dancing in my head, I went to sleep having finally finished the gingerbread house and taken it down to Macey's for their contest. Surprised at all the entries, I will now anxiously await the announcement of the winners. Macey's is closed on Sundays, which is almost unheard of for a grocery store, but they believe in honoring the Sabbath and giving their employees a day of rest. I really like that, and wish more businesses thought that way. There was a time they did.
See how many different candies and goodies you can find in this design. For me, the philosophy of creating a gingerbread house is to utilize as many different candies in a design as possible, but still have the house look pretty and inviting. The idea is to make a gingerbread house look yummy, don't you think?
Candy selection has changed over the years, so that creates a new challenge, but I've already had my 3 am creative muse where I thought of ways to use what I did find available, for next year. I'd better write them down though as I know I will forget. I need to get ready for church, and my class of 7-8 year olds, but I wanted to share what I've been up to this week.
This was the last major project of the year, everything else is going to be slow and perhaps will teach me to really think through what I do rather than launch into creativity without a real plan. My father-in-law is struggling through his last days here on earth, and I'm the primary caretaker so although I may have a little time to create, for the most part my days are filled with keeping him comfortable, and helping my family deal with this. I've always tried to find a special way to serve others this time of year, but this time I need not look any farther than my own family. It's a hard but special time as we prepare for the change in our family, with gratitude that we know that Heavenly Father will be waiting for Dad, and He and the Savior will welcome him home with loving and open arms. What more can we do at this time of year, but to serve as we have been served?
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Chocolate is such a fun food! You can do so many things with it so I thought I'd share one of the ways I spoil my family. Here I melted one bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1/2 bag of milk chocolate chips in a double boiler over low simmering water. You don't want to go to hot. While this is going on put 8 oz. of cream cheese in your mixer bowl to soften. You will find out later.
Next I lightly oiled, and I do mean lightly as the chocolate will slide down the sides if you over do it, my favorite vintage sand tart molds. With a spoon I spread some of the melted chocolate in and around the mold to cover the bottom and up the sides. You want it thick enough to not break as you take them out of the molds but not too thick as they will be filled with a yummy treat. Next I put about a 1/4 of a cup of the melted chocolate in a squeeze bottle with narrow tip.
I then piped out the chocolate onto wax paper and went over the designs twice to make them stable. The photo above is the heart shell inverted to show you the pattern. I actually put all of these in the fridge to set up. I took them out and tweaked the molds until the chocolate shells pop out. If they don't pop out fairly easily put them in the freezer for a few minutes.
Place the shells on a nice plate, you can line it with a doily or whatever suits your fancy.
Enjoy!
Coco is my newest offering on Ebay. She is a sweet little chocolate cupcake doll. Made from muslin, hand painted and embellished with sparkly frosting trims. She's sweet, adorable, and ready to fill your home with love! As always each of my creations are one of a kind
