TWENTY-FIVE YEARS! Last week the Omni Grove Park Inn hosted its annual National Gingerbread Competition, marking 25 years of this amazing event. People of all ages, from all over the world, bake and decorate and make their way to Asheville, North Carolina every November to show off their delicious masterpieces. And these gingerbread "houses" are truly masterpieces. 

The special anniversary also meant that the FoodNetwork was on site filming this year's competition! Scott wasn't able to get quite as many photos this year due to all the filming. Bad news for Scott... BUT good news for all of you because the FoodNetwork will be airing the Omni Grove Park Inn National Gingerbread House Competition's 25th Anniversary Special sometime in December. The special will be an hour long, and as soon as we know the details with date and air-time I will share it with you here on the blog!

Let's take a look at some of Chef Nicholas' favorite entries from each of the categories, starting with the Child group.

Selections from the Youth Category:

The talented teen category:

Without further ado.... I give you the top three finishers from the 25th Annual Omni Grove Part Inn National Gingerbread House Competition

Third Place

Second Place

Grand Prize Winner!

I also wanted to spotlight the judging team! Once again, Chef Nicholas was Lead Judge, and his team this year was spectacular! They do not have an easy job. No, sir. There are so many entries in each category, and a set of very specific rules that must be followed. Occasionally some of the entries are even drilled into to ensure all rules have be respected. 

This year not only marks the 25th anniversary of Nicholas Lodge's International Sugar Art Collection, it also marks the 25th anniversary of another tradition that the ISAC family holds near and dear: the Omni Grove Park Inn National Gingerbread House Competition! 

Chef Nicholas has been judging the National Gingerbread House Competition, at the Omni Grove Park Inn, for many years (quite a few of those as lead judge). This year was no exception, but I do believe that this was the first year that judges and competitors alike needed to brave the terrible wildfires that have been affecting the area! Despite the treacherous weather conditions, there was about 150 fantastic entries this year. While Chef Nicholas lead his team of judges in selecting the winners, Scott was kind enough to take photos of the top ten finalists in each division, so that I could share them with you all! 

23 Annual National Gingerbread House Competition

Earlier this week Chef Nicholas took up his judging duties at The Omni Grover Park Inn's 23 Annual National Gingerbread House Competition. As always all of the competitors delivered incredible gingerbread pieces, and judging was no easy task! This year's Grand Prize winner received a pretty spectacular prize pack valued at $7500 dollars: $5000 cash prize, 2-night Club Level stay at The Omni Grove Park Inn (including dinner, breakfast, and a spa visit), and a 2-day class with Chef Nicholas (including Renshaw products valued at $600). Man, I'd like to win that! Well... I bet you'd like me to show you some photos from the event, especially all the big winners! Oh, and after you enjoy all the gingerbread eye candy be sure to read about the two giveaways at the end of the blog!

It's never too soon to start!

Last fall I wrote a blog about Chef Nicholas judging the annual National Gingerbread House Competition, hosted by the Omni Grove Park Inn. Well, now it's late summer a year later, and at ISAC this week Chef Nicholas received a letter asking him to judge the competition again this year! While we are excited to once again be part of this amazing event, I thought I would talk a bit about being a competitor in the National Gingerbread House Competition.

Chef Nicholas got back Tuesday after judging the National Gingerbread Competition held at the Omni Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina. This was the 22nd year of the competition and Chef Nicholas tenth year as judge. Prior to his tenure as judge for the National Gingerbread Competition, Chef Nicholas judges two Food Network Challenge episodes shot at the resort: "Gingerbread Mansions "and "Gingerbread Champions." This week, you are lucky enough to hear about the competition and judging process straight from the judges mouth! Chef Nicholas himself wrote this week's blog! Enjoy!

Oh, and be sure to read all about our fabulous upcoming holiday sales at the end of this blog!