Gingerbread!

 Long time readers of this blog know that blog silence in mid-November (as opposed to all the other random blog silences the rest of the year) can only mean one thing: gingerbread! 

Indeed, this year we have Klenda and Leena entering the Darnall's Chance Gingerbread Contest.  We also have some others in the works that are not for the contest, more on them later.
UPDATE: Klenda won second prize!

First off, we have Klenda's excellent "Cajun Christmas." (Fr. Mark, this is for you!)



She put an amazing amount of detail in this one: swamp grass, gators, cypress knees, squirrels and Christmas lights, even algae on the water!  This has to be the most challenging  house she has ever done.


The idea of doing a tree house is always appealing, but doing a weight bearing tree out of edible materials is incredibly difficult.

She came up with the idea of a laminate tree: layers of gingerbread glued with royal icing, then coated with royal icing.  Amazingly, it works! The tree is bomb proof!  Great job, Klenda!


This was Leena's first gingerbread for the contest and I think she should get a prize for best first entry!

She named hers, "Have a Huffy Puffy Christmas!"

After a few years of doing this, I think the best  gingerbreads are the ones that capture a moment, and this one is great!


I love the cobble stone path and the wolf's red nose!




For fun, she put little Swedish fish in the pond watching the wolf. 

Doesn't the house look scared?