Edible and Non-Edible Ginger Bread Men.

Edible Ginger Bread Men:

1 c. brown sugar
1 1/3 c. shortening
1 1/2 c. dark molasses
2/3 c. cold water
*Mix all of the above
add:
7 c. flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. cinnamon

Non-Edible Ginger Bread Men
Mix, then cover and refrigerate for 2 hours. Roll out 1/4 inch, then cut out ginger bread men. Before you bake it, you will need to use a straw to make a hole at the top of the ginger bread men for the ribbon or hook to hook onto the tree. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
Non-Edible Ginger Bread Men
1 c. Applesauce
1 1/2 c. Cinnamon
1 1/3 c. white glue

Mix, roll out onto a lightly cinnamon covered surface. Cut out and dry for a few days.

These recipes are from my sister, Daisy. I would make these for our fresh Christmas trees every year after we got married up until about 3 years ago. I didn't really know what I wanted as far as the type of Christmas ornaments (themes) go and I definately didn't want to have to store ornaments so this worked out perfect for us. I would wrap some torn gingam material around the neck for the scarf. and some raffia to hold it to the tree. We wrapped the tree in white lights and wrapped raffia all around the tree and added the ginger bread men. For the tree skirt I used a cute plaid blanket that we had. This kind of tree has a country feel to it. This is a very, very cheap way to create a beautiful christmas tree. And the only thing you'll need to store when you are all done are the white lights. Although, when we had a dog at the time she did like to eat the low hanging ones. Now that we have real ornaments, I don't really make these any more, but they still are fun.
*Great for newlyweds or very young familys or even college students.