Gingerbread House Day
About Gingerbread House Day
When is Gingerbread House Day? This holiday is always observed on December 12
Today is Gingerbread House Day, a December 12 holiday. Gingerbread cookies are a Christmas tradition. Can you imagine the Christmas season without gingerbread men!? The same holds true with these houses, which are made from the tasty cookies. Our Gingerbread trivia allows you to display your in-depth knowledge of these fun-to-build-and-eat houses.
Ginger has been popular for flavoring foods and drinks since ancient times, all over the world. In 992 A.D., Armenian monk Gregory of Nicopolis brought gingerbread, his favorite food, to Europe. He taught local Christian bakers how to make it. There are also some records suggesting that Christian crusaders brought gingerbread back with them after the crusades.
It wasn’t until the 1800s, that someone got the wonderful idea of making houses out of gingerbread and decorating them. The tradition of making Gingerbread houses originated in Germany. Its popularity spread around the world. Making gingerbread houses in the days before Christmas is a lot of fun. You can buy kits, or make them from scratch. Kids and adults alike, enjoy cutting the gingerbread to size and using frosting to glue the house together. Decorating is done with a wide variety of colorful candies. Gingerbread houses are very popular at Christmas parties. One of the highlights at Christmas parties is giving the okay to tear apart and eat the house.
You can make a Gingerbread house from scratch or buy a kit. Making them from scratch is involved and time-consuming. Nowadays, most people buy an easy-to-use kit.
For the Record: Guinness World record for the largest gingerbread house is a massive 60 feet long by 42 feet wide and 10 feet tall. It was created by Traditions Club in Bryan, Texas in 2013.
Today's Chuckle
Question: What does a gingerbread man use to make his bed?
Answer: Cookie sheets!
Gingerbread Trivia
Here are some tasty Gingerbread trivia facts, to amaze your family and friends with your knowledge of ginger and gingerbread:
- In the 1700’s, making gingerbread was exclusively the realm of professional bakers.
- Queen Elizabeth I is credited with creating the idea to make the first gingerbread man.
- Ginger helps preserve bread.
- In some parts of the world, gingerbread houses are popular at Easter.
- Ginger soothes upset stomachs. It’s great after a big holiday meal.
- The Brothers Grimm story about Hans and Gretel inspired the creation of the gingerbread house.
- The world’s largest gingerbread house was made in 2013 by the Traditions Club in Bryan, TX. It was 60′ long, 21′ tall, and 2,520 square feet. That’s much bigger than my house!
- Every year, the town of Bergen, Norway creates an entire city of gingerbread houses.
Thought for Today
“Adults are obsolete children” – – Dr. Seuss
History and Origin of Gingerbread House Day
There is a wealth of information about ginger as a flavoring for foods, and about how gingerbread became popular throughout the world.
Unfortunately, our research has not uncovered who created Gingerbread House Day, or when this annual holiday was first created. This holiday appears to have been around since before 2,000.
Gingerbread Recipes
Can’t get enough of this great treat!? Me neither. Here are a few more recipes to enjoy this month:
More December 12 Holidays
Here is another December 12 holiday we’re sure you will enjoy:
More About Today
Recipe of the Day: Pumpkin Roll with Pecans
Also See: Holiday Recipes and Pumpkin Recipes Galore
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