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Wednesday, December 21, 2016

a sparkling christmas

with so much inspiration in this big beautiful book, the novel bakers continue with one more day sharing a christmas all through the south.
now that the santa boat parade is behind us, the lighthouse is lit and the chocolate martini is nothing but a fond memory, its time to make more memories for the season. like taking in ...
living so close to wine country we decided to go on the 9th annual gingerbread house winery contest, where 6 wineries compete with their own gingerbread houses.


oh it sounded so fun, i have seen some stunning gingerbread houses in my lifetime, like the grand floridian hotel in disney world...

face it, wine country is rich, i thought oh what marvelous sites we will see!
are you catching my bah humbug...
it was a total grinch of xmas idea...
only one even used real gingerbread!
 
as a native cal gal i know exactly what they are trying to share here, the vines climbing the rolling green hills, but all I could think about was the volcano we all made in elementary school that looks like its ready to explode!
at least this was made of gingerbread and smelled divine, but rather an odd theme... until you notice the 3 three labs lounging around the vineyards. their dogs are very much a part of this winery!
your could almost think it had been hit by their darling old truck...
 even if the gingerbread houses were not what we were expecting, it is always fun to get out and explore and visit new sights over the holidays ;-)
of course, with all this gingerbread on the brain i could not wait to get home to try...





for this recipe alone, its worth BUYING THIS BOOK!
 



keeping with the lighthouse theme, my holiday table is adorned in nothing but glass with bright lights and silver, the sunlight plays magic all day long dancing beams through the glass, at night, the lights sparkle and shine so bright from the street it looks like a beacon (for nasa)!
 
























time to enjoy our yule time feast, although we pared down the menu, the recipes i tried were ALL excellent! but i am still swooning over the gingerbread soufflé ;-)
 















from coast to coast we wish you the happiest of holiday greetings
and thank you for stopping by today
for more Christmas all through the south visit
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