Gingerbread

Do you remember the story about the Gingerbread Man. You know, run run run as fast as you can.  You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man.  I loved that story, and it may have something to do with my addiction to all things gingerbread.  My granny used to make gingerbread cut out cookies that were (as she put it) "hard as Billy be Damned."  She cut them out in all different shapes at Christmas and rolled them out with the rolling pin and bread board that I was lucky enough to inherit.  My favorite way to eat Granny's gingerbread cookies was to break them up and put them in a bowl of hot, creamy oatmeal.  

If you have never been to Walt Disney World during the holiday season, you don't know what you are missing.  Housed in the lobby of the Grand Floridian resort is a magnificent gingerbread house.  According to Disney, this year’s gingerbread house is made up of 1,050 pounds of honey, 140 pints of egg whites, 600 pounds of powdered sugar, 700 pounds of chocolate, 800 pounds of flour, 35 pounds of spices, and tons of creativity paired with Disney magic and pixie dust.  It is one of my favorite places to visit during the holidays.  The scent of gingerbread greets you as you walk into the lobby.  Just thinking about it makes my mouth water!  The house is a store, there is a window on one side of the house where you can buy gingerbread shingles.  It's a soft gingerbread, and they are coated on the back with chocolate.  I was so excited to learn that this year, they would begin to sell the gingerbread during our trip.  The night we went to the Grand Floridian to buy our gingerbread, I decided to be a "good girl" and buy the sugar free that they showed was available.  They put it into a bag, and I gave it a hug while Rod paid the bill.  You can imagine my disappointment when I got home, opened the bag, and discovered that what they had given me was not gingerbread, but sugar free shortbread.  How could this be??  How could I have missed out on the best gingerbread that I've ever tasted??  I was feeling like I had failed my quest for Disney gingerbread.

But today, I was so excited to see that The Mouse for Less blog had posted the recipe for the Grand Floridian gingerbread.  I had purchased a Mickey Mouse gingerbread cookie cutter with a mix while I was in the park this year, but you can find it here, and you can buy just the cutter.  Guess who plans on making some Mickey gingerbread men - yep ME.