Why We Had KFC for Dinner Last Night:
Yesterday at 3:00 I started doing this:
That is 1/4, or 2 pounds, of the structural gingerbread dough, straight out of the refrigerator and having the resistance of an old Tootsie Roll. I rolled, I cut, I baked, I referred with the designer of the cathedral and did it all some more. When I picked John up from work at 7:00 I was tired, sore, stank of gingerbread and had no plans for dinner (also I wasn't done with the rolling and cutting and baking.) We picked up a chicken dinner and after wolfing down my share, I went back to the rolling and cutting and baking.
Five and a half hours after I started, out of eight pounds of gingerbread dough, this is what was left:
(The last couple of pieces were rolled pretty thin, and got a little. . .brown. . .in the oven, but I wasn't about to make more dough and start over. Seriously, they will work just fine. Do you hear me, they will be FINE.)
Today I have sore palms, sore forearms, some lingering dirty dishes (my aluminum baking sheets can't go in the dishwasher and it is a testament of my love for them that I keep and use them anyway,) and this:
TWENTY TWO pieces of gingerbread cathedral awaiting construction (the standard gingerbread house has SIX.) What shall we use for construction adhesive? I've used royal icing in the past and the drying time is maddening. I've used caramelized sugar in the past, but with our humidity it softens and weeps after a while. James suggested hot glue, but I have tried this before (in desperation because of the maddeningly slow drying time of royal icing) and it doesn't want to stick to slightly greasy cookie pieces. I suggested Liquid Nails and John gave me the hairy eyeball and said some nonsense about keeping it edible. Probably we will go with royal icing, that's what Bobby Flay used in the Food Network show that inspired this baking odyssey in the first place. (Impressionable teenagers maybe should not be allowed to watch extreme baking shows.)
That is 1/4, or 2 pounds, of the structural gingerbread dough, straight out of the refrigerator and having the resistance of an old Tootsie Roll. I rolled, I cut, I baked, I referred with the designer of the cathedral and did it all some more. When I picked John up from work at 7:00 I was tired, sore, stank of gingerbread and had no plans for dinner (also I wasn't done with the rolling and cutting and baking.) We picked up a chicken dinner and after wolfing down my share, I went back to the rolling and cutting and baking.
Five and a half hours after I started, out of eight pounds of gingerbread dough, this is what was left:
(The last couple of pieces were rolled pretty thin, and got a little. . .brown. . .in the oven, but I wasn't about to make more dough and start over. Seriously, they will work just fine. Do you hear me, they will be FINE.)
Today I have sore palms, sore forearms, some lingering dirty dishes (my aluminum baking sheets can't go in the dishwasher and it is a testament of my love for them that I keep and use them anyway,) and this:
TWENTY TWO pieces of gingerbread cathedral awaiting construction (the standard gingerbread house has SIX.) What shall we use for construction adhesive? I've used royal icing in the past and the drying time is maddening. I've used caramelized sugar in the past, but with our humidity it softens and weeps after a while. James suggested hot glue, but I have tried this before (in desperation because of the maddeningly slow drying time of royal icing) and it doesn't want to stick to slightly greasy cookie pieces. I suggested Liquid Nails and John gave me the hairy eyeball and said some nonsense about keeping it edible. Probably we will go with royal icing, that's what Bobby Flay used in the Food Network show that inspired this baking odyssey in the first place. (Impressionable teenagers maybe should not be allowed to watch extreme baking shows.)
posted by sherry at 1:22 PM
2 Comments:
Oh. My. Goodness. I will be coming back. I can't wait to see this all finished!
That's it, you win the supergirl award!
Post a Comment
<< Home