Christmas tear down
It seems that after the great festivities of Christmas there is the massive come down; no more luxurious dinners scheduled on almost every day in your calendar, no more masses of chocolates and sweets in bowls everywhere and no more excesses of friends and family.
For those that survived the holiday without any dramas there is a large percentage that are,
at present, either sick with a cold (moi) or reading or watching DVDs quietly at home. This peace and quiet is the little reprieve before the last large celebration of the year - New Years Eve (which I can't believe is tomorrow). Remember when we thought the world was coming to an end in Y2K? That was 8 years ago...
Each year we were unable to eat our ginger bread house - and we never really made one - it wasn't something my Grandmother ever made with my mom and aunts in Sicily. They made
panettone and loads of Christmas cookies - so the ginger bread house had not much significance.
One year, we got a gingerbread house as a gift from Momma
Dolce's friend at work, it was nicely wrapped in cellophane and perfectly made. That year we admired it and at the end of the holidays it went into the closet, each year after that it emerged, we displayed it and then back in the closet. This is what we thought everyone did! I was shocked the first time I saw friends eating their ginger bread houses bit by bit over the holidays.
As the new generation which mixes old and new we make the houses from scratch or
errmmm....from the
pre-made packages. Immediately or after Christmas we tear it down and eat it. Sometimes, seconds after it is made the candies start disappearing. What a change from the days of the gingerbread house protected by its lovely cellophane bubble and my mother's stern eye.
Enjoy tearing your gingerbread houses down and eating all your leftover goodies! 
The best panettone with limoncello filling. It was divine. You can buy this flavour at your local grocery store. It's too bad they don't sell these all year round. A slice of this goes well with a cuppa tea or coffee or is also a good breakfast treat. I am still partial to the chocolate flavour but the lemon comes a close second. 
Pre sprinkling of the icing sugar.
