Christmas is on the way!

I bought one of those DIY gingerbread houses from Ikea last year! Or was it the year before. Either way, it's still in the box in the back of the cupboard and well past the 'best before' date. Think I'll opt for the pre-assembled model this year - any recommendations?

Marks and Spencers delivers to Beijing for 15 GBP - great for gifts, clothing, holiday stuff and they have advent calendars too. Just keep the total order around 1000 RMB or less to avoid customs hassles (no promises, but that works for me).

If IKEA doesn't work out for you, Comptiors de France usually has gingerbread houses.

For Hanukkah stuff, it's much more challenging - but there is usually a great dinner by Kehillat and Chabad will have some events too. I am hoping the Israeli Chamber repeats the event they did last year, that was great!

this has the makings of a fantastic seasonal Beijing poem ...

Twas the night before Christmas and all through Beijing
Cabbages were stacked atop everything ...

By a stroke of luck, we found advent calendars in the import section of Carrefour. Am hoping to find a way to either make or locate gingerbread cookies and houses (will have to travel back to IKEA. Missed those when we went upon arriving a couple weeks ago.), per my 6-year-old's pleas.

here's the advent calendar i got at Laitai Flower Market last year:

latest efforts

Nuren Jie across from the US embassy is just crawling with every xmas decoration known to man

sure. btw gingerbread man, xmas tree and other holiday cookie cutters can be purchased at pantry magic http://www.beijing-kids.com/directory/Pantry-Magic

You can view the complete recipe online at: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/107445

Gingerbread Snowflakes
2/3 cup molasses (not robust) Jenny Lou's has it
2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice (not found ... but I put nutmeg instead)
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon pieces
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3 3/4 to 4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Bring molasses, brown sugar, and spices to a boil in a 4- to 5-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, and remove from heat. Stir in baking soda (mixture will foam up), then stir in butter 3 pieces at a time, letting each addition melt before adding next, until all butter is melted. Add egg and stir until combined, then stir in 3 3/4 cups flour and salt.

2. Preheat oven to 325?F.

3. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead, dusting with as much of remaining 1/4 cup flour as needed to prevent sticking, until soft and easy to handle, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Halve dough, then wrap 1 half in plastic wrap and keep at room temperature.

4. Roll out remaining dough into a 14-inch round (1/8 inch thick) on a lightly floured surface. Cut out as many cookies as possible with cutters and carefully transfer with offset spatula to 2 buttered large baking sheets, arranging them about 1 inch apart.

5. Bake cookies in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until edges are slightly darker, 10 to 12 minutes total (watch carefully toward end of baking; cookies can burn easily). Transfer cookies to racks to cool completely. Make more cookies with remaining dough and scraps (reroll once).

6. Put icing (recipe in next post) in pastry bag (if using) and pipe or spread decoratively onto cookies.

Decorating Icing
1 (1-lb) box confectioners sugar
4 teaspoons powdered egg whites (not reconstituted) (I couldn't find this so i just didn't use egg whites at all)
1/3 cup water (i used a lot less water, replacing it with more lemon jjuice)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (i used a lot more lemon juice)
1 teaspoon vanilla
Food coloring (optional)

Beat together all ingredients except food coloring in a large bowl with an electric mixer at moderate speed until just combined, about 1 minute. Increase speed to high and beat icing, scraping down side of bowl occasionally, until it holds stiff peaks, about 3 minutes in a standing mixer or 4 to 5 minutes with a handheld. Beat in food coloring (if using). If you plan to spread (rather than pipe) icing on cookies, stir in more water, 1 teaspoon at a time, to thin to desired consistency.

Can't guarantee they taste good, but there are gingerbread houses at 711 and they had two - one was under RMB 100.