Posted on Dec 15, 2006

Tasteful houses sweeten party

As Hansel and Gretel can attest, gingerbread houses, with their candy-cane columns, gumdrop landscaping, peppermint pinwheel decorations and icing trim, are practically irresistible.

So it's no surprise that these confectionary cottages - and other structures - are the basis of a campus-wide competition now in its third year.

The gingerbread house-building venture came out of a discussion among members of the holiday party planning committee several 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, seven teams - including several dozen employees - participated in the competition. Each group was given a kit consisting of the basic pieces and encouraged to let their imaginations run wild. Dennis Hungridge of Human Resources coordinated the event.

As for rules - there were only two: everything had to be edible, and the overall "footprint" of the house could not exceed 14 inches by 20 inches.

This year's theme, "Extreme Makeover - Campus Edition," reflected the building and demolition going on around campus.

Among the entries in the competition:

A team representing the president's office performed makeover magic on the Aquatic Center, turning it into an "Otter Haven," complete with "kelp" made from lettuce, goldfish crackers and chocolate otters.

The University Advancement team used "Hot Tamales" - bright red candies shaped like tiny logs - to represent bricks on their remake of the Meeting House.

Staff members from the Black Box Cabaret and Conferences and Events Services joined forces to recreate the building site for the Tanimura & Antle Family Memorial Library - including a construction crane, contractor's trailer, tiny workers sporting hard hats (and a port-a-potty for their use), rebar made from spaghetti and covered with frosting, and replicas of the signs ("Future Home of . . ." and "Danger") hanging on the fence surrounding the property. Even the "dirt" looked real - made from a ground-up mixture of Oreo cookies, cream of wheat and crackers.

The team from Facilities Services and Operations recreated their building and the new IT structure. Each team member worked on his job-related portion of the structures - the electricians (using blow torches!) made the light fixtures, the painter "painted" the window sills with frosting, etc. "It's all within union rules," said Tony Cabeca.

Gingerbread cookies originated in Germany. The Germanic National Museum in Nuremberg houses the oldest existing gingerbread recipe, believed to have been written in 1395.

Gingerbread was baked long before the Middle Ages, but during the 11th century, when ginger was introduced to Europeans, it took off in popularity. And now, it's a "building" material.

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