Chocolate on the Walls

And cookies too

This is a carefully calculated decorating scheme, not some food fight gone awry.

As a child I loved the story of Hansel & Gretel and the idea of a Gingerbread House. Through adulthood, that fascination has remained. I frequent the children's section of the library and look at artists' interpretation of the Gingerbread House in the Hanel & Gretel books.

How to replicate such a house in real life, that has been something I have oft times pondered and realized it would only result in a spat with both my husband and the Building Code Compliance Officer. Putting huge (albeit weatherproofed with varnish) gingerbread cookies on one's home is not very acceptable.

That certainly leaves the inside that I can decorate however I like. And with Chocolate Clay and gingerbread cookies I can do this. Years of working with gingerbread/bread clay (I developed my own recipe) has resulted in the cutest heart shaped cookies that have a wonderful spicy aroma of cloves, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg as I include generous amounts of spices in the formula. This is actually a quaint German tradition for holidays. Some cookies can be up to three feet wide - or big enough to put on a real house.

For tomorrow I have meshed a sort of Hansel & Gretel meets Valentine's Day setting. This includes lots of fakes, chocolate clay, gingerbread clay and repurposed, vint-'aged' items.

Now only to plan dinner, which will have to revolve around lean meat/soy meat and veggies. Maybe a splash of wine and a healthy berry dish for dessert with some chocolate shavings. We will have only a few pieces of the chocolate Valentine's candies. We will freeze and give away the rest while we wistfully sit with all the fakes around us!