all spice
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp clove
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup butter
1 egg, beaten
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

In a medium saucepan, heat sugar, molasses, ginger, allspice, cinnamon and cloves to boiling, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat and stir in baking soda (it will foam up).

Stir in butter until melted.

On a floured surface, knead dough until mixed. Divide dough in half, and set aside half.

Roll half the dough with a rolling pin, slightly thinner than 1/4 inch.

Cut dough into desired shapes. (We used this template for our gingerbread house and followed this guide on how to cut out the shapes)

Bake at 325 degrees F on a cookie sheet for 12 mins; then cool on a wire rack.

Then, to assemble the gingerbread house, we used....

Royal Icing for Gingerbread House

2 large egg whites (room temperature)
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
3 cups powdered sugar

In a mixing bowl, whip egg whites until foamy, then add cream of tartar. Continue to mix for 30 seconds.

Add in powdered sugar a little bit at time, mixing well.

Once the powdered sugar is incorporated, turn mixer to high and continue beating until thick and icing holds its shape (about 3-5 minutes)

Store well, covered.

cardamom cookies

another favorite of mine.

cardamom cookies
makes 20 servings

1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp grated lemon peel
1/4 cup ground almonds
6 tablespoons butter
1 egg
1 tsp milk
 
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

Sift together flour, sugar, and spices. Stir in lemon peel and almonds. Cut in butter until mixture resembles course crumbs. Stir in egg and milk until mixture forms a ball.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls and place 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake 8-10 mins or until set. Immediately remove from cookie sheets.

nuomi fan

I've made this every Christmas for the last 3 or 4 years, making it our family's first real Christmas tradition. 

nuomi fan (sticky rice with Chinese sausage)
makes 8-10 side servings

3 cups Chinese or Japanese short-grain sticky ("sweet") rice
1 cup Chinese dried black mushrooms or dried shiitake mushrooms
5 Chinese sausages (6-8 oz total)
1 tbsp peanut oil
1 tbsp minced peeled fresh ginger
1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions (1 bunch)
1 1/2 cups bottled peeled cooked whole chestnuts, coarsely chopped or raw peanuts
1/3 cup Chinese rice wine or Sherry
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tsp Asian sesame oil
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepper
2 cups chicken broth

Cover rice with cold water by 1 inch in a large bowl and soak at least 2 hours. Drain in a sieve and rinse well under cold running water.

Soak mushrooms in warm water 30 minutes, then drain, squeezing excess liquid back into bowl, and keep liquid. Rinse mushrooms to remove any grit, then discard stems and coarsely chop caps. Quarter sausages lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch pieces.

Heat a 4-6 quart heavy pot over high heat until just smoking. Add peanut oil and heat, swirling in wok, until just smoking. Add ginger and scallion and stir-fry 30 seconds. Add sausage and stir-fry 1 minute, then add mushrooms and stir-fry 1 minute. Add chestnuts and stir-fry 1 minute. Stir in rice wine, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, salt, and white pepper and remove from heat. Add drained rice and stir to coat.

And add broth (broth will not completely cover rice) and drained mushroom liquid. Bring to a simmer, stir once, then reduce heat to low. Cover and cook 25 minutes more, then remove from heat. Stir from bottom to distribute ingredients and let stand, covered, 10 minutes before serving.