How I Won $50,000 on a Cookie House - Part VI

I hate all-nighters.  And I speak from experience.  I have pulled my fair share of marathons getting ready for stuff - finals, girl's camp, speeches, making my daughter-in-law's wedding dress... Building the gingerbread house was not exempt from my perennial underestimation.

It was now noon on January 30th - a Tuesday.  My sister and mother arrived to assist in any way.  I was behind the eight ball to successfully enter the Brach's Gingerbread House Contest by January 31st.  I needed a photograph.  By the rules, the judging would be based on one photo not larger than 8 "X 10".  This was before digital photography.  I had to snap a bunch of pictures, get them developed, pick the best one, have it enlarged, and get it in the mail before 5 p.m. for overnight certified mail delivery.

I was tired, but still completely focused on accomplishing my mission.  We called around to find a photography studio that offered photo finishing while you wait.  There was one about 12 miles away.  My camera wasn't anything special - I think it was an Advantix - the kind that would take panorama shots - point and shoot.  The professor in my model building class taught us that the cardinal rule of model building was to take your model outside and photograph it in daylight.  The light and shadows cast by the sun make the models come to life.  I was determined to take my gingerbread house outside to photograph.  There was one big obstacle standing in my way:  the house was now royal frosted to the 32" wide drafting table base and my doorway was only 30" wide.  Even with the door off the hinges, it wasn't wide enough.  Out of desperation I looked at the big picture window.  Could I remove it?  Yes, but even if I did, it would only get me to the enclosed front porch and another doorway!  What to do?  I HAD to find a way!  Tilt the gingerbread house diagonally until it fit through the doors.  Would that work?  The house was now very heavy - it might fall completely off the base.  The house was also very big - even sideways it would only clear the door by a few inches.  I settled on a plan.  I would take a whole batch of pictures inside and then, do or die, I would tilt that board until it fit through the doorway and take some more pictures outside.   If it tumbled... I had the inside shots.

I covered the dining room table with a sheet and started snapping from every angle.

A close up of the front entryway featuring stained glass Lollydrop windows, Snappytarts Queen Anne shingles, candy cane pillars, red hot cobblestones, and nonpareil roof shingles.

A side angle showing the Nougat Gel chimney

and Burnt Peanut pine cones on Spearmint Leaves tree.

Pictures completed inside, it was time to git 'r done and go outside.  The sun was shining on a freshly fallen blanket of snow - perfect.  One person on each side, my sister and I lifted the gingerbread house.  We carried it to the door.  Like the two stooges who needed more than four arms, we tried to support the house and tilt the board at the same time - huffing and puffing and giving each other directions all the way.  The angle got dramatically steep before we cleared the door and against all odds... IT HELD!  Hooray!  We made it down the steps and plopped it in the snow.

Here is the money shot - literally.

Next I jumped in the car with my roll of film and drove to the photography place (slapping myself to stay awake.)  I slept in their waiting room while the pictures were developed.  Thank goodness nobody was around.  After a while someone came out and showed me the picture they thought was the best.  I agreed and went back to sleep while they enlarged it to an 8 X 10.  I had addressed an envelope with the entry blank and list of candies used (see below) inside.  Everything was ready to go once they handed me the photo.  A quick stop at the post office for overnight delivery and the waiting would begin... and sleeping.

23 candies used in the construction of the G-bread house:
Burnt Peanuts - pine cones
Candy Canes - porch columns
Christmas Nougats - medallion in front door pediment
Cinnamon Imperials - window trim decoration and cobblestones
Crimp Ribbon - under eave "gingerbread" trim
Fruit Bunch - turret window crowns
Gumdinger Balls - fence post caps
Gumdrops - column capitols
Holiday Mix - porch lights and panels below windows
Jots - porch lights and front door pediment decoration
Kentucky Mints - foundation decoration
Licorice Twists - corner fence
Lollydrops (melted) - red, green and gold glass windows
Mellowcreme Toys - Santa in the chimney
Milk Maid Caramels - dentil trim on turret
Mint Filled Straws - porch railing spindles
Nonpareils - roof shingles
Nougat Jels - bricks for chimney and porch posts
Nut Goodies - fence post rocks
Snappytarts - Queen Anne shingles
Spearmint Leaves - evergreen tree and bushes
Starlight Mints - column capitols and bases
Toffees - firewood logs at front door

How I Won $50,000 on a Cookie House - Part V

Finding Christmas candy after the holidays was a challenge.  It took a bit of leg work, but I was able to get just about every candy I was looking for.  I had quite a pile of goodies when I actually started assembling the house, yet I was constantly running for more (or should I say, sending my poor husband for more).

But I'm getting ahead of myself.  I had to figure out walls and dimensions. For an elaborate gingerbread house with intersecting roof lines, angles, and walls - this could be very tricky.  Making everything fit gets much more complicated than it looks and I was just eyeballing a magazine picture!  One really big thing was working in my favor:  I had taken model building in my interior design coursework in college.

I needed to build a mat board model to make sure all the walls and roofs would fit together - then the model could be taken apart and used for pattern pieces.  I didn't take very many pictures of the process back in 1990, but here is a shot of the model in early stages. 

