Gingerbread Fun

Guinness World Records Declares 67-foot World’s Largest Gingerbread House! Gingerbread experts logged an estimated 1,700 hours in nine days to create the 1,496-square-foot magical wonder. The house consists of 14,250 pounds of Gingerbread, 4,750 pounds of icing and more than one ton of candy embellishments. It also features a magical gingerbread factory complete with animated elves. Read More Here.

Are you getting ready for the 18th annual Grove Park National Gingerbread House Competition! The competition date is November 15, 2010 and the sweet sugar and spice masterpieces will be on display November 17, 2010 – January 2, 2011 in ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA. I can’t wait to see the incredible creations for 2010!! DETAILS HERE.

Grove Park Gingerbread House Competition Esteemed Judges:

Gerry Hempel-Davis,  A judge at every National Gingerbread House Competition since its inception. She was a lifestyle contributor for several years on NBC’s Today Show and part of the production team at CBS for the Ed Sullivan Show.

Nicholas Lodge, Chef Lodge is recognized worldwide as a top instructor in the sugar craft arts and the author of numerous books. He has been a judge of the National Gingerbread House Competition since 2004.

Nadine Orenstein, Curator of the Department of Drawings and Prints of The Metropolitan Museum of Art specializing in Dutch, Flemish and German art. She brings her artistic eye and historical knowledge to the appreciation of gingerbread houses.

Colette Peters, The owner of Colette’s Cakes, a specialty cake company in New York City, she has designed celebrity cakes for Whoopi Goldberg, Al Pacino, Sting, Bette Midler, Hilary Clinton, the Rolling Stones and Yoko Ono. Pastry Art & Design magazine named her to its “Ten Best Pastry Chefs in America.”

Mark Seaman, Founder of Marked for Dessert, a boutique cake shop in Chicago. He teaches the art of gum paste flowers at the Wilton School of Cake Decorating and the French Pastry School’s L’Art du Gateau Professional Cake Decorating and Baking Program.

Steven Stellingwerf, In addition to judging competitions and conducting demonstrations, he has authored baking and sugar craft books, including “The Gingerbread Book.”

New judges for the 2010 National Gingerbread House Competition are:

Carol Gable,  has been a producer the last 15 years for the newsmagazine, “Dateline NBC”.

Michelle Pulliam, Food and Leisure Coordinator for Southern Hospitality Magazine—Traveler.

Jane Robelot,  is a nationally acclaimed television news anchor and correspondent and the recent recipient of a Peabody award. Jane interviewed such newsmakers as President Bill Clinton, First Lady Hillary Rodman Clinton, Evangelist Billy Graham as well as many actors and authors.

Denny Trantham, is the Executive Chef for The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa. His southern Appalachian culinary skills are reflected today in his innovative and diverse Southern elegance cuisine that is offered throughout the resort. He also works closely with the local famers in order to provide the freshest ingredients, while also supporting the local economy.

I just saw this over at instructables.com!
Build a gingerbread house, and enter it in our Gingerbread House Slideshow Contest to win Instructables Pro memberships and Robot t-shirt gift packs!

The rules are simple:

• Make a gingerbread house (a joint effort with friends or family is fine) and submit a slideshow with at least three pictures of your awesome creation.
• Include at least one overview and one detail shot of the finished gingerbread house – in-progress pictures are optional.
• So we all know that it’s your gingerbread house, at least one of the pictures must include something with your username written on it!

Contest Starts: Dec 4, 2009
Entry Deadline: Dec 20, 2009
Voting Starts: Dec 21, 2009
Voting Ends: Dec 22, 2009
Judging Starts: Dec 23, 2009
Judging Ends: Dec 23, 2009

Lorraine’s Inc. Cake and Candy Supplies of Hanover held its seventh annual gingerbread house contest this last weekend. Visitors to the store in Hanover were invited to vote for their favorites. Entries were put into four categories: children’s (up to age 10); youth (ages 11-15); adult (ages 16 and up) and the ‘pros’ (5 years experience or being a previous first place winner). The winner should be announced today (the 15th)!
Take a look at their picture gallery to see the many entrants this year. There is also a video of the fun on the same page.

The Queen of Cake- Colette Peters will show you to bake impressive cookies with your kids this holiday season. Basic Sugar Cookie; Gingerbread Cookies; Royal Icing…..yummy, yummy! Learn from the best! These gorgeous cookies would also make great gifts and stocking stuffers and would probably win you 1st place in any cookie contest. Read more here and recipe here too!

The Gingerbread Princess is a sweet keepsake book with a collection of irresistible Gingerbread delights! This book was created by a true Gingerbread lover and we hope the enthusiasm she has for Gingerbread engages you to get excited about Gingerbread too! You will find sweet recipes for cookies, cakes, pies, beverages, and hot and cold things too. Each 42page eBook offers dozens of tasty treats for Christmas, get-togethers and inspirational recipes for the holiday season. This one is perfect for stocking stuffers and gift exchanges and personal use.

Some delights you will discover are:

Alpine Princess Gingerbread Tree Cookies
Gingerbread Princess Chai Tea Chunks
Gingerbread Princess Oatmeal Cookies
Mocha Java Ginger Princess Bites
Deliciously Ginger Princess Caramel Cake
Mini Princess Gingerbread Cheesecakes
Vanilla Gingerbread Princes Crème Brûlée
Ginger Toffee Butter Princes Bars
Happy Princess New Year! Gingerbread Martini

Purchasing details here.

Each year the Grove Park Inn Resort in Ashville, North Carolina hosts the world-famous Gingerbread House competition. Gingerbread artists and decorators come from near and far to participate in this annual competition. Below are the 2009 winners that were announced this past November 16, 2009.

Winners:
Grand Prize Winning Entry 2009 Grove Park Gingerbread Competition is Jodie Stowe, of Polkville, North Carolina.

First Place Winning Entry in the Adult Category – Created by Ann Bailey of Cary, North Carolina

Second Place Winning Entry in the Adult Category – Created by Billy Mochow of Burns, Tennessee

First Place Winning Entry in the Youth Category – Created by Lydia Gentry of Hendersonville, North Carolina

Mark your calendars for November 14, 2009 as this is the date of the 2009 New York State Gingerbread House Competition and registration will close on October 31, 2009 and this competition will benefit Habitat for Humanity. 65 Gingerbread Houses is the goal this year! Visit here for details.

Gingerbread is celebrated each year with National Gingerbread Day in June in the state of California. The most popular time in which Gingerbread is recognized, however, is winter during four or five weeks before Christmas.
Annual Gingerbread Contests, Displays and Events:

Sonoma Valley Gingerbread Wineries Contest. Occurs every year from Dec. 1 – 31. Contest entries are displayed at participating wineries.

Half Moon Bay Ritz-Carlton Gingerbread Contest. All Gingerbread House creations are displayed in early December. Auction bids are accepted for houses, after the pastry chefs from The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay leads a panel of judges in selecting the winners in each category. Criteria include structural design, creative use of materials, detailing, and overall design excellence. Award winners are announced during the annual holiday tree lighting ceremony. Read more here.

Grove Park Inn National Gingerbread House Competition 11-17-08
GRAND PRIZE WINNER: Mrs. Billie Mochow of Burns, TN

From Grove Park Inn, Billie Mochow from Burns, Tennessee has been named the Grand Prize winner of the 2008 National Gingerbread House Competition at The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa in Asheville, N.C. Seven judges deliberated for more than six hours on Monday to determine the winners among four categories: Adult, Teen 13-17 and Youth 9 to 12 and Child 8 and under. More than 600 spectators watched the judging process in the resort’s Grand Ballroom. There were a total of 124 Youth, 73 Teen and 203 Adult entries in the 17th Annual National Gingerbread House Competition.

The difference between the grand prize winner, a whimsical holiday carousel by Billie Mochow of Burns, Tenn., and the first place winner, was just a couple points. Mochow’s dedication may have made the difference. She said she ended up having to bake the deer for the carousel 36 times.

Also new: A doubled cash prize for the grand prize winner. Mochow, who won first place last year, took home $3,000 and a two-night stay at the inn. More than $12,000 in cash and prizes were awarded during Monday night’s ceremony. Read More Here.