Gingerbread Creations at the Grand

Every year at Christmas Christ Kitchen holds a professional gingerbread contest.  Numbers were down this year, but I will share with you a few of the best.

The best, in my opinion was the Nativity Scene done by the Hall Family.  Every detail was amazing, and it is all edible!

A wiseman...

Another Wise Man

 I loved the camel.

 The details on the stable were amazing.  See the little bird.

 The Palm Trees

 I liked this little trove of water.

The lambs were so cute.

There was even a little dog!

My second favorite was done by a local cupcake shop, Sweet Frostings.  It was a depiction of  Family at Christmastime.  There were three scenes.  There was a Christmas Tree and Fireplace Scene, a bringing home the Christmas Tree Scene, and a Holiday Baking Scene.

The Christmas Tree and Fireplace Scene

The bringing home the Christmas Tree Scene, which I thought was charming.

These two just make me smile!

The third scene was a holiday kitchen.

I like the blue appliances.  The cabinets had dishes in them!

The little dog in front of the stove was so cute.

This is a fun event to go to every year.  I will close with a few pictures of the gorgeous Christmas trees in the Grand Hotel.

Thanks for dropping by; hoping you are having a wonderful holiday season with you and yours.

Molded Spiced Brown Sugar Shortcake Christmas Cookies

Dear Red Couch Readers, I have always been fascinated with cookie molds and presses.  When I was a child, my mother bought a couple of Rycraft cookie presses, and I fell in love with them.  I even remember the store, Orange Tree Imports, in Madison Wisconsin, where she bought them. It was a kitchen store, that I thought was very magical.   What not to love about a beautiful embossed butter cookies. On a sad note, the family that owned the Rycraft Company retired this year.  Apparently, there is a company that bought some of their stock, and there are other outlets for molds.

I recently bought these molds at World Market.  They cost $3.00 a piece, which I thought was very reasonable for the detail.  Some day I would like to buy some German Springerle molds.  They are much more costly.

Even though I love molds and presses, I have had a bit of problem with them, but I am happy to tell you that I have figured out the secret of getting the cookie out of the mold!  I guess I am a slow learner, and may not be telling you anything new, but here goes.  The secret is to lightly dust the cookie mold in flower and then press a ball of dough, that also has a light dusting of flour on it, and press it into the mold.  Read the recipe below for further instructions.  I am so happy to know how to do this!  No more cookie dough sticking to the mold!

I took my brown sugar shortbread recipe, and added some spices for Christmas.  Be aware that the spices will darken the cookies, so if you are looking for a whiter cookie, omit the spices.  Also note that if you use a recipe with eggs, or baking soda or powder, you will lose some of the embossing.

Molded Spiced Brown Sugar Shortbread Cookie Recipe

1 cup softened butter -- do not use margarine

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 ginger

1/4 teaspoon cloves

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Beat the butter and both sugars with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until light and fluffy.  Beat in the vanilla, then beat in the salt.  On low speed, gradually beat in the flour just until incorporated.  Dip the mold in flower and then tap off the excess flower.  Make a ball of the dough and then lightly roll the part of the dough that will be pushed into the .  Press the dough into the mold and level off the dough on the back.   Lightly tap the mold on the edge of your missing bowl or something similar, and the mold will begin to release.  Carefully take the mold out and place on ungreased baking sheet.  Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, depending on the thickness of cookies and size of molds. Watch carefully so that you don't over bake!  I love a moist shortbread.  Cool cookies on wire rack. This recipe made about a dozen of the World Market Molds.

I hope you try some molded or pressed cookies for Christmas.

Monster Cookies

Zoulah wanted to do one more last minute Halloween post.  You could whip these up before you could whip these up in a hurry!

It is just a five  ingredient cookie, and would make good use of those eyeballs you have sitting around your cupboard.

Monster Cookie Recipe

1 box Cake mix

1/2 cup softened butter

1 egg

Candy Eyes

Purple Food Coloring

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Put all ingredients, except coloring and eyes, in medium mixing bowl and mix well.

Form dough into tablespoon-sized balls and place on cookie sheets.  Bake for 9 minutes in oven.  Remove from oven and let sit on cookie sheet for a few minutes.  Then remove and cool on cooling rack.

Zoulah thanks you for visiting Red Couch Recipes during Zoulah's season!

Halloween Spicy S'mores Cookie Bars

It was just innocent at first, I came across the recipe for Smore's Cookie Bars at church; we all baked them for the men at church for Father's Day.  I should have known, Miss Tina, the lady we got the recipe from is a very good cook, and she always finds the best S'mores recipes.

I mean I don't even like the kind of S'mores that you eat as you sit around the campfire.  Chocolate and graham crackers yes, but no thank you on the burnt marshmallows!  Then when we were in Pennsylvania at our son's home, and we were talking about desserts -- as we always do -- they had been making them too, but as a pie.  We all agreed that the graham crackers in the crust made these bars special. 

