Make a Gingerbread House for Share the Bounty!

Help Share the Bounty by making a gingerbread house for Wheatleigh's 6th Annual Gingerbread Competition and Silent Auction.

The rules are simple:
1. All ingredients used in and around the house must be edible
2. Except lights. You can use lights if you'd like. We can't eat those.

Then, bring your house to the Lenox Community Center by 2:30 on Sunday, Dec. 6th. We will have a silent auction for the houses, and all of the proceeds will benefit Share the Bounty.

Share the Bounty raises money to buy shares in CSA farms, and then we donate those shares to soup kitchens, food pantries and WIC participants.

Here's a recipe for gingerbread houses from Holly Evans, the pastry chef at Wheatleigh.

Gingerbread For Houses

1 cup shortening
1 cup molasses
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tap baking soda
.5 tsp salt
5 cup AP flour(approx)

-combine shortening, sugar and molasses in a pot-bring to simmer
-remove from heat and add baking soda, salt and cinnamon
-graddually stir in flour 1 cup at a time(you may not need 5 cups)
-roll out to 1/4 inch thick-chill
-cut shapes
-bake cold dough @300 for 20 minutes until firm

Icing Glue (for putting the house together)

This recipe is for a single batch. You will probably need several, but if you make them all at once, keep them in separate bowls: it dries very quickly and is like cement. Keep it well covered: one piece of saran wrap touching the icing itself and another on the bowl.

3 egg whites
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
3 - 3 1/2 cups icing sugar

In a large bowl, beat the egg whites until they begin to foam. Add the cream of tartar and beat until the whites are stiff but not dry. Gradually beat in the icing sugar, beating for about 5 minutes until it reaches spreading consistency. Keep it covered and refrigerated until needed.

For more info on the event, please contact Wheatleigh at 413-637-0610

Join us! Dec. 6th from 3 to 5! Free, fun event for the whole family!