By LAURA COX


ONEONTA

When it comes to gingerbread, the Herricks of Oneonta rule.
Mom Denise and daughters Mallory, 10, and Brittney, 13, have entered Main Street Oneonta’s annual gingerbread contest for seven years. Every year, at least one of them placed in the top three. This year, they all claimed prizes.
“I’ve been doing it since I was a kid,” Denise said, reminiscing about Thanksgiving weekends past when, as a girl, she made traditional gingerbread houses with her mom.
It was a family tradition Denise was happy to continue with her daughters, pushing the bar up higher, ever higher, past your typical candy-covered house.
“We had to get serious,” said Denise. “This is not about eating; it’s about looking good.”
This year’s contest theme was favorite children’s books. Mallory won the family category for “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.” Brittney won for the teen category with her scene from “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.” And Denise won in the adult category with her representation of Mother Goose nursery rhymes.
This year was different. The girls were old enough to do most of the work on their own houses themselves. Brittney did all the work on her house, making the victory more of a thrill. Even little Mallory did 90 percent of the construction and decoration, with only a suggestion or two from mom.
“’If You Give a Mouse a Cookie’ was one of my favorite books and I thought it would look good in gingerbread,” said Brittney, adding that she really wanted to make the mouse. At the end, she did add a mouse and small person made out of fondant.
A novelty: The thatched roof is Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Chocolate candy rocks were used for the cobblestone chimney and walkway.
You can see it all in the window of the Key Bank on Main Street.
Mallory and Denise did not build traditional “houses.”
Instead, Mallory made standing book pages that fan out across her platform with colorful illustrations of fruit painted on with colored royal frosting and a three dimensional caterpillar standing in front of the book. You can see it in the Dietz Street window of The History Center.
Denise made the grandfather clock from “Hickory, Dickory, Dock,” Humpty Dumpty on a wall, Old Mother Hubbard’s cupboard, Jack and Jill’s well and a little girl with a curl. Her creation can be seen in the Main Street window of the History Center.
Over the years, Denise experimented with making materials look like wood and brick, which add realism to her creations. She colors royal icing the color of the gingerbread to make the joints less noticeable.
A big part of the Herricks’ gingerbread success is a a great “construction gingerbread recipe.” It’s not the type of gingerbread you can eat since it does not rise, but it bakes really hard so that it can support things being built with it. They found the recipe they use from a Food Network special on gingerbread houses and have used it ever since.
They also learned a great way to keep gingerbread from cracking while moving it from the table to the cookie sheet: Roll out tin foil, then roll the dough on the tin foil. You can then move the tin foil onto the cookie sheet, instead of having to move individual pieces.
While dad Kevin is usually home during the two “gingerbread weekends,” the ones before and after Thanksgiving, the girls give him a few rules. He has to cook for himself and walk the dog. He’s only allowed to give opinions when asked to be creative consultant. And he better not bump the table.


For new gingerbread makers, the Herricks have a few tips: Use construction gingerbread, try patterns out in cardboard first, and to go wild with ideas.
The Herricks are willing to give away all their secrets because they love competition and would like more people to get involved in the competition.