12 December: Gingerbread House Day

Today is Gingerbread house day, which this year also happens to fall on the second Saturday in December, which is gingerbread decorating day - so what better time to share 10 facts you might not know about gingerbread.

1. Gingerbread may be a biscuit or it may be a cake. What makes it gingerbread is the ingredients. To be considered gingerbread, the recipe must feature ginger as a dominant flavour and use either Honey or molasses. It is made using the gingerbread method which requires the fat to be melted and all ingredients to be mixed together at once in a bowl.
2. An Armenian monk is credited with introducing gingerbread to Europe. His name was Gregory of Nicopolis. He moved to France, and taught the French Christians how to make it.
3. Gingerbread existed before this - Both the Greeks and Egyptians used gingerbread in their ceremonies.
4. Ginger is known for its medicinal properties and so was gingerbread. Swedish nuns used to bake it as a remedy for indigestion.
5. In 15th century Germany, production was controlled by a gingerbread guild.
6. In the 16th century, important news items were displayed by means of gingerbread "newspapers". Gingerbread was rolled out flat and decorated with relevant images such as the portrait of a new king.
7. The first gingerbread men were made in the court of Elizabeth I. She would have them made to resemble visiting dignitaries and would present them as gifts to the dignitaries concerned. Traditionally, these were dunked in port wine.
8. The gingerbread house caught on after the publication of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale, Hansel and Gretel. The idea caught on in Germany and German emigrants took the idea to the US, although it never caught on in such a big way in the UK. In Norway, the town of Bergen creates an entire city made from gingerbread houses each year.
9. The world’s largest gingerbread house was built at the Mall of America in Minnesota in 2001 and took 9 days to build. It was 67 feet tall and was decorated with 1,800 Hershey bars, 1,200 feet of Twizzlers, 100 pounds of tootsie rolls, 100 whirly pops and thousands of other pieces of candy.
10. The town of Market Drayton in Shropshire, UK is known for its gingerbread, something they mention on the town's welcome sign. The first recorded mention of gingerbread being baked there dates back to 1793.

My Christmas Novella!

A Very Variant Christmas

Last year, Jade and Gloria were embroiled in a bitter conflict to win back their throne and their ancestral home. This year, Queen Jade and Princess Gloria want to host the biggest and best Christmas party ever in their palace. They invite all their friends to come and bring guests. Not even the birth of Jade's heir just before Christmas will stop them.

The guest list includes most of Britain's complement of super-powered crime-fighters, their families and friends. What could possibly go wrong?

Gatecrashers, unexpected arrivals, exploding Christmas crackers and a kidnapping, for starters.

Far away in space, the Constellations, a cosmic peacekeeping force, have suffered a tragic loss. They need to recruit a new member to replace their dead colleague. The two top candidates are both at Jade and Gloria's party. The arrival of the recruitment delegation on Christmas Eve is a surprise for everyone; but their visit means one guest now faces a life-changing decision.

Meanwhile, an alliance of the enemies of various guests at the party has infiltrated the palace; they hide in the dungeon, plotting how best to get rid of the crime-fighters and the royal family once and for all. Problem is, they all have their own agendas and differences of opinion on how to achieve their aims.

Not to mention that this year, the ghosts who walk the corridors of the palace on Christmas Eve will be as surprised by the living as the living are by them.

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