Once the candy was purchased and the model built, it was time to start baking.  But there was one problem left... or should I say two...  a curious five-year-old named Lars and a hungry three-year-old named Nathan.  Mommy needed some serious concentration time to create this thing, so I decided to call in reinforcements.  My niece, Amy, was 12 years old and an excellent baby sitter.  She happily agreed to keep the boys busy and I promised to buy her the "Guess" outfit of her dreams if I won.  As if.

Let the baking begin.  I cut out my gingerbread dough along the lines of my mat board pattern pieces with a knife.  Crushed Lollydrops (by Brach's, of course) were sprinkled into the window openings.  They melted into colorful stained glass windows while the dough baked.

My dining room table wasn't big enough for all the gingerbread walls and roof sections.  It took many rounds of rolling, cutting and baking.  This was going to be a big house.  Propped against the wall in the background, you can see my 32" x 42" drafting table top covered with foil waiting to be used for a building base.  When complete, the house measured approximately 24" x 36" and stood 24" tall.  That's a lot of gingerbread.

I spent approximately 60 hours over the course of two weeks to bake and build my contest entry.  By the time it was over, empty pink Brach's candy bags were everywhere.  If I had to lick one more drop of royal frosting off my fingers, I'm sure my arteries would turn to rock.  The smell of gingerbread actually became... is nauseating too strong of a word?  Every nonpareil shingle was smooshed onto the roof, each nougat gel brick was holding its place in the chimney, the toffee logs were stacked by the front door and every Milk Maid caramel was dentil trimming the turret.  Making the gingerbread house had taken much longer than I'd planned.  I even stayed up all night the last night to complete the decorating.  It was finished.

The entry was due January 31st and it was now January 30th.  The race was on.

Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful!

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming

for the following announcement:

SNOW DAY!

The predictions were coming in all week - it was going to be a dumper.  Eight inches, ten inches, fourteen inches - blizzard warning - state of emergency for the entire state of Wisconsin!  The grocery stores were crowded, the salt trucks were loading up, and the school superintendents were starting to shake in their winter boots because they get angry parent calls if they do close school and angry parent calls if they don't.  They can't win.

The snow started falling yesterday afternoon and by evening it was a winter wonderland.  Here's the view out my front door at 11 p.m. when my husband and son were down the street helping a neighbor dig out his truck that was stuck.

I've never seen a stuck city plow, but that's what's happening in this picture.  It's heavy, it's wet, it's bending over the trees and bushes and causing havoc with the power lines.  It's backbreaking to shovel and clogs the snow blower.  And it's not over.  In a couple of hours the temperature is predicted to drop and the winds will pick up - with gusts of 50 mph.  Shovel heavy wet stuff now or chip at crunchy ice later - your choice.  My choice?  Bake cookies.  It's a snow day tradition.  (Maybe I'll get another post up about the gingerbread house contest, too.)

How I Won $50,000 on a Cookie House - Part IV

It was well into the new year (1990) when the gingerbread house contest information from Brach's arrived - January 17th.  The rules stated that the gingerbread house must include a minimum of three different Brach's candies.  The entry form was to be completed and mailed along with one color photo no larger than 8"x10" and must be received by Jacobs Suchard (Brach's parent company) no later than January 31st.  The information also stated that entries would be judged under the supervision of Rogers Merchandising on or about February 9th  and winners would be notified by mail on or about March 12th.  I found out later that Brach's hired a company (Rogers) to run the contest.  For heaven's sake - Brach's can't be running a contest, they have candy to make!  Probably a good idea to hire specialists - I imagine there are many things to consider when running a nationwide contest:  setting up the rules and legalities, promotion, judging, dealing with inquiries from entrants, distributing the prizes, etc. 

Since I made up my mind to enter the contest, my brain had kicked into full gear and I was coming up with a myriad of uses for all kinds of Brach's candy from Gumdinger balls to Mint Filled Straws.  My imagination was running wild.  I was laying awake at night dreaming of Kentucky Mints, Nut Goodies, and Mellowcreme Toys.  I decided the house should be something special - not just your average gingerbread house with four walls and an a-line roof.  Nope, that would not do.  I also knew it had to be more traditional and be completely edible - no cardboard roof with electric lights, no fake Christmas tree inside, and no floral paper ribbon wallpaper.  What should the house look like?  At the time I was in love with all things Victorian.  It had to be classic Victorian - gingerbread trim and all.

I loved Victoria magazine.  LOVED it.  Just a few months ago, I finally tossed all those beloved issues of Victoria but not before I checked through them one last time to rip out any pages that still inspired me.  I could not believe it when I came across a frosting splotched page in the back of a 1989 issue featuring an ad for mail order plans of an elaborate Victorian home.  There was my house - the one that I patterned my gingerbread house after!  Two and a half stories, wrap-around porch, dormer windows, turret, pediments, railing, and chimney!  So many details - so many opportunities to use so many kinds of candies!  I had to get to work.  There was shopping, planning, baking and decorating to do and the deadline was closing in fast...

...and I had these two knuckleheads to deal with.

