Wednesday, December 29, 2010

DIY Gingerbread Houses

I've been wondering if 'After-Christmas Sales' include...DIY gingerbread house sets I saw hither and thither..? Update: Forget these! They've been recalled! A BIG NO NO! I'd liked to make this Van Gogh-esque starry, starry night house in particular. Lord & Taylor obliged with a gingerbread house theme in their windows.
Marshmellow roofing - what a good idea!
And gumdrop landscaping...
Furthermore Lord & Taylors provided actual DIY kitchen scenes...
With Mother keeping a discrete eye on the kids shenanigans.
Sadly L & T did not provide a recipe for making your gingerbread house.
Another kidlet adds finishing touches or is she about to sneak a bite of roof?
On the upper East side French Bon Point had white paper cutout houses in their vitrines.
I would have much preferred to see a gingerbread version of this chocolatier.
Or this Paris bistro.
These paper cutout store fronts were in a Marais papeterie boutique vitrine.
Best of all I would like to see gingerbread Paris monuments!
If they can make them out of Legos why not gingerbread non?
BONJOUR GINGERBREAD MAISONS!

20 comments:

  1. j'adore ces maisons...
    j'ai juste une de chez bonpoint...

    bonnes fêtes de fin d'année

    manon

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  2. beautiful post!!! I too am addicted to ANYTHING Gingerbread! This was such fun, and I LOVED those boys in the kitchen... Happy New Year to you... Hugs, Donna

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  3. What a delightful collection of gingerbread creations!
    Yes, a gingerbread Eiffel tower, now that would be a sky high project. ;-)

    Love those paper cutouts, lovely.

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  4. Wow!!! Where can I get this awesome bag?

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  5. I do believe that's your project for next December. Love the pictures!

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  6. The gum drop landscape reminded me of a cake a dead friend of ours use to make. Yes, dead, so I guess I need to look for a recipe if I ever want to have it again. Man. How did a post about cake manage to get depressing? Anyway, she made gum drop cake. It was delicious! It was something like fruit cake, except the fruit was replaced with gum drops. Yum! Of course, I seem to be one of the few remaining people who love fruit cake. Not the cheap, brandy-less cakes for sale today, but the good old-fashioned ones that were soaked for months in brandy, sherry, or whatever other liquor the baker had on hand. Oh my. Now I've gone from death to liquor. I think I better quit while I'm ahead. But as they say, candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker! (Sorry. I must have overdosed on my medication today.)

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  7. Anonymous3:48 PM

    These are so much fun to make. I love your images today --- the paper cut outs are wonderful. x

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  8. BILL!
    Now all you're missing is 'TAXES'
    mon dieux!

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  9. Justine3:53 PM

    What is that recipe peeking out from behind the gumdrop castle?
    "Melt-in-your-------"
    It has to be gingerbread no?
    Worth checking back for a second look?
    Great fun!

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  10. awesome bag ! love it with all the monuments in Paris :) so chic !

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  11. I like the paper cutouts, too - but my favorite is the Lord & Taylor gingerbread interior. I love the "50s look to the kitchen tiles and the stove and fashions on the inhabitants :)

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  12. Carol, your photographs of L&T, and Bergdorf's are soo good. Mine just fell afoul of reflectionitis!

    I have never made a gingerbread house, though I have made lots of gingerbread. All the same, I do like to see those fantasy buildings, and try to keep thoughts of Hansel and Gretel off stage.

    Fruitcake. I am so lucky to have had a grandmother who had a traditional recipe that my mom continued to bake, and now to have my brother, who's a talent in the baking dept., able to take the hand off of the fruitcake baton. This traditional recipe is not gummy, much more delicious cake studded with beautiful colored candied fruits, and properly doused with spirits. The 2010 vintage is superb.

    Our NYC is now recovering from that blizzard, and I do wish you a very Happy 2011.

    Thank you for keeping me enthused about the idea of getting on a plane and getting back over to Paris.

    xo

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  13. Be careful of those sales! I just saw a story last night on the news that some of the gingerbread houses from Whole Foods were being recalled. A few people got food poisoning.

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  14. gingerbread houses are grand but that handbag is a must have...do tell, where can I find it?

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  15. One winter, I was between jobs, and I had the best time making a gingerbread village!!! But my husband, Bill, was really bummed out and kept muttering, "She;s building in gingerbread!!"
    Ok, so maybe I'm not a packrat after all: I threw them all out after a couple of years.

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  16. There you go--make yourself a gingerbread Eiffel Tower! Love it. We made a wonderful gingerbread house with a neighbor when I was a kid--I blogged about my memory of that--she was so sweet. I was horrified when I realized, though, that all that luscious candy was merely for show, and not to be consumed.

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  17. Gingerbread houses always make me feel like an excited little kid on Christmas. They are all beautiful! Hope you got a bargain?

    Happy New Year Carol.

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  18. THANK YOU LISA for the info on the RECALLED WHOLE FOODS Gingerbread houses!!!
    Who knew?
    Nothing is safe anymore.

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  19. Happy New Year Carol,

    I wanted to let you know how much my wife and daughters loved their portrait in Paris watercolor. They cried when they saw the one of the three of them together at Benoit. Thanks for making me the Christmas hero.

    Cordialiment,

    Rob

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  20. Bonjour PB~
    I love the gingerbread houses! brings back memories of preparing 13 gingerbread house parts for the Brownies to put together! (What was I thinking)
    Love that Paris bag, btw.
    ~Suzanne

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