Published Saturday, December 7, 2002
show off
baking
skills
from gingerbread
Herald Staff Writer
Three high school students spent Friday morning building houses. But instead of using boards and nails, they used icing, gumdrops, jelly beans and gingerbread.
Elizabeth Davis of Salem Township, an 11th-grader at Commodore Perry High School, was one of three finalists in "The Great American Gingerbread Challenge," sponsored by the Winner Institute of Arts and Sciences in Pymatuning Township and the Eastwood Mall in Niles, Ohio.
Elizabeth, along with Shawna Reeher of Rocky Grove High School and Patricia Klinger of Oil City High School, both in Venango County, were chosen from 10 finalists to build gingerbread houses for a share in $3,000 scholarship money.
Contest entrants sent in photos of gingerbread houses they had baked and assembled, and the top three were invited to the Winner Institute on Friday to reconstruct their houses, said Cedric Hayes, director of admissions at the institute.
Elizabeth, who plans to attend culinary school after she graduates, found out about the contest from her culinary arts teacher at the Mercer County Career Center.
It took her about 31Ž2 to 4 hours to bake and build her gingerbread house at home, she said.
The school provided slabs of gingerbread for construction, and white icing. The girls came armed with their own tools and bags of candy and other garnishes for finishing touches.
"I just want you to have fun," Rick Bruckner, chef instructor at the Winner Institute and one of the judges, told the girls. "Just have a good time, relax and take your time."
Houses were judged on the following criteria: creativity, artistic ability, originality, neatness and size. The houses could not exceed 16 by 16 inches when they were complete. Houses also had to be 100 percent edible.
The first-place winner will receive a $1,500 scholarship; second-place, a $1,000 scholarship; and third-place, a $500 scholarship. The winners will be announced next week, Bruckner said.
The completed houses were taken to the Eastwood Mall for display. The Winner Institute has a life-size gingerbread house there and at the Millcreek Mall in Erie.