Ovens

Ovens see much use this time of year, for the baking of cookies or cakes, or whatever confections people enjoy at this time of year. There are many holiday treats that are associated with the season – from holiday cookies to fruitcake. My mother used to eat christmas pudding, a typical english treat, though that is steamed rather than baked.

One of the most popular treats, of course, is gingerbread, particularly in the form of gingerbread houses. Gingerbread first appeared in Europe in the 11th century. It was a common fairground treat. Gingerbread houses appeared much later, but the practice is popular both in Europe and in the U.S.

In Bergen, Norway, they have built a human-sized gingerbread city every season since 1991. Called Pepperkakebyen, it allows kids under 12 to build their own houses with the help of their parents.

Of course a house built of cake and sweets calls to mind the story of Hansel and Gretel. As you no doubt recall, both children got lost in the woods and came upon a house of similar construction, a witch’s lure to capture little children to eat. She locks Hansel up and forces Gretel to work for her. Hansel delays the witch for as long as he can until the witch decides to eat him and his sister, too. In the end, it’s Gretel who tricks the witch and kills her in…why, yes, an oven.

“The Gingerbread House has four walls, a roof, a door, a window, and a chimney. It is decorated with many sweet culinary delights on the outside.

But on the inside there is nothing—only the bare gingerbread walls.

It is not a real house—not until you decide to add a Gingerbread Room.

That’s when the stories can move in.

They will stay in residence for as long as you abstain from taking the first gingerbread bite.”

– Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration