Gingerbread Recipe
Makes enough for 1 big house with leftovers for gingerbread men, women, and children

1 cup butter
1 3/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons molasses
6 eggs
6 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 tablespoon ginger
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon allspice

1. Sift together the dry ingredients. 
2. Cream the butter and sugar, add the molasses and eggs (one at a time) and then mix in the dry ingredients. 
3. Knead on a floured surface until dough forms a ball. 
4. Divide into 4 equal parts, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate 1-2 hours or overnight.
5. Preheat oven to 325.
6. Roll dough out on floured surface until 1/4 inch thick.
7. Cut out the pieces for your structure: brownstone, ranch house, or garage. 
8. Place on parchment-lined cookie sheets, and bake for 10-15 minutes.

Stiff Royal Icing Recipe (for assembly)
Makes 2 cups

3 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 (16 oz box) powdered sugar

1. In a large bowl combine all ingredients.
2. Beat 7 minutes with an electric mixer until smooth and thick. (Test by seeing whether a knife blade drawn through the icing leaves a clean cut.)
3. Cover with plastic wrap whenever you are not using, because it will dry out very quickly.

Decorating Icing Recipe (for coloring your house)
Makes 1 cup

2 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup powdered sugar

1. Combine all ingredients and beat 1-2 minutes until smooth. (Frosting should make very soft peaks.)
2. Use food coloring to tint to desired color.
3. If you want to color your house (like the green on the ranch house) pipe the icing onto all the pieces and let dry 1-2 hours before assembling.

To Assemble:
1. Put royal icing in a pastry bag and pipe along the edge where two walls will meet.
2. Press walls together and hold for 30 seconds until frosting is somewhat set.  Then use cans from the pantry to hold up the walls until the frosting dries completely (about 15-20 minutes). 
3. Assemble the four walls of the house, and then attach the roof, holding this in place a few minutes for it to set. 
4. Let the house dry for at least an hour to make sure it is completely set before applying decorations (candy, cookies, pretzels, etc.).
5. Use leftover squares of gingerbread and chocolate bars to create a porch.

To Make the Windows:
1. Preheat the oven to 250.
2. On a parchment-lined cookie sheet, place jolly ranchers, starlight mints, pieces of candy cane, or other hard candies a couple of inches apart. 
3. Place in the oven, and watch closely as they melt. They will take 2-5 minutes to spread out. When they are 1/8 thick, take them out of the oven. 
4. Let cool until translucent and attach with royal icing to the inside wall of the house.  (They will need to be slightly bigger than the window you cut in the gingerbread.)