Gingerbread Houses

When it comes to building gingerbread houses, our readers are real kitchen carpenters! Just take a look at the edible edifices below…

ABBEY WAY. "Every year we make a fancy edible display with gingerbread," writes Kim Barnard of Shawnigan Lake, BC. "Inspired by the Redwall Abbey books and the birth of our daughter, Abby, we decided to try this castle-like structure that we nicknamed Sugarwall Abbey. It was the centerpiece for our Christmas dinner."

FAMILY-SIZED. This huge 2-story gingerbread house has room for a whole family of gingerbread people! Bev Elding of Cincinnati, Ohio used jumbo pretzel rods for interior support beams and Necco wafers for roof tiles. The cotton "smoke" coming from the chimney is the only part that’s not edible.

WORLD VIEW. The theme of this gingerbread house is "children around the world," says Paula Ford of Orchard Park, New York. She used royal icing in bright colors to decorate the house and the children’s costumes, plus gumdrops, gumballs, fruit slices licorice candies and pretzels to complete the house.

BITE-SIZED. After making full-sized gingerbread houses with her friends, 15-year-old Kathryn Kohl of Cedarville, Ohio decided to think small. The result is this charming snow-covered cottage that’s just 2 inches tall! "Tweezers were very helpful for placing the decorations precisely," Kathryn confides.