So last time I had us at the AirB&B in Marfa and Martha and the grandkids had spent way too much time fighting tooth and nail with a gingerbread house kit. It came with all the house pieces neatly pre-formed and you were supposed to be able to use a little container of frosting to cement the whole thing together.
Except...except...the frosting would do absolutely no such thing. And the house pieces were all falling apart. And the grandkids were disappointed. And Martha was furious. And it was one of those lovely little moments in family travel that remind you why migraines aren’t nearly as bad as they’re cracked up to be. At least in comparison.
But, as I also mentioned last time, David...who is both a chef and an architect...had been watching the whole gingerbread debacle. Now he sprang into action. “Let’s see what we can do,” he said, cheerfully. He found a box of confectioner’s sugar in the AirB&B’s kitchen, took a bowl, added some water...and pow! A newer, thicker, improved frosting.
He then turned his attentions to the gingerbread house pieces. Click...click...click...it went together, with the new frosting holding it nicely in place. You’d have thought it had been delivered fully formed and pre-assembled. Like those houses you see on trailers on the highway. But with better interior design and fewer wide-load flags.
“There you go,” David said, cheerfully. Martha and I looked at it, amazed, and not a little embarrassed. Yep. It was done. We hadn’t managed to get a single wall up, and he’d done the whole dang structure in less than a hour. God only knows what he’d have done if he’d had more time, more sugar, a building permit, and a bobcat micro-tractor.
The g’kids then got a chance to nibble at the house a bit. The window eaves and awnings were particular favorites. Though the front door and foundation also had their attractions.
About the photos: First, the completed gingerbread house, courtesy of David and his much improved sugar-frosting. Second, an interior shot of the AirBnB. This was our bedroom. It looks cozy, and it was, but it was also Cold! Third, a picture that has nothing to do with the story but I like it. Here’s Martha next to one of the big boots in Wimberley, Texas, during our 2024 visit there. I love the fact that boot was photobombed by a sign about feet.
But...the kicker was that the grandkids actually didn’t get a chance to eat too much of the gingerbread house. We had forgotten that their parents might see things differently than we did about a cookie house with its sugary substructure. They are pretty strict about not letting the little ones have too much sugar.
So...after a fairly short while...there was a blur, a flash, a movement...we faintly saw Emily in passing...and...and...
And the gingerbread house was gone. Like it had never been there. I have no idea what happened to it. But, there was a dumpster out front...so...maybe...
Sigh.
Actually, I really can’t blame them. They are right to be concerned about sugar in their children’s diets. There is way too much of it in processed foods.(1) And we know, now, that sugar is a fairly problematic substance. It has some serious health risks associated with it.(2)
But maybe Martha and I can be forgiven for, well, not anticipating their concerns. We’re boomers. We were raised by a much less health conscious generation. I mean, for heaven’s sakes. My parents’ idea of breakfast included a bowl of Quisp cereal(3), a juice glass of Tang (4), and an extra large 13-oz glass of Nestle Quik strawberry flavored milk.(5) Then they’d send me off to grade school and wonder why I was having trouble sitting still. I mean, heck. The wonder was that I didn’t just sit and vibrate all day like a nuclear powered tuning fork on mutagenic steroids.
So, I guess they were right to terminate the gingerbread house (with extreme prejudice). I guess it was a good idea. And no harm done. All for the best. I’m *sure* it was all for the best. Etc. Etc. Etc.
But...
But...
Just the same...
Next time...next time we get the g’kids for an afternoon.
I’m buying ‘em each a hot fudge sundae.
And an espresso.
Where was I? Oh, yes. So that was the adventure of the gingerbread house.
But stay tuned...because there’s more. We still have the half pipe...
And the fancy restaurant that was mediocre to the max.
More to come.
Footnotes.
1. To get an idea how much sugar is added to our daily diets, check out this dramatic graphic showing the amount of sweetener in your average bottle of ketchup: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/heinz-tomato-ketchup-sugar/
2. See, for example, “The Impact of Free Sugar on Human Health—A Narrative Review,” by Kerri M. Gillespie, Eva Kemps,2 Melanie J. White, and Selena E. Bartlett. Lindsay Brown, Academic Editor. Nutrients 2023 Feb; 15(4):889. National Library of Medicine, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9966020/
3. Quisp. Remember that one? Had the little alien on the box. I was big into science fiction in those days. So ...I was big into Quisp. Sugar was the second ingredient. Brown sugar was the fourth. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quisp.
4. Remember Tang? God it was gross. I just looked it up. According to Wikipedia, a “single suggested serving of Tang contains 29 grams (1.0 oz) of sugar (representing 94% of the product's dry weight)...” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_(drink_mix)#Nutritional_facts
5. This seems to be sold as “Nesquik” today. I’ve no idea how much sugar was in it. The product’s Wikipedia page lists “sugar” as the first ingredient, but is otherwise silent on the exact percentages. See here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nesquik
Copyright©2024 Michael Jay Tucker
*
Care to help out?
I provide these blog postings for free. That’s fine and I’m happy to do so. But, long ago and far away, I was told that if you give away your material, that means you don’t really think it has any value.
So, to get beyond that, I’ve decided to make it possible for you to leave me a “tip” for my posts.
If you like what I write or the videos I produce, and feel you could make a small contribution to support my efforts, please go here:
That will take you to a Gumroad page where you’ll have the option of leaving me a few pence by way of encouragement.
Again, I don’t mind if you don’t. I just want to provide you with the option so that I won’t feel quite so much like I’m just tossing my works into the wind.
Either way, thanks hugely for dropping by the blog :-)
~mjt
Comments