Candy pellet casualties and frosting flops are part of the wonder and joy of watching the Fixin’ Leaks and Leeks gingerbread train careen down the tracks.
What you see here results from a moment of weakness while grocery shopping at night. Nate and I were picking up a few odds and ends at the store after work, when I saw the gingerbread kits and temporarily lost control. They seemed reasonably priced, cute, and easy to put together. So, I picked out the train kit, knowing full well that things could go off the rails at any moment.
That moment started when I opened the kit and realized that some of the pre-baked cookie parts were already broken—and we couldn’t mend them using the frosting provided in the kit because there was just enough to decorate and weld the sides together. Luckily, Alex whipped up a batch of icing from powdered sugar and water, thus fixing the broken bits.
The instructions then stated that we should decorate the pre-baked gingerbread pieces with the red and white icing + the hard candy pellets + gumdrops + peppermint disks. This part was actually fun.
Making the whole thing stand upright with icing, on the other hand, was like trying to glue together an airliner with a sprinkling of cornstarch and a spritz of water. So many heavy parts rested on a few clips (that came with the kit) and magic. For this reason, the train kind of leans in—and we should have waited until the icing completely dried because some of the windows are dripping.
In any case, I snapped a few pictures and then encouraged—highly encouraged—everyone to eat it because it’s more of an “edible train” than a “display train.”
As expected, the gingerbread train was crunchy and sweet with gumdrop surprises for texture and whimsy. I’ve found some spare parts lying around the kitchen counter, but I suspect we’ll be able to chew chew chew our way through.
In Other News: I’ve got a flash fiction story in Meadowlark Review, which is housed at the University of Wyoming. It’s called “Field Notes for an Umbrella.”
Your Turn: Have you ever tried to put together a meal from a meal kit? Box? What were the results?
Fixin' Leaks and Leeks 
Congratulations on your short story publication! I just read it. I think it would have made a good “Night Gallery” episode. I haven’t tried to make a meal from a kit that I can remember. I thought your gingerbread train turned out quite well. I’d eat it.
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Thanks for reading! Yeah, I hadn’t thought of it before, but it does have that “Night Gallery” vibe.
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You’re welcome. I’ll never forget the “Night Gallery” episode where an ear wig tunneled into a man’s ear canal and proceeded to eat his brain. It scared the living daylights out of me.
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“Alex whipped up a batch of icing from powdered sugar and water, thus fixing the broken bits.”–Brilliant, and I want to remember this. We picked up ninja bread cookies today. I wouldn’t be surprised if some pieces were already broken, so thanks for the tip and Alex’s amazing ingenuity! Also, you win the post title wars!
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He’s pretty handy! And, it worked out really well.
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Awesome!
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Great story! Congratulations. 🎉
Your gingerbread train is better than what I’ve come up with. I haven’t made a meal from a kit although I remember those kit pizzas you could buy many years ago. They were terrible!
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Thank you for reading! Yes–I remember those pizza kits. They were terrible.
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If a meal box is like a furniture flat pack, I’d ignore the instructions and follow my intuition. The likelihood of success would never be 100%, but it keeps life interesting.
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That’s kind of what happened here. I can’t follow instructions, so I let Alex take over–and he purposely ignores instructions, so the results are not 100%, but we had fun. It was a tasty experiment.
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Adventure is an essential ingredient to happiness.
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Ohhhh my. You are brave to tackle a gingerbread anything! Mine always end in some unrecognizable disaster. Yours actually looks like a train! Good job!
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I didn’t realize what I had gotten myself into until I turned the box around and saw the diagrams–too late. I had lots of help–it would probably still be lying flat if I didn’t.
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😂 Totally understand.
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I’ve never done a meal box kit, but I get the appeal.
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They do look convenient–and having everything measured out helps cut down with prep time.
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I’m a fan of the slow cooker
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The train is cute (might get something similar for Kate and her boyfriend) but wow! That story was incredible!
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That would be a great idea for Kate and her boyfriend. If you decide to get one–I want pictures 🙂 Thanks for reading my story, too!
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I suddenly wanted to try this out…I’ve never made a gingerbread anything…LOL! (“Course I was like, “I’ll have to get extra frosting, just in case. Just in case I want to eat all the frosting out of the container while watching TV.” Ha!
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There’s no such thing as too much frosting!
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I know…if I can find a kit, I’ll make it, and it’ll be a house for my house mouse! Do you think they would like that? 🙂
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Your gingerbread house rocks!! Does making Hamburger Helper when I was 21 and burning the meat count as a meal kit? 🙂 Also, congrats on the story! How exciting for you.
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Thank you–and yes–that totally counts!
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Thank you for sharing!!.. the gingerbread train definitely gets one into the holiday spirit!!.. 🙂
Hope you and your family have the mostest wonderfulest holiday ever and until we meet again..
May love and laughter light your days,
and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours,
wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world
with joy that long endures.
May all life’s passing seasons
bring the best to you and yours!
(Irish Saying)
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Thanks for stopping by! The gingerbread train was fun. And thank you so much for the good wishes–have the most wonderful holiday season and happiest of new years!!!
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