Cooking Games and the Holidays

Cooking games are a natural part of the holiday season. Many families come together to make cookies or treats for teachers and other family members. When you share the experience of the cooking games, it’s easy to really get to know everyone without the pressure and the drama of the shopping malls or the even the grocery stores.

This holiday season treat your family to a real event in your household. While everyone is away at school or at a friend’s house, make a huge batch of cut-out sugar cookies. Then mix up icing in a variety of colors and arrange it into bowls. Sit your kids down after dinner and have them start decorating the cookies. Make it a rule that nobody can get up until every cookie is decorated. Even if your teenage children don’t get into as much as you’d like, they might still enjoy the experience and you’ll have given them a chance to enjoy a fun holiday treat during the most important time of the year.

Cooking Games – Gingerbread Men

What could be yummier at Christmas time than a slew of gingerbread men? This cooking game is fun for younger brothers and sisters, too – especially if you cheat and use the ready to bake cookie dough.

To make gingerbread men, you’ll need:

Ready to bake gingerbread cookie dough (it comes in a tube)
Gingerbread men cookie cutters
Icing in tubes
Candies

Roll out the dough and cut out the gingerbread men. As you cut each, carefully place it on the cookie sheet. As each sheet fills, bake according to the dough’s instructions. Remove the men when still warm. You can’t put the icing on until the cookies are cool, but any candy that will be stuck on the gingerbread men should be done quickly after removing the sheet from the oven You can also use icing later to glue on gum drop buttons and the like.

Push in any candy pieces while the cookie is still hot and then allow the cookies to cool completely. When they are hardened and cool, use small tubes of icing to decorate each. Add faces, buttons, arm and leg decorations and anything else you can think of to make the gingerbread men fun for the holiday season.