Holidays?

I hate the holidays. I mean really hate them - as in I can't stand them and they make me miserable. But for some reason I am the designated Holiday Cheer person.

I have the potential to be an amazing holiday lover. I love to make things pretty. I love to decorate, to bake, to find the perfect gift and wrap it meticulously.

But I fuckin' hate the holidays.

This year I've decided to make a gingerbread house. I've never made one before, so it should be interesting. I'll drive it up to Philadelphia with me to visit family. But being ME, I can't just make a little cottage.

My first foray into gingerbread will have me making a gingerbread chapel, complete with stained glass (sugar) windows, a steeple, and snow. Why?

Because I am insane.

Because I love working details.

Because I'm just THAT good. I'm that person who saw this picture of a Mad Hatter Cake when I was 15 and then just went ahead and made my own without instruction, and to fairly okay results, considering I'd never heard of fondant (that gum paste icing) until the day I worked with the stuff, AND I WAS FIFTEEN.

Now I'm 22 and I kick ass. Tonight, because I felt like it and there are some people coming over tomorrow, I made Raspberry Mousse. I use my own recipe. I made it up once, because I just figured making a mousse was a pretty obvious process. I don't like recipes.

I'll post photos of the gingerbread structure when it's completed.