Gingerbread Buildings Built...Next Stop--The Inferno

 There are things our family does during the Christmas season. Like most families, we look forward to this time of the year when we can gather and enjoy the time we spend together. One of the things we started doing several years ago was assemble gingerbread structures. This year...

We had a competition.

Really, the only reason we had a competition is because we bought a competition kit gingerbread village.

We are not "experts" in gingerbread construction. We don't go "over the top" or "all out." No, we're simple folk and try to have fun while not putting too much pressure on ourselves to make a flawless, perfect example of a confectionary building.

We built four houses for judging, and four others for fun. We put them together on Christmas Eve morning. Later that day, my son and daughter-in-law came over and officially judged the results. The competition kit even came with a blue ribbon--no red or white for second or third place--for the winner.

Though all were good, one rose above the rest and the blue ribbon went to my artist son (none of us were surprised...). 

Another tradition our family adopted years ago was, once the buildings were finished, we wanted a fun way to dispose of them. We used to buy fireworks and literally blow them up. We stopped doing that because it became harder for us to find fireworks in December. This year, we're going to take them into the backyard, build a huge bonfire in the fire pit and throw them in. We're actually excited about that.

Yes, it's the traditions that we look forward to this time of year. Building then destroying edible structures is one we really love.