Baker, builder and cookie-house maker

This gingerbread house was built to be raffled off to benefit Ginnie's House Lafayette — There’s something about a gingerbread house that evokes a cozy, old-fashioned Christmas. Just like gingerbread cookies, the houses have become a holiday tradition and every year constructions of all shapes and sizes appear. Maria Weingrad, owner of EveryThing Homemade, a pastry shop and café in Olde Lafayette Village, has designed, baked, and built her own winter wonderland gingerbread house that she is offering as a raffle prize to benefit Ginnie’s House, the children’s advocacy center in Newton. Last year, Weingrad made a gingerbread house for display but when it was thrown out after the holidays were over, she realized she “needed to do something better.” She decided to sell raffle tickets for $1 apiece and donate the money to charity. Ginnie’s House was suggested and tickets will be sold until Dec. 20. So far, several hundred dollars have been collected and Weingrad says she will present a check to Ginnie’s House on Dec. 22. The entire house was baked from scratch in the shop. It took Weingrad and a helper four days to build this culinary masterpiece. Constructed on a Styrofoam base, it consists of approximately 40 pounds of gingerbread. The house would make an impressive holiday table centerpiece with its icing-laden M&M roof and chocolate Santa going down the chimney. Chocolate Hershey Bar steps lead to an open door, with a gingerbread couple on either side. Inside is a candle that can be plugged in to light the house. Tickets are available for purchase at EveryThing Homemade, and the house is on display there.