The Gingerbread Man

According to the Guinness Book of Records, the world's largest gingerbread man weighed 168.8 kg (372.13 lb) and was made by chefs at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Vancouver, Canada, on November 19, 2003. It measured 4.23 m (13 ft 11 in) in height, 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) wide and 5.08 cm (2 in) deep.

INGREDIENTS
1/3 cup shortening
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups dark molasses
2/3 cup cold water
7 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon crushed cloves (optional)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 egg yolks
10 drops food coloring
1/2 teaspoon water
3/4 cup raisins

DIRECTIONS
Mix shortening, brown sugar, and molasses thoroughly. Stir in 2/3 cup water. Blend flour, soda, salt, and spices; stir into molasses mixture. Chill for about 1 hour.
Roll the dough about 1/4 inch thick. Cut with boy and girl cookie cutters.
Make egg yolk paint by blending egg yolks and 1/2 teaspoon water. Divide the yolk among a few small bowls, and add food coloring to each cup for desired color. Paint the clothes and decorations on the cookies as desired. Carefully transfer to a lightly greased baking sheet. Using a toothpick, make a hole in the top of each cookie. Press raisins into dough for eyes, nose, mouth. Use bits of candied cherries for coat buttons, and strips of citron for ties.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 10 to 12 minutes. Cool slightly, then carefully remove from baking sheet.

Supplies:
One 2" wooden ball
Nine 25mm wooden ball beads
One 2 1/2" clay pot
One 2" clay pot
Four 1 2/2" clay pots
19 gauge wire
11 inches of ribbon
2 eye screws
Acrylic paints - Autumn brown, white, red, coral, black
Red spray glitter - optional
Instructions:
Paint all clay pots and wooden pieces in autumn brown. Using white paint, make wavy lines around the rim of the 2 1/2" pot. Paint a face on the 2" wooden ball, using a red dot for the nose, coral circles for cheeks and black dots for eyes. Use white for some hair on top of ball. Use black to draw on mouth lines. Screw in one eye screw on top of the ball head, and screw one into bottom of head. Place the 2" pot inside the 2 1/2" pot and connect all the body parts using the 19 gauge wire. Add ribbon bow at top of 2 1/2" pot where neck would be. Accent with red glitter if desired.

How to Make a Gingerbread Man Ornament
These little men even smell good! This is the perfect ornament every Christmas tree should be trimmed with. They are easy to make, but are a little expensive. The reason being, the cost of the cloves. If you don't mind spending a little extra money to create a wonderfully smelling ornament, this is the way to go.



Materials

Six Tbs. Applesauce.
Ten Tbs. Cinnamon.
One Tsp. Cloves .
One Bundle of string.

1. Combine all ingredients to form a dough.

2. Roll out the dough to about 1/8th of an inch in thickness.

3. Cut the dough out with a gingerbread cookie cutter.

4. Slightly grease a cookie sheet with PAM, and then place the gingerbread men on the cookie sheet.

5. Poke small holes in the hands of the gingerbread men with a tooth pick to create openings.

6. Bake at 120 degrees for approximately one and a half hours.

7. Turn off the oven and leave the gingerbread men in the oven over night to allow them to dry.

8. Once dry, begin to decorate your gingerbread men. Use your Imagination!

Gingerbread has been baked in Europe for centuries. In some places, it was a soft, delicately spiced cake; in others, a crisp, flat cookie, and in others, warm, thick, steamy-dark squares of "bread," sometimes served with a pitcher of lemon sauce or whipped cream. It was sometimes light, sometimes dark, sometimes sweet, sometimes spicy, but it was almost always cut into shapes such as men, women, stars or animals, and colorfully decorated or stamped with a mold and dusted with white sugar to make the impression visible.

1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg
1 tablespoon vinegar
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Decorative icing in colors desired
Miniature candies (optional)

1. In a mixing bowl, beat shortening with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, baking powder, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, and cloves. Beat untill combined, scraping bowl. Beat in the molasses, egg, and vinegar untill combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in remaining flour. Divide dough in half. Cover and chill for 3 hours or until easy to handle.

2. Grease a cookie sheet; set aside. On a lightly floured surface, roll half of the dough at a time to 1/8-inch thick. Using a 1-1/2 inch cookie cutter, cut into desired shapes. Place one inch apart on the prepared cookie sheet. Add holes at hands using a straw (as directed in step 2 on the first page).

3. Bake in a 375 degree F oven for 5 to 6 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on cookie sheet 1 minute. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool. If desired, decorate cookies with icing and candies. Makes 36 to 48 cookies.

Instructions:
1. Make cookie dough and shape several gingerbread friends in the size desired.

Before baking, use a straw to make a small hole in each hand. Bake and cool cookies as directed.

3. Decorate as desired using icing and candies.

4. Join hands. Connect the cookies together by threading thin ribbon through the holes in their hands. Knot the ribbon and trim the ends.

For a more lasting version, use oven-bake clay to make the gingerbread men.