ginger 2012 – THE FINAL VOTE

Aaaaand then there were six. Six ginger masterpieces duking it out in a final round of sticky competition. A ginger battle royale, if you will. I can’t think of a better way to spend Doomsday 2012 than watching a gingerbread showdown…

On the line? Bragging rights and instant celebrity. Oh, and I have teamed up with Crosby’s Molasses to give four sa-weet cookbooks to the Ginger 2012 champ:

Plus, the runner up will receive a copy of Crosby’s Molasses Family Favourites Cookbook! (You can check out Crosby’s blog, Molasses and More, by clicking here! They are obsessed with gingerbread, and they’ve got a heap of wicked videos featuring Grandma Fancy. She’s even funnier than I am.)

So, pick your favourite ginger creation and cast your vote at the bottom of the post!

* * *

group 1 champs: the yehling family’s buckingham palace

Here’s to the family that gingers together! Yehling patriarch, Glenn, sent the following note with this entry:

I wanted to share our family’s annual holiday tradition of creating something spectacular out of gingerbread. This year’s theme is the magnificent Buckingham Palace. This project took 5 days to complete and is made entirely of gingerbread and candy. Please share our tradition for the holidays.

What the? Who makes the Buckingham Palace out of gingerbread? The Yehlings, that’s who. I’m betting William and Kate will be naming the Yehlings as godfamily to their unborn child. Look at that thing! Those candy windows are mesmerizing. Seriously – I can’t stop looking at them. Did you see the Beefeaters? The fountain? The piped scrollwork? I bet if you locked Queen Elizabeth in a room with this palace, she’d eat at least one of the 19 State rooms. I know I’d eat at least two…

* * *

group 2 champ: stephanie’s people who live in gingerbread houses shouldn’t throw chocolate stones

Stephanie sent the following note with her entry:

We call this house: “People Who Live in Gingerbread Houses Shouldn’t Throw Chocolate Stones.” This witty creation depicts a gingerbread HOME more so than just the shell of a house. In the spirit of holiday caring and hospitality, we don’t leave you out in the cold, sugary snow to merely look, but invite you inside to warm yourself by the fire, and help trim the tree. Shake a present and see if you can guess what’s inside. (Hint: it’s all candy…) Be sure to watch for St. Nick finishing his trek down the chimney! This scene is wholesome, even if the calorie count isn’t.

I’d move into that house if I could. Look at the freakin’ details in/on that sugar shack! That’s ginger dedication, people. Actually, that living room is way tidier than mine is right now, and I haven’t decorated my tree yet, so the temptation to move in is increasing by the minute. Did you see the stockings hung by the fireplace with care? Did you notice that there are two sets of hands holding up that display in the first photo? That gives you an idea of scale. I mean, that wishing well would probably get me through an entire episode of 48 Hours Mystery on CBS. (Nothing makes a true-crime show more enjoyable than copious quantities of ginger and royal icing.) And then I’d move on to that tasty fence…

* * *

group 3 champ: michelle’s gingerbread snow globe

Michelle sent the following note with her entry:

This is my 2012 entry for our local gingerbread contest in Somersworth NH. It almost didn’t happen this year because in the middle of creating this I was also moving!

That’s it. Michelle said nothing else. Nothing like: I built a freakin’ ginger village in a brandy glass. Take that, suckahs! Or: this house was constructed by fairies, dumbass. Because that’s what I would have said. LOOK AT IT! I don’t even know where to start. How the heck do you jam your hand into that thing to complete construction? Look at all of the little details – the stone pathway, the designer rooftops, the wee snowman! How big is that glass? Is it the world’s biggest glass, or the world’s tiniest village? I’m getting worked up, people. My freak has been freaked. I can’t feel my legs!

* * *

group 4 champ: lucy’s french farmhouse

Lucy is my niece. She lives in France and is five years old. She’s one of the most darling children I have ever met. Her mummy sent this note with Lucy’s entry:

Lucy is happy to submit this gingerbread house for your contest, in the under 6 year old French kid category. The house is a French (i.e. no snow but the Eiffel tower!) farmhouse. It has a donkey (ok, it’s a zebra really) and a cat for Rachael, a monkey for Hadley, a dog for Rosie, a deer for Bill and an owl for Amy. Daddy’s car is neatly parked next to the horse trailer. The inspiration comes from Snow White (the tall blond in the corner).

