Dear Gossips,

Today is the Winter Solstice, “Dong Zhi” in Chinese. Loosely interpreted, it’s like Chinese Christmas, one of the most important days on our calendar, when we celebrate the longest night of the year surrounded by family and a lot of food, marking the end of the annual lunar cycle, and looking ahead to a prosperous new one. It’s important to harvest as much good luck as possible with those you love. Happy Chinese Christmas!  

So... the Best Gingerbread House competition...

Click here if you missed it on Tuesday. Thank you for your comments and your analyses, your passionate defence of your favourite(s), for your emails, messages, compliments...and (some of you) for assuming that I could actually be in the top 5.

Let me As IF myself on that one: As IF I could ever, EVER even be considered in the same conversation. I don’t even know what half of those ingredients are called. But you’re right - my friends are crazy. Like straight up CRAZY.

Also, to those of you who wondered whether or not everything was actually edible, here is the, um, response from the participants:

Other competitors would NEVER allow non-edible items. It’s rice paper that you use for these sticky desserts and those are Wilton food writers. Who do these people think they’re dealing with?

(I have never heard of a Wilton food writer.)

See?

They don’t mess. I’m serious about the eating of food. These bitches are serious about the making of it and then the eating of it.

Your votes? It was a hard fought battle but in the end, White Christmas was the People’s Choice Winner.

The real winner of the competition, as chosen by The Academy, the sole member being Lorella’s mother...

Santa Off Duty created by Peter G. I’ve attached more angles of his creation below along with his trophy. Yes, they actually have a trophy for this event. I’m telling you...it’s mental. And AWESOME. (Also they make their own pasta and Lorella’s father invented his own sausage maker. My ma, the Chinese Squawking Chicken, on the other hand, just joined the arts and crafts group at the hospital and created a Christmas card for the first time in her life. She’s presenting it to me on the weekend. I can’t wait to show it to you.)

Lorella’s White Christmas came in 2nd place. She has been stomping her feet about it for days and she was the instigator of the dispute. In the 7 year history of the competition, Peter has won 4 times. To date, no woman, in the history of the Best Gingerbread House competition has been declared the winner.

Wishing you and your families the same kind of joy, inevitable frustration, affection, and cheer this holiday season.

Yours in gossip,

Lainey