Gingerbread Houses of the Solvang Bakery… and a Suspenseful Tale
I love nothing more than a pretty house. Especially one I can eat. Bringing delicious definition to the term “eye candy” are the gingerbread houses of our beloved Santa Ynez Valley Solvang Bakery. But don’t take my word for it. Ask the movie stars and super-celebs who beat the door down to […]
I love nothing more than a pretty house. Especially one I can eat. Bringing delicious definition to the term “eye candy” are the gingerbread houses of our beloved Santa Ynez Valley Solvang Bakery. But don’t take my word for it. Ask the movie stars and super-celebs who beat the door down to get their holiday orders in early. I’d tell you their names, but I’d have to kill you after.
A longtime family business, the Solvang Bakery creates all manner of confections, including thousands of custom order houses that are shipped from their Disney-esque hometown of Solvang, California, to all over the world. You want a villa in the South of France? Oui, madame. A Manhattan high-rise? No problem. A barn? Howdy pardner.
There is your Hansel-and-Gretel-celebrate-Hanukkah model…
Doesn’t have to be a house of course. Here’s a Hanukkah gingerbread cookie jar you can get caught with your hand in.
For Gingerbread Christians, this Sunday is the first in Advent and, drum roll please, heralds the Bakery Blog serial Advent Adventures of J. Think 50 Shades of Gingerbread…. Kidding, but I’ve read the first few installments and I’m hooked. So will be your 5-year-old. It’s a great bedtime read and, oh the suspense! Like Homeland for little ones.
Okay that’s a stretch.
But there is danger and intrigue. We first meet Mr. Gingerbread, aka Joey, in hospital recuperating from grave injuries received at sea… a frightful storm… no memory…
Poor Joey. At least he did not lose the red scarf his mother gave him…
You won’t want to miss a single installment of Joey’s trials, tribulations, and ultimate triumph. Follow him on the Solvang Bakery website, under Our Blog. You cannot get this on Netflix, people.
Another story is the one about the Solvang Bakery itself and the beauty and brains behind it, including Melissa Halme Redell and her mother Susan Halme.
I’ve also recently had the pleasure of meeting Melissa’s sister Maili Halme, who is a chef in her own right, and a mom, and a blogger. Her popular Maili Files is a go-to-source for discriminating foodies near and far. You’ll be hearing more about Maili and her recipes soon, but if all this talk of gingerbread has you hankering to make cookies, try Maili’s Gingerbread Cookies here. It’s the home version of the professional Bakery recipe. We do not mess around here.
After eating all those cookies you might need a vacation. The beach, maybe?
Browse and shop the Solvang Bakery here. Or phone them at (805) 688-4939. They’re open 7 days a week from 7 a.m. (yikes) Pacific time. Photos courtesy Solvang Bakery and the fabulous Julie Farrell, alter ego of J.J. Gingerbread XXIV.
Merry, Happy.
FrancesSchultz.com neither solicits nor accepts compensation for editorial coverage.
17 Comments