Visions of Hansel and Gretel

CANDY, CANDY, EVERYWHERE!! That is all I noticed during my trip into the local grocery store the other day. Yummy sweet delights  tempting me on the end of every aisle. I clung to my ability to have tunnel vision and tried to ignore them. But as I did this I thought about what I have done with these sugary treats in previous years. I recall making a candy house with my mom every Christmas when I was a kid and then I carried on the tradition with my own children and friends.

When I was growing up our candy house was not the gingerbread variety. My Dad made a rectangular 2 story  plywood  house on a 12 by 18 in. plywood base.  My mom and I would make a giant batch of  Royal icing  in the mixer and then we coated the entire house and base.   Hershey chocolate bars were used to make a front door,  windows, sidewalk, and the chimney. Gum drops lined the outside of the base and the eaves.  Peppermint candies outlined the sidewalk. The generic traditional holiday hard candy and candy canes were used to line the edges of the house and roof.  M&M's and candy orange slices filled the roof. I am drooling as I write this.

It was fair game to start  prying the candy off on Christmas Day. With each pass of the the house, the candy decorations slowly disappeared leaving behind a  stained impressions in the frosting. Finally once most of it was gone, the house was bound for the sink to soak the frosting off. We never ate that.

I made these houses with my mom, started the tradition with my boys, and extended it to one of my God children. It has probably been 10  years since I have made one, now that the little people in my life are all grown up, and the plywood house of yester year is long gone. It was  fun to do and it made a delicious and festive table decoration. Visions of Hansel and Gretel  always came to mind.  I am sure my doctor would say it is not a healthy holiday activity. But I say, memories have no sugar or calories and are delicious to think about. It is a good thing we are snowed in or I would figure out a reason to make one. Cheers!