The Rev. Helen Tester, Rector, and folks at the Church of the Mediator are delighted to announce the up-coming Gingerbread House Contest and Silent Auction. 

Katie Watkins, Assistant to the Rector for Ministries and myself, have teamed up to coordinate the contest and launch what we hope will become an annual event. Some of you may remember that I was involved with a gingerbread house contest back when I worked at the Meridian-Lauderdale County Public Library and won’t be surprised to see me involved again. The Mediator is offering a similar contest with a few fresh twists. Contest entries will be displayed at the Meridian Art Museum from Nov. 3 through Dec. 5. The grand winners will be moved to the front window of the MSU Riley Center for the festivities of Merry Meridian. The public display will be a delightful exhibit of community creativity at its best.

  Contestants that give the Mediator permission will have their entries photographed and placed on the silent auction block at the Mediator Web site.  Funds raised from the sale of entries will go to support community outreach programs and Mediator children’s programs.

The contest has two divisions. You may create something with gingerbread, or, create a non-gingerbread structure for the challenging “anything goes” division.  Three independent judges will score each entry. The scores will be totaled.  First, second, and third place ribbons will be awarded for excellence in creativity and excellence in construction.  There will also be a “people’s choice” award and viewers of the entries at the Meridian Museum of Art will have the opportunity to cast their votes.

Registration for the contest is ongoing through Oct. 30. Entry forms can be downloaded from the Mediator Web site at www.mediatormeridian.com .  There is a $10 non-refundable entry fee.  Entry forms are also available from the Mediator office, Meridian Museum of Art, or Meridian-Lauderdale County Public Library.  Space is limited.  First come, first serve. 

Groups or individuals may submit an entry. Children under the age of 9 are required to team up with an adult due to the complexity of creating an entry. Folks from far and wide are invited to participate. It would be wonderful to see folks like professional chefs, artists, and architects roll up their sleeves and participate. Anyone who can access the Web site from anywhere is welcome to participate so long as they can deliver their entry to the Meridian Museum of Art on time.

Why gingerbread? If you’ve ever worked with it, you already know why. The gingerbread dough can be easily made and easily rolled out. It can be cut precisely into pattern pieces that glue together with royal icing. The icing is also easily made. It is amazing and fun. The structures that can be designed and built will astound you. There are gingerbread books readily available at the Meridian-Lauderdale County Library. There are also ample inspiring gingerbread Web sites for those who like to browse. 

Those of us involved with this at the Mediator also view it as a community-building event. Gingerbread contests are not new. Silent auctions of Gingerbread Houses are not new. The big contest in Ashville, North Carolina is world famous. The contest and silent auction in Lexington, Kentucky are also well known. We look forward to growing with this and drawing hundreds of people to Meridian to see gingerbread houses on display. 

For contest details, construction requirements, and entry forms go to www. mediatormeridian.com.

For questions contact Sarah Mutziger at (601) 485-7778 or smeyermut@hotmail.com .



GINGERBREAD

Sarah’s favorite recipes are from Gingerbread Houses: A Complete Guide To Baking, Building and Decorating by Christa Currie.

 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

In a large pot on low heat, melt



1 cup vegetable shortening

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup dark molasses

Remove from heat and mix in



1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp ground cinnamon or 3 tsp ground ginger and 1 tsp nutmeg

Stir in throughly 1 cup at a time



4 1/2 or 5 cups of sifted flour all-purpose flour (I use 5)

Mix and knned all the ingredients until the dough is even in color and smooth, not crumbly or dry. Form the dough into a log and divide the log into 3 pieces. Wrap 2 pieces in plastic to keep them from drying out while you work with the other piece. 

Meringue powder icing (one batch) also known as royal icing

Empt into a large mixing bowl.



4 cups of powdered sugar (sifted)

3 Tbsp meringue powder (dry egg whites, available at Winn Dixie)

Add 6-8 TBSP warm water (I add 7)



With an electric mixer, blend on slow speed to start, then beet on high speed for 6-8 min, or until the mixture holds a stiff peak. If the icing gets too stiff, add a little more water.  You need to be able to push the icing through a decorating tip.