Gingerbread (Gram Cracker) Houses 2011

Okay, so for the past 7 years, we have done gingerbread (gram cracker) houses every year as a Christmas tradition. And, I know that we are not the only family with this tradition. However, ours may be a little different from yours. Rather than using frosting to "glue" the houses together, I use sugar...yes, just sugar. And before I divulge my secret, I must give credit where credit is due. I was told how to do this by my Mentor Teacher, Sherrie Olson, when I taught kindergarten. However, it was only explained to me, and through trial and error, I have figured it out, and am happy to share with all of you!
So, here it is...

First, you break your gram crackers into squares. Some packages come already in squares, and that makes it so much easier, and you are left with a lot less gram cracker casualties this way. If you do end up buying the rectangles, I would suggest Keebler. They are a lot less crumbly.



Then, pre-heat a shallow pan. This does not need to be non-stick. Once it is pre-heated, pour about 1 1/2 cups of sugar in the pan. It will immediately start to liquefy. Once it reduces down to a light brown color, turn it all the way down to low, or even all the way off. This will prevent smoke detectors going off :), as well as a black, burnt sugar, which is pretty bitter. If, during the process, the sugar starts to thicken on you, just turn the heat back on for a minute or so. If you start to run low, just add more. Be careful not to drip the sugar on your skin. Sugar burns are awful!

Then, take two of your squares. Dip one edge in the sugar, and stick the other side on, to make the roofs. I was making about 30 houses, so I have a ton! You, most likely, won't have this many.

Then, to make the base of the houses, take 2 roofs. Stick one in the sugar, so that the 2 edges are covered. Do the same to the other one. Then stick the two together. They will look like this...

Make sure to leave some roofs aside. I have done it before, when I have gotten in the "zone," and was left with no roofs for my houses. Not a good thing :/

Then, take the base of the house and dip it in the sugar. Turn it up towards you, and stick a roof on. Once I have done that, I take the whole house, dip the bottom into the sugar, and then "glue" it to the plate.


This is what it will look like.
Now you have a gingerbread (gram cracker :) ) house that does not break easily, and that will not move around on the plate! And, best of all, it is COMPLETELY edible!


As far as clean up goes, the sugar will harden on your pan. DO NOT try to chizzle it off. This WILL ruin your pan. Just soak it in water, and the sugar will dissolve away.

Then, for the decorating...

I portion out the candy by putting it on the plate around the house. This is all of the candy that they get, and they know not to ask for more :). Then I give them each a Dixie cup full of frosting, with a large popcicle (craft) stick. I tell them that they need to frost their house first, and whatever is left, they can do with it what they please ;). They keep their germs in their own germy area :).

Here is Azure (2)

Anderson

Ace

Aspen (I just love it when I catch them with their eyes closed...everyone needs one of these awesome pictures once in a while :) )

Azure and Aussie

Here is Ace's. They like to use pretzels, because it makes them look like log cabins.

More showing off of their creations...



Here are some pics from my preschool class



Enjoy!

Hiking!

So, as you may know, I love to go on trail runs! And, Eagle Mountain has some of the best trails I've run. There is one trail (hill) that I had wanted to run for years, and then a good friend of mine, told me that she ran it, and loved it! So, I went for a run up the road that it was on, and decided to try it! Now, it is my favorite thing to run, and I try to do it every week. It is about a mile up, and it has awesome, yet very deceiving switchbacks. Once you get to the top, you are awestruck by the view!
Now that you have some background on the trail, I will get on with my blog....
This week, Adam has been in Cedar City for the SUU girl's soccer camp, and I was determined to keep the kids as active and busy as possible, so that they would have a fun week, but also so that they would crash at night :). So, I decided to take them on a hike up the hill, on Tuesday. Here are the pics...

In the car, all ready to go....(This was before I bucked them :) )

I wanted to take a picture at the start, but Azure was ready to get on with it!...

Right off the bat, we spotted an ant hill, and had to stop and take a look. Of course, they all wanted to "stomp it." This gave me a good chance to talk about ants, and what hard workers they are, etc., etc.....needless to say, it did not get "stomped."

Then, we heard a helicopter, and had to watch it pass over us....one of the perks of living close to an army base :)


Up, we go....(Now Azure is mesmerized by all the cool rocks)

Speaking of rocks...check out the cool moss!

The kids loved to turn around to see how "small" the van was getting!

They just saw a lizard!

Ace was such a good little helper! He was so good with her, that she kept on asking for him, and wouldn't let me hold her. She walked a lot of the way! Bot bad for a 20 month old!


They all wanted to hold hands up the steep parts...


We found flowers....check out Aussie in the background (he was mad that he didn't find it first)

The race to the top!

Again, Aussie was complaining....he must be 3, or something....:).....In all honesty, he walked the entire way, and was really pretty good!

At the very top!

Check out those AWESOME trails! A runner's dream!

The view of Eagle Mountain City Center...


The descent. They all found walking sticks!

Back to the van! They loved it so much, that every morning following, they asked to go to the hike again!

So.....Today, my mom and brother, Kett, came up to visit. Here is my mom with Azure...

Kett being a great helper!

Aspen sprinting to, what SHE thought was the top....only to find that we had a ways to go...

Finding more walking sticks....Aspen was very difficult to please when it came to the walking sticks. She threw many of them off to the side, because she wanted the "perfect one." My mom was very patient with her. It was very nice to have her there...

All along the way, my mom would name all of the plants along the way. I wish I could tell you the name of this flower....it was very pretty, though...



Aussie had difficulty on the way up, but was loving the downhill! He was in first place (for the first part of the descent, anyway)....

Azure stopping to look at the rocks some more...


My mom was such a good citizen, in that she collected garbage along the way!....


It was such a fun time, and I can't wait to take the kids on it, again!...