Haunted Gingerbread Houses?

Several of my friends and associates in the wedding industry were recently invited by Tony Santos, VP of sales for Executive Chef, (www.executivechefevents.com), to participate in one their team building events, just so we will know how their company "operates"! Below is my team, as we pose with the finished products of 45 minutes with gingerbread, pretzels, lots of candy, royal icing, fondant, and marshmallows...plus a bit of wine and appetizers to keep us going!!

My team included Jubilee Lau, Jubilee Lau Events; Morgan Doan, Events by Morgan; Sue Mylan from Julia Moargan Ballroom; Orna Maymon of Ornamento Floral Design; Kathleen Kirkpatrick from Villa Montalvo.

We worked on tables set up at the front of the Ferry Building, in San Francisco. These are the "raw materials", before our team began the 45 timed minutes of creative frenzy!

Amanda, Jubilee's assistant, and Jubilee collaborate on design and decor for the Boo! house.

Working diligently on the front porch of the Boo House, Kathleen Kirkpatrick models how her Executive Chef hat works nicely as a beret!

While my team was finishing up the last touches on our haunted houses, I visited a few other tables to see how the "competition" was doing; everyone was having a great time, but I think the other teams had more professional help than we did!

Stacie Halliman, of the Four Seasons, SF, had a bit of structural advice from the two of the Executive Chef executive chefs...

Neil Adams, of Blueprint Studios, observes here, but later in the evening, he came up with the winning gingerbread haunted house "neighborhood"...it included a cemetery of famous Hollywood horror actors, a house that had become a crime scene, and a haunted out-house; now that is thinking outside of the gingerbread box!

Happy Halloween, 2008!