Santa is somewhat stuck in the chimney. I don’t know if it shows well on the picture, but in case the world did not totally end on 21 December and only messed up GPS systems, “LUCY” is written on the roof with silver balls.

When I received Lucy’s entry, I squealed with delight! Her first movita competition! A right of passage for all Beaucoups. And so thoughtful – a cat and donkey for me, a monkey for Haddy, an owl for… wait… who the hell is Amy? Like, our… dead Aunt Amy? And what are the odds that Aunt Amy would have enjoyed owls? The woman hated nature. (It’s genetic.) So, I emailed Isa to find out. And she replied with: … the Amy who got married with owls. Well, no, with her husband, but in an owlery.

Oh, of course, I wasn’t thinking. (Is owlery is real word?) So, it turns out that the owl is for Amy of Elephant Eats. Remember Amy? Pumpkin Carve-Off 2012? Cripes. I guess Amy’s in our family now.

Anyhoo, there’s nothing about this entry that I don’t love. The wee tulips by the front door, the vines growing up the side of the house. The candy, the propping, the grass. WAIT. Do French people grow grass in their houses? This entry is raising so many questions…

* * *

group 5 champs: kate & ellen’s candy cobblestones in paris

Kate and Ellen are former my former students. Kate was a finalist in Ginger 2011 and won Ginger 2010. She also leads an annual gnome/knome making workshop for me. Ellen plays the harp. How many people do you know who can wail on the harp? That’s what I thought.

Kate and Ellen sent the following note with their entry:

(listen to ellen play harp whilst you enjoy her ginger creation)

Hi Ms Dyer!!!

Here is Ellen’s and my Ginger entry, we are calling it “Candy Cobblestones in Paris”. We hope you like it! Several weeks of planning and 3 days of pattern designing, baking, building and decorating went into this completely edible creation. It is a creative interpretation of Paris (aka not at all to scale) featuring five Parisian townhouses and the Eiffel Tower. All the houses and lamp posts feature real candy glass windows. The skating pond also made of a single large piece of candy glass and was designed to reflect the light from the windows. The subtle spiral patterns of the cobblestones mimic the spiral patterns on the tower. To finish of this wintery scene we have created a Narnia-esque forest complete with lamp post.

~ Kate and Ellen

This ginger creation makes me feel like I’m right in Paris again. (Or Narnia.) The Eiffel Tower is wicked awesome, the cobblestones are a delight, and I’d move into one of those townhouses in a heartbeat. Did you see the scroll work on the tower? The little window boxes on the townhouses? Don’t you want to touch that skating pond with your grubby fingers? OR LICK IT? This is epic gingering. Epic!

* * *

group 6 champs: katherine & scott’s west/kardashian inspired mansion

Alright, these two need no introduction. We ALL know Katherine and Scott. They enter, like, every contest I run. They are obsessed with me. Katherine has a blog that is completely addictive, and Scott is a robot. They are way awesome. I can only assume they asked someone else to type up this note for them – maybe Nikki?

Movita,

Did you know that Kim Kardashian and Kanye West went HOUSE HUNTING in Miami the other day? Yes. They. Did. They were at Louis Vuitton and she was all, “Meh. I’m bored,” and he was all, “okay baby, after lunch I’ll buy you a house.” Or something like that.

So we got to thinking. . . if Kanye were a 2-inch-tall gingerbread dude, he would totally buy this place. Look how many cars fit in the driveway! Look at the horse on the front lawn! And the broccoli tree? He could sit under it and tweet his thoughts all day long.

If you hear from him, please let him know that our gingerbread mansion is for sale and he should contact us ASAP. If we don’t reach a deal by next week, we’re going to sell it to gingerbread-Ryan-Lochte for 4 million bucks.

xo
Katherine and Scott

If Kanye wanted to buy a gingerbread house? He would buy this one. It’s synergasmic. It has mood lighting! And a horse! Plus, I bet it has big closets for Kim’s clothing and accessories. This crib would be a bouncin’ all weekend long. And if Ryan Lochte wanted to buy a gingerbread house? Well, he’s too sexy dumb to even consider setting up a real estate closing…

* * *

There you have it! Cast your vote below! Polls will be open until 8 am AST on Saturday, December 22nd.