Our Extreme Gingerbread House

I'll admit it.

We get a little ambitious at Christmas.

And with the kids home for the holidays,

they also shamelessly partake in my love of cooking shows-

especially holiday cooking shows.

Something we always get a kick-out of,

is "Extreme Gingerbread Houses".

Basically,

teams from bakeries across the nation

are tasked with creating insanely large gingerbread houses

in a ridiculousy short amount of time.

The end result?

After a whole lot of blood, sweat, and yes, tears,

there are enormous sweet structures

that any of my kids would happily move into,

and someone is $10 K richer.

Which always gives us the brilliant idea:

We could do that!

Granted,

it's not on the same scale,

but I tell you,

we're getting there!

You see,

size DOES matter.

And after we're done,

we take a step back,

look at our finished product,

and for all of two-seconds we're happy.

Then, without fail,

we make our resoluton:

Next year will be

BIGGER!

And that's how it begins,

and soon you find

yourself sweating and crying

on national T.V.

{smile}

The walls...

Basic design outline...

Candy Quality Control (C.Q.C.)

Very important in any official competition!

The mason...

Ta-da!

She's a beauty!

I can't remember how tall she was,

or how much she weighs,

but she looked great on our buffet!

{ And yes, it's a "she"! }

...

What will we do different next year?

Everyone gets their own house!

I want COMPLETE creative control!