Christmas Countdown 3 : Gingerbread Men and Houses

from http://www.godecookery.com/cookies/mocohist.html

In our family,gingerbread especially in the form of figures, is popular but we didn't know we were following a royal tradition. I had always associated gingerbread men with children, but the tradition of dunking gingerbread men in port wine doesn't quite match the image of the treacle cookies decorated with sweets and icing today.

The first gingerbread men are said to have been created for the amusement of Queen Elizabeth I. They were moulded into the image of her favourite suitors and courtiers, decorated with gold leaf then devoured at royal feasts.

from taste.com.au

Just like the gingerbread men, the houses have a certain magical quality which appeals to children and the young at heart. Our grandchildren love a gingerbread house - often made today or tomorrow, Christmas Eve. We don't have a special pattern for our houses but I do remember a Christmas Eve in 2008 when our Finnish exchange daughter and a her friend from Switzerland, both feeling a bit homesick, made a gingerbread house with coconut and marshmallow snow. It was quite an engineering feat, but it stood the test of three small children on Christmas Day. However, in Finland, the gingerbread house is not eaten until 6 January.

Riikka's Gingerbread House 2008

My daughter-in-law usually makes the gingerbread house and gingerbread cookies for us, but today I noted on social media an unhappy baker - new gingerbread recipe not successful! Here is one of her previous successes - a large chalet with smaller child size houses

Kellie's gingerbread houses

Perhaps the gingerbread house challenge on Masterchef Australia 2011 has set a benchmark....something to aspire to.... next Christmas?

Masterchef Australia from www.news.com.au

Gingerbread is known by many names and varies in texture in different countries - for example, In the Netherlands and Belgium, a soft and crumbly gingerbread called Peperkoek, Kruidkoek or Ontbijtkoek is popularly served at breakfast time or during the day, thickly sliced and often with butter on top.In Germany gingerbread is made in two forms: a soft form called Lebkuchen and a harder form, particularly associated with carnivals and street markets such as the Christmas markets that occur in many German towns. Parkin is a form of soft gingerbread cake made with oatmeal and treacle which is popular in northern England.

Gingerbread has a long history in Europe. It is likely to have been brought to Europe in 992 by the Armenian monk Gregory of Nicopolis. He left Nicopolis Pompeii, to live in GingBondaroy (France), near the town of Pithiviers. He stayed there for seven years, and taught gingerbread baking to French Christians. During the 13th century, gingerbread was brought to Sweden by German immigrants. In 15th century Germany, a gingerbread guild controlled production. Early references from the Vadstena Abbey show how the Swedish nuns were baking gingerbread to ease indigestion in 1444.
The first documented trade of gingerbread biscuits dates to the 17th century, where they were sold in monasteries, pharmacies and town square farmers' markets. In Medieval England gingerbread was thought to have medicinal properties.

If you recognise this Golden book cover, I guess you are already a fan of gingerbread and have your own favourite recipe. If you haven't, here is a link to an easy gingerbread recipe

Stitched Gardens and Magpies

Magpies are always around in our garden , strutting, poking about for insects and having a splash in the birdbath. They often call if the water is at a low level in the birdbath until one of us replenishes the water supply. It is no coincidence then that they have figured prominently as part of recent little works in the stitched garden series. I also like to include human figures in my gardens, especially taken from old photos of family members. This "impressionist ' stitched garden features my husband's great aunt, Sarah Ann Bath. I like to think of her in this abundant garden , when in reality, she grew up in the early 1900s in rather cramped living conditions in Birmingham UK See more and read more about my stitched gardens - other posts: How does your garden grow with stitch? How does your garden grow with crayons?

Fish and Sticks : Art Dolls

This week I've been working on fish and sticks .... The sticks are the message stick art dolls which were very popular, attracting some attention and a few orders at the Wise Women exhibition. Each of the message stick dolls are from the Wise Women series, each with her own personality and message of wisdom, handwritten on a handmade timber tag. I gather the sticks during my walks around my neighbourhood and the tags are made from special bits of timber, some collected by me or my husband or from off cuts gifted to us from another doll making friend whose husband makes bagpipes. These dolls start off very simply with a wrap around a stick, in the general shape of a body. 'Naked" message stick dolls - strips of wadding wrapped around found sticks. Then I usually wrap other layers of fabric, wool, and/or fibres, over which I do some simple embroidery. I sculpt or mould small face masks for these dolls. I really like using "sari ribbon" as w...

Dotee Divertissement

Dotee by Wendy Anderson What is a "dotee' doll? ... A dotee is a mini art doll, meant to be traded or swapped. The dolls 6 inches /15 cm tall or smaller, but the hanger or tail can exceed that measurement. They have a face, but do not require arms or legs. Dotees have a loop for hanging, and come with tails (tails are fibres, ribbon, charms or other string-y things that add to the theme of the doll). Dotees can be made from a variety of materials - fabric, felt, paperclay, yarn, beads, gourds or any other material/media that you can make a doll from. Most dotee makers add buttons, beads, sequins, embroidery, or charms to embellish the doll. Dotee dolls by Wilma Simmons At the February meeting of Gumnut Dollies Newcastle, the group activity was to revisit these little dolls, which were very popular for doll swaps around the world about 10 years ago. As our theme for 2020 is The Twenties, the little flapper girl face buttons were a good start.... Dot...

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

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