Peddler’s Village’s gingerbread house display offers a feast for the eyes.
By: Jessica Loughery
Through the woods little Hansel and Gretel wandered until they stumbled upon a beautiful and quite tasty-looking structure, the famed gingerbread house.
Somehow, the home of the loathsome and hungry witch, once nibbled on by our young friends, has come to be one of many associations with the season of Christmas. Perhaps it’s the candies and icing.
For 26 years, Peddler’s Village in Lahaska, Pa., has hosted a seasonal gingerbread house display and competition. This year, the village called for crafters near and far to enter masterpieces in the categories of Authentic Reproduction, Unusual 3-Dimensional, Amateur, Traditional, Student and Kids Only.
One hundred and two entries came in, and many are on display in the village’s gazebo through Jan. 4. The week of Thanksgiving, 40 winners were named and more than $4,000 in cash and prizes distributed.
First prize in Authentic Reproduction went to Dawn Ludlow of Sellersville, Pa., for her Neshaminy-Warwick Chapel reproduction. The chapel is located on Bristol Road in Warminster, Pa., and a picture of the actual building is displayed alongside the gingerbread house. The attention paid to every detail of the 19th century structure is astonishing, from the brown stone of the walls and the circular stained glass window above the door to the plaque dated 1871 and the iron bell in ringing position.
First-year competitors surely entered to win. Gazing around the display, it’s tough to tell which houses belong to so-called "amateurs" and which to seasoned constructors. Catarina Bisbiglia of Sewell tied for second place in the Amateur category. For her entry, she designed a set of three townhouses fronted by quaint, white picket fences and decorated extensively for the season with M&Ms, Nerds and halved Lifesavers. The yards in front are festively covered in snow, or rather, white icing.
Deborah Lang has been part of the Peddler’s Village Gingerbread House Display for 25 years. When she first got involved, the display was in its second year. Since then, she says, "they’re getting more and more creative and imaginations are running wildly."
Ms. Lang is a member of the International Association of Cooking Professionals. She studied at L’Academie de Cuisine in Bethesda, Md., under White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier. Not only has her work been featured on television, she has also been recognized for her culinary instruction with honors such as the National Teacher Coordinator Award.
"It was kind of a fascination from when I was younger," Ms. Lang says of gingerbread houses. "I’ve done them for so many years with my family and my youngest is 24 now." These days she makes guest appearances running workshops and demonstrations at venues such as nursing homes and schools.
In October, Ms. Lang led the first gingerbread house demonstration at Peddler’s Village, showing interested chef/artists the construction process from start to finish. She covered tasks like baking and decorating and also went over basic rules like keeping everything visible on the house edible. She came with photographs of past contest entries and models of houses in different stages of construction.
"I had made a suggestion about doing a workshop to get better entries," she says. "(We went over) how to build on a frame since we live in a particularly humid part of the country, and I just gave them tons and tons of suggestions to get their imaginations going."
Speaking of humidity, think back to the days surrounding Nov. 17. Remember the warm, moist air we had? The weather proved fatal for a few of the houses.
"Sadly, we had a few collapse," Ms. Lang says. Some of those houses can be glimpsed on the bottom shelf of the display, tucked in behind a wall. Ms. Lang says she encourages folks interested in entering to anticipate rain, though she’s glad the village put dehumidifiers in the gazebo and walled off the display this year.
Aside from leading the demonstration and sharing construction tips, Ms. Lang also served as one of the judges in the competition. She says she looked for use of color, creativity, quality, construction and appropriateness of materials.
"They went over the top this year," she says, happily. "They went big, and they were very diverse." Her favorite category is Authentic Reproduction, though she also loves the Unusual 3-D entries. "Puss in Boots (by Francine Griffith) was exquisite," she adds.
The orange cat stands on a stretch of green grass, with a stone wall just behind him. He wears a red shirt lined with gold buttons, with a blue cape draped over it and buckled under his chin. Of course, he’s donning black boots with golden buckles, and he’s reaching over into a brown bag tied with yellow rope. Now consider that everything just mentioned consists of sugary goodness.
"Every year we see something different," Ms. Lang says.
The 26th annual Gingerbread House Competition and Display is on view in the
Gazebo on the Upper Village Green at Peddler’s Village, Route 202 and Street Road,
Lahaska, Pa., through Jan. 4. Hours: Mon.-Thurs., Sun. 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Fri.-Sat.
10 a.m.-9 p.m. The display will be closed Christmas Day and will close at 3:30
p.m. on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. Viewing is free. For information, call
(215) 794-4000. On the Web: www.peddlersvillage.com
For more gingerbread house fun: Fonthill Museum, East Court Street and Route
313, Doylestown, Pa., will hold the family workshop Graham Cracker Castles
Dec. 2, 12:30-3:30 p.m. The workshop costs $40 per family, $35 BCHS member
families. To register, call (215) 348-9461, ext. 10. The Mercer Museum, 84 Pine
St. Doylestown, Pa., will present the program Evolution of the Gingerbread
Man with food historian Susan Plaisted, Dec. 3, 1-4 p.m. Free with regular
admission: $8, $7 seniors, $4 5-17, free under 5. For information call (215) 345-0210.
Mercer and Fonthill Museums on the Web: www.mercermuseum.org

