Gingerbread House Love

Who isn't inspired by those amazing gingerbread houses? I mean have you ever seen how EPIC they can be! Unreal that they are made out of cookies. I mean some people are just overloaded with talent and creativity. I love watching those specials on the cooking channels, the creations that are outrageous.

Now, I love to bake. When I bake I try to make my cookies, cakes, pies, whatever as pretty as I can. They usually turn out somewhere between what my husband would make and a few steps below a professional bakery. I usually go for the chic and homemade look. When it comes to cookies however, my icing skills are seriously lacking.

I have never been able to figure out how to do that pipe and flood method, or really anything piped. I would love to learn, but I think its going to take more time than I have right now. One day... maybe...

Needless to say, I am always impressed with decorated cookies and therefore gingerbread houses. Eatable art. Here are some pictures of gingerbread houses that I am thoroughly impressed with.

Disney Gingerbread House, on Frog Prince Paperie

Gingerbread House, on Kalmbach Memorial Park

Falling Waters Gingerbread House, by coleypauline, on Flickr

Hogwarts, by Britta, at check out the photo tutorial!

The Burrow, By CraftSter user mezcraft, craftster.org

Biltmore Gingerbread House, by sweetashvegus, on Flickr

I really hope some of these photos have inspired you to get building! Make some awesome cookie houses and let me know how they turned out. If you need some more instructions, Nicole (a gingerbread house pro!) from Tradewind Tiaras did a great guest post on Frog Prince Paperie. Its a really great little tutorial on how to make great little gingerbread houses. Check out the post here.

Make sure to check out Gingerbread Ninja for some great Gingerbread inspiration!

XOXO,

Coco

10 Recipes to Try this Christmas!

I love to bake. 

And cook. 

And eat. 

I really love to eat. 

I mean, who doesn't, right? 

One of the best things about the holidays is all of the food. Traditional favorites, and new creations! This year I comprised a list of all the recipes I want to try. Some I have already made and they turned out wonderfully, others are on my (ever increasing) To Do list. 

Check out my list of Top Ten Recipes to Try and let me know how they turn out for you!

1. Chocolate Pie with Toasted Coconut Pie (made this for Thanksgiving, OMG good! Dark chocolate and coconut, where can you go wrong? With only 5 ingredients its a perfect little pie.)

2. Baked Hawaiian Ham and Swiss Sandwiches (these looks so good! There always seems to be tons of leftover ham at every family event, so why not make these the next day for all of those house guests?)

3. Peppermint Bark Cheesecake (apparently, this is a Cheesecake Factory knock-off recipe. I don't really go to the Cheesecake Factory ever so I wouldn't know, but I do LOVE peppermint bark and I LOVE cheesecake, so why not combine the two? Hello awesomeness!)

4. Frozen Whip Cream Shapes (how cool is this? Some people are totally brilliant. This is not a hard thing to think of, simply make whipped cream and spread it on a sheet; freeze then cut into fun shapes with cookie cutters and watch it melt in your mug of hot chocolate.)

5. Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge (made this last week. Having never made fudge before, this recipe was super straight-forward and it turned out unbelievably delicious.)

6. Cranberry Ice Cream Pie (another from the Brown Eyed Baker, I just love her recipes. This pie looks so yummy and I think it would be a nice addition to the warm pies that are usually serves with Christmas dinner, or even better for Christmas Eve.)

7. Grasshopper Bars (I have made these before. My husband who isn't a huge sweets person is still talking about how much he likes these bars. They are perfect for this time of year because of the wonderful minty green color.)

8. Gingerdoodles/Snickersnaps (if gingersnaps and snickerdoodles had a love child these cookies would be that baby. Making them for my sister-in-law's cookie exchange.)

9. Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix (this has been on my to do list for a while. I love the idea of making my own mixes and this time of the year I seem to be drinking a ton of hot cocoa. Why not make my own mix, save money and I won't be worried about all the chemicals in the stuff in the packets. This would also make a great holiday gift.)

10. Melted Snowmen Cookies (how stinking cute are these guys?)