Gingerbread and Ice

[jaunthie]

Sunday was the annual gingerbread party, so much of Saturday was spent in gingerbread prep. It takes a lot of work to prepare for this party, most of which must be done ahead of time. Shop for decorating supplies - mostly candy and sprinkles and frosting. Get the supplies that store from year to year (colored sugars and edible glitter and Necco wafers and the like) out from their storage place, along with all the cookie cutters. Make gingerbread dough. Make royal icing. Assemble the gingerbread houses. Usually I make two, although at least one is always from a kit, and some years they're both from kits (like this year; there just wasn't time to use the cast-iron gingerbread house mold). Roll out gingerbread dough after it has chilled and start cutting cookie shapes. Bake cookies in batches. Sort the M&Ms into separate containers by color (believe me, this makes life much easier at the party) while the cookies bake and cool. Mull cider (yum!).

As you can guess, between the oven and the stove, all this activity generates a lot of heat. It's usually not a problem in December, but this year it was positively welcome. Saturday was cold, with a thick frost and ice fog in the morning. Sunday, the day of the party, was colder still. Hauling stuff into monkeybard's place wasn't too bad, although noticably chilly. But that was mid-afternoon. By the time the party was over (and it was a really excellent party, with much wonderful and creative gingerbread; I didn't take pictures myself, but others did, and I hope I'll have pictures to share sometime soon), it was already below freezing out.

And today...today it was 23 degrees at the bus stop this morning. The marshes by the lake shore were choked with ice. It never got above freezing.

And it will be even colder tomorrow.

Fortunately it is also extremely dry so far, so no snow, or even much danger of ice (except from pipes bursting, which knock wood won't be a factor here). But I fear my worm bin won't survive the extreme cold, and I doubt my lemon verbena will carry over, either. I could try covering up the verbena at night, but honestly, this weather is supposed to go on for most of the week, and I don't think there's much I can do. I can't bring it indoors. And honestly, lemon verbena is pretty much an annual in this climate. I've had it last for a few winters at best, but sooner or later the cold always wins.

So to sum up: busy wonderful gingerbread-filled weekend, followed by a week of ice. I'm not looking forward to waiting for the bus tomorrow morning, when it's supposed to be in the teens (if that). Thank goodness for my thrifting find of a good winter wool coat with a lambswool collar. It's calf-length, and really rather dressier than my usual work-clothes style, but it's warm and it's snuggly and I don't care. Plus it's a light color that can be easily seen in the dark. Definitely an important consideration at this time of year.

Comments

[sunkrux.livejournal.com]

I really miss the gingerbread parties. Hope everyone had fun! :D

[jaunthie.livejournal.com]

We miss you too, sweetie! It was a great party, but it would have been better if you could have been there.

[sunkrux.livejournal.com]

Maybe again some year. Can't wait for monkeybard & NordicBoy to share the pics. :D

[monkeybard]

I'll lean on NordicBoy to load the pics to the computer this evening.

Thanks for all the sugar-laden prep work you did again this year! Definitely a most excellent gathering. :D

[jaunthie.livejournal.com]

Hey, thank you for hosting! The prep is much easier when I don't have to worry about how presentable the kitchen is (or isn't) by the time the party rolls around. :-)

I'm looking forward to pictures!