Me And My Big Ideas

I have one last holiday party left with my family at my house on Friday. And me being me, I like having an "activity," during these get togethers, especially when it comes to having my nephew around and keeping him occupied. This time around I decided that a cookie decorating project would be fun and festive that not only a 7 year old would like but adults as well, or at least my sister J4.

Perhaps I was sort of adoring the cute gingerbread man kit I received as a Christmas gift and was suckered in by the idea, but let me just say this...I do not bake. At all. Well, I have a pumpkin pie recipe and I can do a traditional Toll House cookie, both of which work for so many occasions, what more do I need? (I can cook ok, no worries, I won't starve.) J4, on the other hand, is an excellent baker and lives near by...anything requiring more than these 2 options go directly to her. However, this being my party, I was also obliged to bake the gingerbread men in advance, so store bought mix it was...

It seems so easy, how could it go wrong? Let's just say a lesson was learned...

Looks pretty good, right? Except it was a very sticky gooey mess and I couldn't scoop them up without misshaping (and sometimes losing,) heads and limbs. Needless to say it was a complete mess and the lesson learned here is when the package says lightly flour it really means you need at least a good cup. This was how the first batch looked...

Ok, there was one good one in there but what's up with the top right corner? The Gingerblob Man? Thankfully I caught on and my final batch looks like this...

Much better! (I hope decorating will be much more fun than the baking part.)

J.