So naturally, Zoulah wanted to put her spin (some might call it magic) on things and make them Halloween-y, and we loved them even more.  In fact our daughter said, we would never make them again without the spices.  Ooh-la-la the chocolate and the spices taste sooooo good together.

So here goes the recipe.

Halloween Spicy S'mores Cookie Bars

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

2 2/3  cups flour

1 1/2 cups crushed graham cracker crumbs -- about 1 sleeve and use cinnamon ones for an extra punch of cinnamon-y goodness

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Orange food coloring

Hershey Chocolate Bars -- 24 snack-sized bars

1 container of marshmallow fluff -- not marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9x13 pan.  Cream together butter and sugars until light.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.  In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmegs.   Add orange food coloring if desired -- use about 1/2 teaspoon gel coloring.  Add to butter mixture and mix at low speed until combined.  Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of prepared pan.  Place chocolate bars  over dough.  Spread chocolate with marshmallow fluff.  Wet your hands or use a wet spatula to ease in the spreading of the fluff.  Next, put the remaining dough on top.  This is easiest if you sort of flatten small shingles of dough and lay them out piece by piece.  Bake for about 30 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool completely before cutting.  I like to cut them in 3 by 4 squares, so about 9 to a pan.

Thanks Tina for the original recipe, and thanks Zoulah for adding some Halloween magic to it.  I am sure there is an original source, but I do not know it.

Use 2 Packages of 12 Pack Snack-Sized S'mores Bar (or the equivalent)

Take a Deep Breath of the Chocolate Goodness

I know I am supposed to like European chocolate better, but I love Hershey's chocolate bars, especially with almonds in them!

The Bars Laid Out on the Bottom Crust

Marshmallow Fluff

Pat the Cookie Dough for the Top Crust in Thin Shingles and Then Piece it Together

The Bars Waiting to be Baked

I hope you make a batch soon.

Zoulah thanks you for stopping by!

When they Saw the Star They Rejoiced With Exceeding Great Joy

"and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, until it stood over where the young child was."

 

"When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy."  Matthew Chapter 2

 

"Joy to the world, the Lord has come;



 

 Let earth receive her King!"  Let every heart prepare him room.

 

 

And Saints and angels sing, and Saints and angels sing, and Saints and Saints and angels sing."

 

There is joy at Christmas because He lives!

 

Merry Christmas from our Red Couch Home to you!

 



Gingerbread Movie-Themed Houses at the Grand

 

Welcome to Red Couch Recipes.  Every year in our community, there is a gingerbread contest held around Christmastime.  This year, there were a couple of entrants I had to share with you because they were so wonderful! 

 

For the past several years, it was held in the Davenport Hotel, which is a treasure to our community.  (Photo Credit:  Jacqueline Williamson). 

 

 

This year the build-off was held at the Grand Hotel, which is a sister hotel to the Davenport Hotel.   As you can see. the Grand is very modern.  For whatever reason, not many seemed to visit these wonderful creations.  Maybe it is the new location, maybe it was not advertised well.

 

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One of our favorites, was the "Charlie Brown Christmas."  The attention to detail was amazing.  The figures were large gingerbread cookies.  As far as I could tell, this entry was made by an online bakery in the area.

 

 

Music from the movie was piped in.

 

 

The figures were placed in an old-fashioned television set, with a Christmas tree and wrapped presents on the side.

The Red Baron's plane went around in circles.  We absolutely loved this entrant.

 

The "Rudolph" entrant was also one of our favorites.  This entry was done by the Hall family, a family in our community who love making gingerbread every year. 

 

 

 

We were stunned by the detail, and their ability to craft gingerbread and candy likenesses of the characters in the movie.  Rudolph does look like Rudolph.  Yes, his nose did shine.

 



 

Herbie and Yukon Cornelius are so fabulous.  Look at the detail on his beard.  Even the way they have positioned the bodies, is similar to how the characters would appear in the movies.

 



 



 

Of course there was Santa.

 

 

 

The Polar Express entry was made by our favorite cupcake shop, Sweet Frostings.  Their gingerbread houses were so fabulous.  The big tree rotated.  The building to the right has their name, "Sweet Frostings" on it, with little cupcakes in the window.

 

 

 

They threw an Olaf, along with the conductor, just for fun.

 

 

We loved the detail work on the buildings. 

 

 

We also loved the "Grinch" entry.  The mountain was impressive, as well as the cookie Christmas tree.

 

The little building were shaped so cutely, and they were lit.

 

This was a darling entry.

 



 

The "Nightmare Before Christmas" was made by a cake supply store that we frequent. 

 

 

We thought they did a good job on the buildings.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for dropping by and viewing these "houses."