Giving Thanks
I’ve come to the conclusion that I am not a big family meal sort of girl. At least, I’m not the host-and-cook a big family meal sort of girl. I get absolutely no joy out of cooking. I mean zip. Zero. Nada. All that peeling and prepping and cleaning only to what? Spend the next two days cleaning up from it? All that for a roasted bird that I don’t even eat.
Once the guests arrive I typically forget to offer them a drink. I’ll forget to set out a main ingredient in the meal. I’ll forget to bring out the birthday cake (seriously, I forgot to do that at Callum’s afternoon party).
I think the biggest reason I hate hosting a big meal is because I’m not a real food person. I could happily eat mediocre food for the rest of my life and not care. It doesn’t have to be spectacular, all it has to do is keep me from starving to death. That’s all I ask. In fact, I would even go so far as to suggest that I prefer boring food. I could have something in a tomato sauce everyday. Add in some cheese and I’m yours for life. I am that person who would eat the pot of chili every day for a week because it meant that I only had to cook one meal.
So, it’s not that I have anything against the family meal. I’m all about family and spending time together. Even more so when someone else does the cooking. It’s just that quality time can be spent over a take-out pizza without the dishes.
Yet I enjoy setting a nice table. If you want to cook, I’ll come over and set the table. I might even make a center piece. oh! And napkin rings!
I also enjoy giving out a Thank You gift to people who come to my parties. I seldom throw a party making putting together a Thank You gift much more reasonable, but it is even more acceptable when it’s a kid birthday party.
As a party favour at Callum’s little shin-dig we gave out Haunted Halloween Gingerbread House Kits that the kids and I made. This was in lieu of a loot bag which I think is becoming a thing of the past. It seems most parents hate the loot bags, and are opting instead to do some really creative alternatives. Both Angela and Michelle had some fantastic ideas this year that I am so stealing as my kids get older.
Anyway, this kit looks exactly like the kit Michaels sells (unintentionally), except with that home-made charm which likely means the walls don’t line up with the roof.
I was really proud of these little boxes. Each box contains the gingerbread house pieces, some black food coloring, candies, little gingerbread skeleton dudes and gravestones, instructions, and chocolate windows. So much fun to put together and with the exception of the candies and food coloring, the kids and I made it all ourselves!
The little pumpkins on the box are those foam forms you can buy and I cut out random shapes that Callum glued onto the pumpkins. He was pretty picky about the exact placement of eyes and mouths and wouldn’t veer from that. Something I wasn’t expecting from a 3-year old and I’ll be honest, I was a bit disappointed. I was so hoping to see random eyes in the middle of that pumpkin’s forehead. There are, however, little eyes glued underneath big eyes…
Here is our house after Gwen realized that the fence? MADE OF CANDY. You should see it now… a sad little run-down shack with no windows and only half a door.
It of course still houses a secret gingerbread baby inside its walls, as all gingerbread houses must.
10 Responses to “Giving Thanks”
a little hut
a little sauciness
angry chicken
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creative thursday
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eskiegirl
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my plum pudding
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suzy says
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Tha is the COOLEST gingerbread house I have seen in a long time:)
Love the gingerbread house idea if we didn’t have summer birthdays I might just steal it myself.
I miss the days when I would cook, and offer the drinks and you would set the table and make things look pretty. We were quite a team back in the day (that was a long time ago when you were in that apartment in Thorncliff. Now I have to do it all for myself.
Also remind me again what idea I had that you are going to steal? Maybe I’ll use it again.
Thanks! It is seriously the same shape as the one at Michaels. But that one, on sale, is still $13 and I’m pretty sure mine ended up costing less than that (eh, I hope).
Ange – you painted plant pots as the birthday craft, and then gave everyone a plant – I think this was the Diego party? Michelle gave out play-doh and kettle popcorn this year. She had this idea to give out these corn-on-the-cobs you put in the microwave and watch them pop – kids love it, but she couldn’t find any in Calgary (they sell them at Coombs and other touristy places). Anyway, she went to a corn maze, so PERFECT to give out popcorn!
I miss those days too!
I think you just reserve your creativity for crafting instead of cooking. Nothing wrong with that!
I seriously love that gingerbread house.
All the crafty stuff you do makes me tired just looking at it. I’d rather cook.
But those houses are seriously neat! (Also, Callum and his intent little face. Is it just me or is he past the toddler stage and moving right into “little boy”? So sad for the lack of toddler.)
Oh ya I did the pots at the WALL-E party this year. Seemed to be a hit.
WALL-E – Diego…
.
you know, some kid character
I feel the same way about cooking…. the last thing I want to do on a holiday is spend hours in the kitchen preparing food that will be wolfed down in 20 minutes. Forget that. Peter’s parents insist on making us prepare a turkey for christmas dinner… we copped out by ordering one from Chinatown, but they caught on to us eventually. *sigh*
That gingerbread house is very cool. And I love the boxes you packed the kits in – it’s all about presentation.
I feel the need to point out that Gwen didn’t actually eat any of that candy (as evidenced by the fact that she didn’t choke to death, as she surely would have if she’d tried to put any of it in her mouth). In fact, in the picture you can see the fence debris madly strewn about the yard. I don’t know what that says about my kid, that she destroyed it because she COULD and never seemed to think about benefitting from it in the form of a sweet sugary treat …?
The gingerbread houses are awesome!!! And I agree with Suzy– your creativity comes through in the crafts. Which I think I suck at. But am an awesome cook. Oh well. Everyone’s got their own set of gifts, right?