Muppets and American Food
by Fazia Rizvi
17 November 2003, 3:32 PM

Bog of the Lost Scholars has a nifty entry today Kachinas and Muppets.

And I found this nifty site via LiveJournal's cooking group: 500 Years of American Food.

Recipe: Gingerbread House
by Fazia Rizvi
17 November 2003, 1:14 PM

I finished it. And yes, I took pictures.

The hay bales are made out of shredded wheat, and the windows out of crushed and melted lifesavers. The recipes I used are:

Royal Icing

3 egg whites
1.5 teaspoons of cream of tartar powder
2.5-4 cups of powdered sugar

First, whip the egg whites until they are frothy and foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue to whip until the foam increases and the eggs make weak peaks. Stir in the powdered sugar in 1/2 cup batches until you get a spreadable consistency. (Lift up the beater or spoon. Does the icing drip off? You need more sugar. Add sugar until the icing looks like it wants to drip but just hangs there, frozen in place.)

This is the stuff you'll use to put everything together. You can add some food coloring too for different colors. My suggestion is to make it in small batches like this As You Need It, since the stuff sets up like concrete pretty quickly. You can cover it up with saran wrap (make sure the wrap actually touches the icing) to try to keep it moist, but it's best to use it as soon as you can. Bake the house first, then make your first bath of icing.

Gingerbread

(I got this one from Recipe Source. Great site.)

2 cups shortening (no substitutes)
2 cups sugar
2 cups dark molasses
2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
9 cups all-purpose flour -- 9-10 cups

(I added 1 Tablespoon ginger, 1 teaspoon nutmeg and 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves to this recipe.)

In a 5 qt pan, heat shortening, sugar and molasses on low, stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat; add cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Stir in flour, 1 cup at a time, until dough can be formed into a ball. Using remaining flour, lightly flour a wooden board. Turn dough onto the board; knead until even in color and smooth (not crumbly or dry), adding more flour if needed Form into a log. Cut into 5 equal pieces; wrap in plastic wrap.

I cut patterns out of paper, but you can use cardboard; one for the front and back and four simple squares (two sides and the roof). Roll your dough out directly onto the cookie sheet. (It'll be near-to-impossible to transfer it once it's rolled out.) Lay your template out on the dough and cut out your design. Then bake at 375 degrees for 10-14 minutes or until cookie springs back when lightly touched. Remove from oven, replace template and trim the excess. Let it cool on the cookie sheet fr about 3 minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely. Repeat for all your patterns.

Put your sides together using the Royal Using like "glue" (a pipette bag works WAY better than just spreading with a knife) and a couple of heavy cans to hold the walls up while it dries and hardens. Let the base set for at least 24 hours before setting the roof.

It's best to do all this on a non-humid day. When I baked my gingerbread patterns they came out nice and stiff, but the next day a storm rolled in and the humidity caused it all to soften a bit. As a result I couldn't keep my roof from sagging a bit as it set.