Why I'm sticking with sugar cookies this holiday season

An annual event that Asheville boasts about over the holiday season is the National Gingerbread House Display at The Grove Park Inn. People from far and wide bake and decorate visually stunning, edible creations that are judged and then viewed by whoever wants to wander around and look at them, with the winning gingerbread house earning an appearance on Good Morning America. It’s kind of a big deal. And when I mentioned to my friend, Jen, that in all my eight holiday seasons as a resident of Asheville I had never paraded around the Grove Park to look at the sugary masterpieces, she gasped and announced the we just HAD to go. With the kids. And so we all got dressed up in our fancy clothes and met up at the well-known resort to start our tour de gingerbread.

And what sounded like a fun afternoon in theory, was actually quite stressful, as I didn’t think about talking to Taylor about what we were actually doing before we got there. So instead of ogling the overly elaborate cookie creations, my time was spent chasing a wound-up three and a half year old through a maze of geriatric spectators, all while shouting phrases such as, SLOW DOWN!, and TAYLOR ELIZABETH, YOU NEED TO LISTEN!, and NO! DO NOT TRY TO PICK CANDY OFF THE HOUSES!

Oh yes, I needed to remind the Princess on a number of occasions that even though she could reach her arms through and over the little barricades they had set up between her and the mother-load of icing and gummy candy, it was strictly forbidden to actually eat the prized creations. And considering that the actual baked-wonders looked like this, you can understand why I was a bit stressed that Taylor would pick off a corner of cookie when I wasn’t looking.

And did I mention that the whole time I was chasing my daughter through busloads of really old gingerbread house enthusiasts, I was carrying Luke, Mr Nearly-23-pounds, in a carrier on my chest. You can guarantee that I had totally sweated through my sweater by the time we got half-way through the displays.

And since Jen was dealing with the same craziness with both of her kids, we barely viewed the winning collection before marching our circus out the front door. Because we were so over it. BUT. What I did see was impressive. However, I’m pretty sure Taylor, Miss Can’t-control-herself-around-candy, is banned from the annual Asheville tradition for at least a few years, so we’ll be watching it on GMA like the rest of you.