Gingerbread House at Salisbury House

I went to a wonderful mansion here in town called Salisbury House. It was featured once on the old A&E television show America's Castles. It's a really amazing building with 17 bedrooms, a gym, a bowling alley and all sorts of neat features from early 20th century. Tonight I went with Julie to the gingerbread house workshop.

See the glasses of red wine? It was creativity juice.

By the way, could I look more like my grandmother?

In this photo, we are clearly just getting underway. I'm really pleased with mine and was satisfied the entire time. I had made a gingerbread house my senior year in high school and I knew that it was going to be cute no matter what I did. Same with Julie's. It's candy! What's not to love?

Oh and they offered wine and extra royal frosting and yummy appetizers and treats. I may have overindulged. There was an artichoke dip and eclairs. How could I not indulge?

Here is my finished house. The chimney has fire sprouting from it. The whole house is a homeowner's insurance agent's nightmare. Do you see the pine tree lurking behind the snowman? The ice dams ruining the roof?

Do you see the slip and fall claim?

The gingerbread man got clumsy and tripped while cutting through the yard. That's a snowdrift at his feet.

I didn't outline my windows, but I did hang wreaths in them. Plus I did a little landscaping and double-plus just look at that snowman's red hat!! He looks like a sailor to me.

After the houses were built and we were fully snacked, we walked around the house. It's really beautiful, but it was built from materials that Carl Weeks had brought over from England. The house is mostly stone-even the floors. And the windows are single-pane glass in metal frames and I've just lived in the Midwest too long not to wonder how you heat a house like that!!

I had a fantastic time this evening. Thanks, Julie!