Thanksgiving feast? Done. Leftovers? Polished off. Tired feet? Recovered. Black Friday? Behind us.

In our house, this means that the holidays have officially begun.

My husband is currently outside competing with Clark Griswold while decorating our house in lights. I am fairly certain he is aiming to blind the neighbors and dramatically increase traffic down our normally wonderfully quiet street.  Setting the lights to music with one of those crazy computer set-ups is a new touch this year, and one that will probably draw more onlookers than I care for.  I am apologizing in advance to my Gxxxxxx Drive neighbors (thank goodness I am friends with all of you and can bribe you with food).

I am currently inside multi-tasking (which, according to the latest studies, does not, in fact, make you any more productive). My house is half-decorated, cookies are waiting to be made, laundry is in need of folding, and I just remembered that it would be a great time to fill you in on a fun event that I am hosting over here at Cook It Allergy Free….

A GINGERBREAD HOUSE CONTEST with a special prize for the winner – A New 4th Generation iPod Touch and a free download of my Cook It Allergy Free iPhone App.

iPod Touch Features:

• ->8GB internal flash memory stores up to 1,750 songs, up to 10,000 digital photos (iPod viewable photos transferred from iTunes), or up to 10 hours of video
• ->Multi-Touch interface, 3.5″ widescreen display
• ->Download Any Apps (including my Cook It Allergy Free App, which will be included free with the prize)
• ->Built-in Wi-Fi lets you surf the Web, send e-mail, update your Facebook status, chat using AIM, and so much more
• ->HD video recording
• ->Retina display – 4x pixels, 326 ppi, 24-bit color, LED
• ->Apple, the Apple logo and iTunes are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. iPod is a trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.
• ->Formatted capacity may vary. Results will vary based on file size and format, settings, features, software and other factors.

So…

Because I just happen to have an extra 4th Generation iPod Touch from a charity event that we were a part of, I thought it would be fun to host a contest here and have my readers submit photos of their homemade gingerbread houses. Everyone can vote on their favorite creations (in the comments sections) and the house with the most votes will win the iPod Touch (p.s. there may be a prize for the runner up as well, hint hint).

In a nutshell, here are the simples rules:

1.  The house can be a theme based on any religious preference.

2.  The house can be as creative or simple as you want.  Just have fun with it.

3.  The majority of the house needs to be edible in the spirit of creating an even architectural playing field for everyone (and I am not saying you will want to eat it, but this is also just in case you catch YOUR 2-year-old doing this….)

4.  I know that I cannot prove whether or not the house that you submit is yours. But, I hope in the honest spirit of the holidays, I can count on the fact that the house you share with us was created either by you, or by a member of your family.

5.  Please email me a photo of your gingerbread house by December 9th. You can email your photo entries directly to: help AT cookitallergyfree DOT com (obviously replacing the AT and DOT with the appropriate characters).

6.  The post will go live on Friday, December 10th. The voting will last for 1 week.  The winner will be announced on Friday, December 17th (so that there is time to mail the iPod Touch to the winner before the holiday).

7.  I will post each photo, assigned with a number instead of a name.  This way you can vote for the house, not the person, that you like best.  You can vote, by the number, in the comments section.  I will list who submitted photos at the top of the contest post (with links to any of you who have blogs). But, so that this contest remains fair, I will not match the photo with the submitter until the day that the contest is over.

There is no rule, however, against you sharing this contest through your networks and mentioning which number is yours so that your friends and family can vote for you. The more votes for you, the more chances for you to win.  So share away, my friends…

And to get you started… Here are some links to patterns for printable house templates:

Ultimate Gingerbread (templates, tricks, tips, suggested tools, examples)

Slice of Heaven (free printable gingerbread house patterns)

Need A Recipe?…Call Mom (ideas, printable templates, and more)

And for some gluten-free gingerbread cookie recipes:

Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef

Adventures of a Gluten Free Mom

Elana’s Pantry

Jenn Cuisine

Sure Foods Living

Only Sometimes Clever

And after your kids (or you) are finished mindlessly nibbling on that array of colorful candy while you are busy building that house, you can go over and check out how to counteract that food-dye/sugar-high with a rainbow of different sorts.  Maggie, of She Let Them Eat Cake, has a great review of the Today I Ate A Rainbow Kit, which is an awesome way to teach your kids the importance of eating a variety of fruits and vegetables (and when better to capitalize on these points than during the time of year that they are consuming more sugar than their little bodies are used to).   And, by the way, Maggie is doing a giveaway of one of these kits on her blog right now.

NOW…GO GET STARTED ON THAT HOUSE. PERHAPS YOU HAVE SOME LEFTOVER HALLOWEEN CANDY THAT IS NEEDING A HOME (LITERALLY) OR SOME HOLIDAY CANDY THAT IS ALREADY BECOMING TOO TEMPTING TO IGNORE. PERHAPS IF THESE SWEETS ARE GLUED WITH ICING TO YOUR HOUSE YOU WILL BE LESS LIKELY TO INDULGE IN THEM (or maybe that will not stop you – see 2 year old above).

I CANNOT WAIT TO SEE YOUR CREATIONS!
This post is linked to:

Slightly Indulgent Tuesday

Hearth and Soul Hop