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Gingerbread

Posted on Dec 17, 2007

Maria A.Y. Garcia, Lianne Minemoto,
Courtney Kuhn, Kim Agerbeek and
Pat Clausen(left to right) of
Conference and Event Services
construct a replica of
St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow




The team from Conference and Event Services was serious about their entry in the university's annual gingerbread house-building contest - an elaborate replica of St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow.

Really serious.

Serious enough to buy and construct a 3-D puzzle of the cathedral. "Then, we went online and found the floor plan," said Lianne Minemoto. "We knew where all the domes were located."

The cathedral was in keeping with the contest theme of "It's a Small World - Campus Edition."

Some of the other structures featured shredded wheat and potato chip roofs, melted Lifesaver ponds and marshmallow cream mortar.

 

 Susie Hernandez and Doug Lazzaroni
of Facilities work on the Great Wall

And most of the gingerbread creations weren't mere houses. There was the ocean scene, featuring a research vessel from the university's Seafloor Mapping Lab around the theme "Mapping the World for Conservation"; an Egyptian holiday scene including a pyramid and camels; the North Pole, with a plea to "Stop Global Warming"; a pagoda made with seaweed and chocolate; an adobe structure; and "Frohe Weihnachten" a replica of a traditional German Christmas decoration.

 

 Jay Singh of Petra's Team
helps to create
"American Traditional"

The gingerbread house-building venture came out of a discussion among members of the holiday party planning committee four years ago. They hit upon the idea of having the campus community build the houses and then using them for centerpieces at the annual party. This year, 12 teams - including more than 60 employees -participated in the competition.
Members of Team 84 Excellent work
on their pagoda and panda bear
Each group was given a kit consisting of the basic pieces and encouraged to let their imaginations run wild. The only rule - everything had to be edible.

The competition demonstrated that you don't have to be a pastry chef to build a great gingerbread house.

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