Gingerbread Housemaking with The Gingerbread Lady

Found in London fairs in the 1600s, appearing in American cookbooks in the 1700s, and flourishing in the late 1800s and beyond—thanks to the popularity of Engelbert Humperdinck's opera Hansel & Gretel—gingerbread houses have become such a beloved craft that prefab kits are now sold seasonally in department stores nationwide. Patti Hudson, a.k.a. The Gingerbread Lady, an accomplished author and workshop presenter at the Smithsonian Institution, shows viewers a much less expensive, suitable for all seasons, and—darn it—more fun alternative to using the (literally) cookie-cutter store-bought kits here in this excellent program that draws from her three classic how-to titles on the subject: The Joy of Gingerbread Housemaking (VL-6/87), Gingerbread Land (VL-11/91), and The Gingerbread House (VL-3/98). Hudson begins by creating a large gingerbread house (with a chimney, furniture, lawn decorations, etc.), taking viewers through all the steps, from preparing the gingerbread dough and cutting out sections using a pattern to decorating the finished product (including a delicious-looking winter lawn made of various confectionery delights). Next, she fashions a "cookie cottage" (a smaller house made of graham crackers, mortared by icing, and trimmed with a wide array of imaginative—and yummy—sweets). After the instructional sections, viewers are treated to an “Edible Art Gallery” montage of gorgeous gingerbread houses (including a library!). Finally, in a segment specifically aimed at youngsters—featuring delightful songs and colorful puppets—Hudson teaches kids how to make both a cookie cottage and a larger gingerbread house, after which we see kids busily making their own wonderful creations. Hudson is an amiable and informative instructor who clearly loves her art (and conveys that enthusiasm to viewers). DVD extras include three sing-along songs, and options for jumping directly to patterns and recipes. Highly recommended. Aud: E, I, J, H, P. (R. Pitman)