Gingerbread Houses 2009

What’s up with gingerbread houses in 2009? Plenty, it seems.

Gingerbread houses have gone green and organic, like the 10×14 foot edible estate with LED lights and a green “vegetated” moss roof on display in the Charlotte Ritz-Carlton. They are made of cupcakes, boast chocolate bar solar panels and gumdrop wind turbines, and are mid-century modern design.

Here’s a sampling of what’s online this holiday season:

Visit our nation’s official gingerbread White House at ObamaFoodorama.

View a time lapse video of the construction of a life-sized gingerbread house (that’s 600 pounds of powdered sugar you’re watching).

Learn how to make a gingerbread house with a YouTube cooking lesson.

Peruse the gingerbread house picture gallery or upload a photo of your own creation at Gingerbread House Heaven.

Enter a gingerbread house-building contest.

Join a gingerbread forum or a fan group at Yahoo Groups or Facebook.

Play Home Sweet Home and decorate a virtual gingerbread house.

Order a gingerbread replica of your home from custom baker Rebecca Russell.

Choose between an A-frame, a Colonial, or a Saltbox with gingerbread house blueprints from BobVila.com.

Shop for kits, pans, and decorating tools at the Wilton Christmas Gingerbread Shop.

And in case you’re not up-to-date with the latest online jargon, here’s the ‘new’ definition of gingerbread house according to netlingo.com:

Slang for a company that hires NCG’s (New College Graduates) and places them in high-pressure positions, but pays only minimal compensation. This commonly happens in small companies with a long history of no growth, engineering design firms, and commercial art firms. Instead of cash bonuses or equity, a gingerbread house will hand out token gifts (such as tickets or T-shirts).

a.k.a. youth grinder