Fruitcake and Gingerbread

We opened up the Fruitcake Factory for another year and it was a good year for fruitcake if I do say so myself.  We did limit our production to a single batch and called it our private reserve since we only had one giant bowl filled full to the brim after all the mixing was done.  The reviews we got back were favorable and even cousin Kayla had her first one and enjoyed it.

This year we also changed things up by opening up the factory for tours during the baking day.  Aunt Kacey, Kayla and Ben joined us to mix in the dry ingredients and then bake up the cakes.  Then Aunt Renee had a special treat planned - gingerbread houses to decorate.  I am thinking that her dreams of how these houses would turn out didn't even begin to live up to reality. 

This is early on in the decorating before things really got crazy and I had to put the camera down to try to control the decorating / eating of candy.  Ben was definitely using the one for the house, two for him method of decorating.  

Kayla carefully making a design on her house.  She has realized that it was about quality not quantity.

McKenzie trying to get some more frosting to hold the third layer of candy onto her house.  It was a lesson in gravity only made possible by the candy stacked up on the side of the house.

Ben and Kayla enjoying their fruitcake after lunch.