How I Won $50,000 on a Cookie House - Part III

It was Christmas 1989.  My husband, Larry, and I had just (three weeks before) moved into an old house in Menomonee Falls.  We had two children - Lars (5) and Nathan (3).  My husband was in his fifth year teaching middle school and I was busy raising the boys.  Needless to say, money was very tight, but we were happy to be in a house - even if we were just renting at the time.  My friend, Heather, told me about an ad she'd seen in the coupon section of the Sunday paper.  It was an advertisement for  a gingerbread house contest sponsored by the Brach's Candy Company.  Heather encouraged me to enter the contest because she thought the gingerbread houses I made every year were "so cute."  I was amused and flattered that she would think of me, but "nahh" I thought - the only contest I ever tried was correctly singing the Gilligan's Island theme song on the radio and winning tickets to the Haunted House at our State Fair.  I'm not a big risk taker and it would cost a lot of money to buy the candy and supplies to make a gingerbread house.  I also knew the kinds of houses that won those contests - they were amazing and I couldn't even hold a cake decorating frosting tube steady.   Besides, it was almost Christmas already and I didn't have the time.  No, I thought.

Heather, however, persisted.  The next week she brought the ad to me and said, "You really should do this.  You could win!"  I looked over the prizes.  Well, even if I didn't win the grand prize of $50,000 ('cuz let's face it - that would never happen), there were some awesome runner up prizes.  We could definitely use an entertainment center or a deluxe gas grill.  Well, maybe... I thought... and the idea began to work on me... or maybe it was all of Heather's flattery.  By the time I made up my mind, it was past Christmas and there was no longer a Brach's candy display to be found for an "official entry form/recipe booklet" so I gave Brach's a call to request one.

"Heather," I promised, "If I win, I'm giving you a thousand dollars!" 

How I Won $50,000 on a Cookie House - Part II

Back in the mid-eighties, I met Betty Middleton.  (Betty, if you should google your name and find this post, How are you?  Long time!  Where are you now and how are your kids and Ernie?)  Betty was a friend I worked with at church.  We knew each other for a few years and I haven't seen her since.

I found out that Betty had authored and published a book about making gingerbread houses.  It was a cute little book, actually in the shape of a house, filled with recipes, patterns and ideas.  As you can see, my copy has been well used.

What fascinated me about Betty's approach to making gingerbread houses was two things:  She put real, plug-in Christmas lights along the roofline...

AND she decorated the interior of her houses with Christmas trees...

...and curtains!

This really appealed to the interior designer in me!

I was smitten and had to make one.

 

Here's one of my first tries.  See the lights?  Betty always included miniatures, too.  That was what made her houses so enchanting.  I added skis to the front porch.  She also recommended a seven-minute frosting for the roof.  This kind of frosting covered the lights which were taped to cardboard and allowed the pulling of icicles down over the eaves and hardened into a rubbery coating.  About this time I also learned from my friend, Brenda, that crushed lifesavers would melt nicely into window panes while the gingerbread baked.  Here I have a red, heart shaped window in the front door.

If you look inside, you see a Christmas tree with garland, gifts and white fur tree skirt.  I had so much fun making this house that I even used 3 inch wide paper ribbon to wallpaper the interior and hung a miniature framed picture of my family on the wall.  (See the red frame?)  When placing the lights on the roof, you had to get a few inside the house to light the interior, too - so when it was plugged in, it truly became magical.  Everyone liked looking in the front door to see Christmas unfolding for the imaginary family who lived in the little gingerbread house.

The next year, the imaginary family who lived in the little gingerbread house went on vacation up north.  I made this cabin with field stone chimney, frozen pond, dock, sled and fishing poles. (Watch your head coming out that door!)  Once again, there are lights on the eaves - got a second use out of my skis -  and a Christmas spread inside.  I'm trying to remember if that was a stump with an axe in the background -- but I do recall the red sap bucket hanging from the tree on the left.  I always got carried away with the details - even if maple syrup doesn't come from evergreens...  As usual, Santa was required to peak out of the chimney!

I had so much fun creating these when my kids were little.  Thanks to Betty for opening up a whole new world of gingerbread house ideas.

Next post:  the ad and the encouragement that started it all.  Could I really win $50,000 for baking a gingerbread house?

How I Won $50,000 on a Cookie House - Part I

It's December and we've already received our first greeting card (grrr - I already feel like a failure - especially after not getting cards out at all last year) so we need to get talking about Christmas and all the creativity that goes along with it!  December 25th will be here before you can say, "Honey, can you get our 32 Rubbermaid tubs of Christmas decorations out of the attic?"

Many of us make gingerbread houses and I admire those of you who bake them every year.  When my kids were little, I made my share of graham cracker houses.  You know the ones - top heavy with m&ms, starlight mints and candy canes pushed deep into messy royal frosting spackle.

Actually, I made my first gingerbread house as a teenager (above) using such complex design elements as a partially open door, a chimney, and sugar coated orange gel sunburst with silver dragees (oooh) and of course, lots of royal frosting.

Here's another house - circa 1985.  This was about as far as my imagination went, but then I met Betty and she taught me a whole new way to think about gingerbread houses.  More about Betty in the next post... stay tuned.