Is this possible...?

[Livvy]

So, this may seem like a really stupid idea, but bear with me here. I'm just asking to be totally sure, and I've been surprised by my stupid ideas turning out to be accurate before now.

What I want to ask is this;Is it possible to bake decorations for around the house, and have them actually last? Like yeah you could make Gingerbread men to hang on the tree around Christmas time, but I don't suppose there's any way to have such things last for months at a time, even ever?

 

[evelynmcgregor]

You can make your baked Christmas decorations last for more then just one season. Simply coat them with a poly type clear paint finish. They won't last forever, but with care they will be good for several seasons. My sister-in-law used to make baked bread baskets and this is how she would preserve them.

 

[PattyCakes]

Sounds like a great idea! I like the bread basket idea, and I think it would be lovely to get more than one season from any gingerbread cookies I make for the tree at Christmas.

Using the poly type clear paint you suggest, evelynmcgregor, you could probably make cupcake cookies and other shapes, coat them with the paint, and hang them around as you please.

Where did you get the paint from?

 

[Ellyn]

There's salt dough, which is just what it sounds like, lots of flour and lots of salt made into a dough, bake it if you want or you can dry it out...and paint it... it's really, really not meant to ever be eaten, has no sugar, tastes terrible despite being made out of flour... and I'm fairly sure that it lasts for quite a long while after being dried and painted and/or varnished.

 

[evelynmcgregor]

PattyCakes: The poly paint is what is used on floors, furniture, ect to protect the surface. I believe it is called polyethurlin or something like that.

 

[Livvy]

Yeah I figured most of the examples that people would come up with would be things that you can't exactly eat, but I was wondering if there's any that you could think of that you could eat even after a significant amount of time? I know it's sorta dumb, sorry for asking ._.

 

[thomas pendrake]

i would be willing to bet that there are directions for using polymer clay to make permanent ginger-bread ornaments. Look up polymer clay online, or go to a craft shop.

 

[Ellyn]

I was wondering if there's any that you could think of that you could eat even after a significant amount of time? I know it's sorta dumb, sorry for asking ._.

Naw, I've gleaned that there's this running joke in some media that nobody really likes to eat fruitcake, so all fruitcake is probably a year old and can be used to hammer nails in planks of wood or something. This exaggeration probably comes from back when fruitcake actually took one year to make, fermenting all the fruits in it, and then having to boil it for days.

I guess you could still eat them, if you don't mind them being really stale and having literally gathered dust. As long as there's no moisture, it shouldn't mold or cultivate anything fatal... I've that some foods can last about 20 years after being freeze-dried, but they're sealed in packets. If you have a dehydrator, then maybe you can keep the cookie in a vacuum-sealed pack and then hang it on the tree. But then it'll look ugly because it's in a vacuum-sealed pack.

 

[Livvy]

Naw, I've gleaned that there's this running joke in some media that nobody really likes to eat fruitcake, so all fruitcake is probably a year old and can be used to hammer nails in planks of wood or something. This exaggeration probably comes from back when fruitcake actually took one year to make, fermenting all the fruits in it, and then having to boil it for days.

I guess you could still eat them, if you don't mind them being really stale and having literally gathered dust. As long as there's no moisture, it shouldn't mold or cultivate anything fatal... I've that some foods can last about 20 years after being freeze-dried, but they're sealed in packets. If you have a dehydrator, then maybe you can keep the cookie in a vacuum-sealed pack and then hang it on the tree. But then it'll look ugly because it's in a vacuum-sealed pack.

I did not actually know that about the history of fruit cake! I always just assumed it was because people had a hatred of fruit cake, which never made sense to me as it's always been quite lovely when I've had it.

So, basically not really possible without sealing it then?

 

[Ellyn]

I did not actually know that about the history of fruit cake! I always just assumed it was because people had a hatred of fruit cake, which never made sense to me as it's always been quite lovely when I've had it.

So, basically not really possible without sealing it then?

Well, technically I was thinking of Christmas Pudding, but I sort of think it's the same yes--lot of dried fruits, a bit of brandy, stew it, bake it...I like it, too!

As for the gingerbread decorations..I can't think of a way to do that without sealing them, bagging them, freeze drying them...or eating them stale and dusty. There could be a way I haven't heard of or hasn't been suggested, though.

 

[thomas pendrake]

Some fruitcake keeps quite well. My ex has an old family dark-fruitcake recipe from Alabama that is really good and will keep for a long time. It is very calorie dense so a little bit goes a long way.

 

[PattyCakes]

PattyCakes: The poly paint is what is used on floors, furniture, ect to protect the surface. I believe it is called polyethurlin or something like that.

Thank you evelynmcgregor! It just so happens that I have some of that paint left over from when we painted the staircase. It sounds like a great idea, and I have quite a few ideas in my head for various cookie shapes already.

Once the paint is dry, I might try gluing on some glitter or beads perhaps - it could make a really lovely display for Christmas, or any other celebratory occasion I think.

 

[PattyCakes]

Naw, I've gleaned that there's this running joke in some media that nobody really likes to eat fruitcake, so all fruitcake is probably a year old and can be used to hammer nails in planks of wood or something. This exaggeration probably comes from back when fruitcake actually took one year to make, fermenting all the fruits in it, and then having to boil it for days.

I guess you could still eat them, if you don't mind them being really stale and having literally gathered dust. As long as there's no moisture, it shouldn't mold or cultivate anything fatal... I've that some foods can last about 20 years after being freeze-dried, but they're sealed in packets. If you have a dehydrator, then maybe you can keep the cookie in a vacuum-sealed pack and then hang it on the tree. But then it'll look ugly because it's in a vacuum-sealed pack.

I didn't know the history of the boiled fruit cake either - that's very interesting. I rarely have any Christmas cake (the iced variety) left over, but if I make some plain ones to eat with cheese etc, then I will usually have about a quarter of it left in January! I can't abide waste, so I make Christmas cake ice cream with it - either use your own homemade vanilla ice cream recipe and add the cake whilst churning it.

Another alternative for using it up would be to melt some shop bought ice cream, crumble up your leftover cake into it. Line a loaf time with cling film, pour the ice cream mixture into it and freeze. When solid, turn it out onto a serving plate and serve in slices. Goes down a treat in my house.

Sorry for going slightly off-topic, but going back to the Christmas cake thing, maybe you could crumble it up and dehydrate it? There are probably loads of things you could do with it once it's dehydrated, but I can't think how you could use it again once you rehydrate it. I'll have to think about that.