Gingerbread House for Hoarders

by Bill Sertl, Posted Dec 21st 2010 @ 4:00PM

Photo: Elizabeth Kirat

Gingerbread, gingerbread, gingerbread rocks. We know people get creative with this stuff but never realized you could do more than just craft a little man to chew on later after the Kettle Chips ran out. No, a Gingerbread Wonderland contest this month at the Frelinghuysen Arboretum in Morristown, New Jersey, revealed some real Robert Moses-Baron Haussmann-Type A bakers out there who are capable of Eiffel Towers, Taj Mahals and suburban homes ("House on Ridgedale Avenue," which, if memory serves, is one block over from Freddie's place on Elm Street). We've even spotted a gluten-free, dairy-free house, which causes us to ask: "Doesn't gingerbread taste bad enough without having to make it totally inedible?"

But by far the winner of the Most-Disheveled-Joint Award, the one that pulls at our cramped-for-space heartstrings is the hoarders' house (above), with messy little stacks of gingerbread books and gingerbread trash, and well, who knows what's under that gingerbread carpet? What fresh Wonderland is this?

Photo gallery of Gingerbread Wonderland houses.

Filed Under: On the Blogs
Tags: christmas, featured, gingerbread, gingerbread house

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

12-21-2010 @7:15PM Sally G said... Wow, pretty amazing! But don’t you dare trash gingerbread—it’s one of my favorites! Crunchy cookies, warm cake with whipped cream—all great!
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12-23-2010 @10:22AM sunny said... Gingerbread..great. Hoarders.... not so appetizing.
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12-23-2010 @10:39AM loufalce said... Now, I`ve seen everything!
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12-23-2010 @11:41AM colleen said... I bet there's a flat cat in there somewhere!!
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12-23-2010 @12:19PM Phil said... Not even remotely funny, cute or amusing. Certainly not appetizing.
Obviously the chef has never dealt with cleaning up after a hoarder.
It sure won't make her think about gingerbread. Hoarders have
psychologic problems that don't require being mocked in cake form.
Dumb, dumb, dumb.
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12-23-2010 @2:58PM kara said... Phills a hoader.

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12-23-2010 @1:02PM Trind said... Lighten up, Phil. A sense of humor is what a psychologically problematic person needs; part of the problem is taking ourselves and issues too seriously. For me, it wasn't fun cleaning up my relative's tremendous mess, but this is cute. I like it.
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12-23-2010 @1:27PM Irene said... Give me a house made of gingerbread hoard and I'll be more than glad to clean it up! Yum!!!
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12-23-2010 @2:13PM Marilyn said... Not sure the hoarder house is funny--have to think about that one a bit. But what's with the ignorant put-down of a gluten and dairy free gingerbread house? Most well prepared GFCF foods are indistinguishable from the wheat and dairy kinds. And many people need to, or should eat this way, due to various health and developmental issues. So why make people feel bad about their food choices, especially when they are POSITIVE ones? Get educated, please, before you write an article.
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12-23-2010 @2:38PM Marilyn said... Oh, and about "Ridgedale Avenue"? That's a main road in Morris county, where this contest was located. I doubt this gingerbread house had anything to do with Freddy Kruger. Just an FYI.
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12-23-2010 @3:40PM Mandy said... Wow- thanks for the condescending and rude comment about the gluten-free, dairy free house. Yes, we know our food is different. We have a disease and it is not by choice. We have such limited options out there compared to others, it would have been much wiser and more considerate to laude the individual that created something we could eat. But then, it is apparent you were only going for snarky, rather than constructive.
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12-24-2010 @4:14AM Terry said... I also have Celiac and gluten free/dairy free food can be absolutely delicious. So, I see no reason why a Gingerbread house made gluten free would not be eatable. I love gingerbread houses... great deco for the season..... But that gingerbread house was a little too extreme...didnt even look like a gingerbread house.

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12-23-2010 @7:25PM MarLynn said... As a fan of Gingerbread, I really liked this one. However, I would take issue with the term Hoarder, but just for a minute. I do try to cultivate a sense of humor, so I will take all of this with a grain of ginger. :-)) Just because somebody has a lot of "stuff" does not make them a "hoarder." As a Depression survivor, I appreciate that "one man's junk is another man's treasure." I also hate to see perfectly good things go into the landfill. So I save some stuff for down the road. I am very often glad I did. Not everything is saved, but many things. So does that make me a hoarder? The Gingerbread House is still a neat food item.
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12-23-2010 @7:33PM Mary said... Touchy! Touchy! Maggi
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12-24-2010 @1:07PM Lisa Schamess said... Finally, something to do with those boxes and boxes of gingerbread mix and house-making kits I've got in my garage!
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1-26-2011 @7:23PM Sevimel said... Lighten up people! Funny is funny-and making a Gingerbread house for hoarders is F-U-N-N-Y!!

Now if you are a hoarder who also has a gluten intolerance, then you have a reason to be pissed. But then, this article would be the least of your problems!
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