I've had this saved for quite a while, it came from a friend who is a mad crafter. She swears it is the sturdiest recipe she has ever used. Good Luck! Alexa Gingerbread Construction Dough (aka Oven Plywood) 12 cups pastry flour 2 tbsp ground ginger 2 tbsp ground cinnamon 2 tbs ground cloves 2 tsp ground nutmeg 1 tsp salt 2/3 cups lemon juice 2 eggs beaten 2 egg yolks beaten 1/2 cup butter 1 1/3 cups honey 3 1/3 sugar If using a small kitchenaid mixer you will want to divide this recipe up. It will be too big for the mixer. Sift flours together to blend, set aside Combine spices, set aside Combine lemon juice and eggs in another bowl, set aside. Melt butter, honey and sugar over medium heat. Stir until butter and honey are melted and then add sugar. Continue to combine- the sugar does not need to dissolve. Remove from heat. While butter/honey mixture is still warm, place in mixer bowl, add lemon juice and egg mixture. Mix until well blended using paddle attachment. Slowly add the flour and spice mixtures. Dough will be sticky at first, and then becomes very stiff as you continue adding the flours. Knead the dough until it makes a smooth ball. Keep the finished dough at room temperature, cover with plastic wrap. The dough is very difficult to roll if it becomes too cool/cold. If the dough cools down, you can wrap it in plastic wrap and microwave for 15-20 seconds at a time. This re-heats the honey slightly and makes it easier to handle. Dust the rolling surface and rolling pin, roll to desired thickness. Cut pieces and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes for 1/4â thick, 20-25 minutes for 3/8â thick. Check pieces- different sizes may need different settings.

Annie - Your gingerbread house sounds terrific! I bet it was so much fun to make it and eat it too! I am sure your daughters remember all those good memories. And if you ever make them again, maybe for your babies's babies please share a picture... I like to make cookies with friends and then we put them in small bags to share with other friends.:) Teresa - What an interesting life you had! A lot like mine, traveling to different places and now I am here for good, I only take vacations now and for short time, don't like to leave my 3 dogs alone for too long.:) We have parties for friends to practice languages, I do all the cooking for a group under 20 but for a group bigger than that we do a potluck. I always tried to include activities for the parties, sometimes we invite a chef and if it is daytime we always include a tour of the garden, even non-gardeners like that because they get to see how some of the food is grown and I usually include the harvest in the dishes that I make. This year I grew an Italian winter squash that were so big that gave us a lot of meals to share with friends. One of the favorite dishes was the lasagna made with sausage and squash. Silvia

Jo, I love that. The girls and I made one every year. Actually, we mostly made gingerbread "hovels". A pound of gingerbread and 3 pounds of frosting, which stood up just long enough for a picture and then we ate it. Shingles were always M&Ms, and those always got eaten first. Maybe Makayla and Bud will want to help me make one this year..... Good luck on the competition, I love that front porch! Annie

Thank you all for your kind comments. I had no idea about family traditions of building gingerbread houses existed. trainrunner - congratulations on your first. You won't have difficulty remembering the birthdate. bestyears - it must be rewarding that your teen age daughter and her friends share a decade of memories with you. kristinekr - yes, frosted mini wheats. My DH made the rockers from plans and always describes them as taking 3 months of every spare waking moment. nancybee - The kids raided the pantry for the special effects, cereal for the roof and ice cream cones for the trees. ideefixe - interesting observation as their father began his college studies to be an architect, then changed to industrial design. lascatx - the icicles actually are just streams of the royal icing. A few fell into the snow below. texanjana - The rockers have stayed in their rooms since they outgrew riding them. deeinohio - This was a Wilton kit that I purchased at Michaels. It was complete with royal icing and the candies. I also purchased a heavy tray onto which it is built. The kids just added their personalization.