By Charley Falkenburg, Special to the Packet
Debbie Prentice carefully squeezed a steady stream of white icing to the side of a small gingerbread house as her daughter, Sadie, 9, pressed in mini, multicolored candy balls.
Their edible abode featured an iced roof adorned with licorice shingles on one side and evenly spaced M&Ms on the other. Down the center, mini marshmallows lined a path that led to a smiling Santa made of pure sugar.
They hadn’t gotten to the yard yet, but were was planning to use some green papered Hershey kisses as trees and a few mini gumdrops as bushes.
"This is part of our Christmas traditions," explained Ms. Prentice of Princeton. "This is just fun; it’s a fun mom and daughter thing we do."
Ms. Prentice and her daughter were just two of many gingerbread architects who came out for McCaffery’s annual Gingerbread House Decorating event on Sunday, Dec. 14. Assistant Store Manager Mike Ruggiero estimated this to be McCaffery’s eighth year offering the activity.
About 40 people registered between two decorating sessions offered that day, according to store officials.
"McCaffery’s is all about community and customer service," added Mr. Ruggiero. "This is just one of the special things McCaffery’s does that shows how we go above and beyond just selling groceries."
Rather than a competition, Mr. Ruggiero likened the event to a gingerbread decorating party where people of all ages could have fun.
From 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., folks made their way upstairs to McCaffery’s Bistro where they received a gingerbread house kit and were able to decorate at their leisure. Families and children of all ages occupied seats at tables laden with bowls of marshmallows, gumdrops, chocolate sprinkles, gingerbread men cookies, multicolored candies and other sugary treats. White icing speckled the red and green tablecloths as decorators tackled their gingerbread houses using a variety of strategies and inspirations.
One of them was Victoria Luba, 6, who was busy making sure no space of gingerbread went uncovered. From the roof to the base, the festive house was covered in generous applications of white icing and colorful candies. Her sugar Santa stood near the door as if waiting to greet future visitors.
When asked what her favorite part about decorating her gingerbread house, the little girl paused.
"Putting Santa on it," she said with a smile.
Across the table, her mother, Sushchenko Luba of Montgomery, started to laugh.
"And eating the Hershey kisses too," she added. "This is a fun; I want these good holiday memories for her."
While Victoria was a fan of the Hershey kisses, Luke Currie appeared to partial to the icing. In one hand, the 4-year-old squirted some of the icing into his mouth as he took a brief break from his work. His mother, Negela Moaddeb-Currie of Princeton Junction, laughed as she explained Luke was simply committed to the quality of his house.
"Quality control — that’s what he’s doing," she added, still laughing.
Like many of the attendees there, Ms. Moaddeb-Currie and her son were no strangers to the event and had participated in prior years. This year, Luke went in with a strategy of his own.
"I did it by color," he explained, referring to his house, which was bedecked in M&Ms of his favorite hue: blue.
A North Carolina native, Ms. Moaddeb-Currie recalled always making a gingerbread house during the holidays with her family.
"And I decided to carry this tradition over with my son," she added.
