>>
z
>>>
and we are backwith today's count down to the holidays and a house everyone is in the market for this time of year.
>>
we are talking
gingerbread
houses, a
christmas tradition
for centuries f your baking skills are less-than-stellar have no fear, alex banden, online editor of "this old house" is here to show us the ins and outs of
gingerbread
making. good morning t can be a little daunting, right? people think it is a lot harder than it actually s.
>>
can be daunting but you would be surprised. we actually are running a
gingerbread house
contest and you should see the creations.
>>
people are so creative.
>>
give us the 101.
>>
let's start with the kit. the easiest thing you can do inexpensive kits put together in a few hours, great if you have small kids because they probably don't have the patience for a bigger thing.
>>
they love it.
>>
inexpensive.
>>
comes prebaked?
>>
the icing, the
gingerbread
. you can do that in a few hours.
>>
i love ta little bit more of a purist, might want to make your own
gingerbread
this kind of thing you need a few dies get ready for. you make your own
gingerbread
, chill it overnight, the trick to roll it out between parchment paper before you chill it you pull it out and roll it more. hoda, why don't you give it a roll and you and i will get ready with knives.
>>
not.
>>
shouldn't be trusted with a sharp object.
>>
i think that is great.
>>
you there go.
>>
you got it thin enough.
>>
i'm exhausted.
>>
then you really need to use templates and a very sharp knife, x-acto knife or something like that is good. you take your template and put it down and cut very
straight lines
with the knife what is great, you will get even pieces this way and the edges will be really clean.
>>
whoops.
>>
boy, that is --
>>
in your way here.
>>
that is a sharp --
>>
oh.
>>
don't let little kids do this.
>>
be careful with the knifes with the kids.
>>
so after you do that you bake it and baked
gingerbread
for, like, 13 to
15 minutes
and you can see, actually, here how the cutouts work when you do it beforehand.
>>
how do you make it stand up? i don't get it.
>>
you use icing.
>>
as glue.
>>
give a shoutout to our baker, i did not do this, this is from sweet lisa's exquisite cakes.
>>
near my place. they are fantastic.
>>
they are fantastic. once you have it baked, you can decorate it, make designs on, the best thing is a
rotary tool
like this which is a dreamle
rotary tool
. hoda, i will give you one. i will give you one.
>>
oh, my gosh.
>>
you can play with these. now, turn them on. now you can make designs on your
gingerbread
, like if you want to have bricks, you can start drawing lines with -- to make bricks.
>>
oh, my god, you got to really control that baby.
>>
ahh!
>>
you have to have a steady hand. maybe hold it more like a pen.
>>
you can do damage with this thing.
>>
now, once you have drawn your --
>>
see what this looks like --
>>
this is a house ready to be condemned.
>>
oh, mine's cool. how does yours look?
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terrible. i can't control it.
>>
look at that. made designs.
>>
i don't know what it is.
>>
this is held together with
royal icing
, like an
egg white
icing, this stuff is like the mortar.
>>
you can stick it along the side.
>>
30 seconds. go to the reveal.
>>
we get t you glue t you glue it.
>>
another great house.
>>
that is also from sweet lisa's. but if you were really creative, could you do designs that you don't find online, like copying your own house, i don't know if you have seen this yet,
kathie lee
but --
>>
what?
>>
that is.
>>
alex we got to run, up against a hard break. check out this old house.com for the contest.
>>
and we --
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