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At Dog Hill Bistro, you can make your house and eat it, too... and a few people were seen munching on their gingerbread houses Saturday at the 2nd Annual Adult Gingerbread House Class.

Kathy Logan, owner of Dog Hill Bistro in Plains, held a gingerbread session for kids last week, but Saturday, it was time for the adults to demonstrate their building expertise. Twenty men and women took part in the class, doubling participation from 2017.

"It's a lot harder than I thought and it's sloppy," said Bob Buck, who had never built a gingerbread house before Saturday. The Plains man approached the task prepared with a bag of tools, including an electric Dremel. His wife, Dacia, and mother-in-law, Jean Morrison, served as Buck's cheerleaders during his building debut.

"We've had people use tools, but this is a first for a Dremel," said Logan. Buck had planned to construct a yurt house, but said he didn't have enough materials. He knew his building wouldn't have been round, like a traditional yurt building, but he figured he could make one with five or six sides to give the yurt appearance. Buck was a last minute addition in this year's class. Participants had to sign up ahead of time because Logan had to bake the walls and roofs before Saturday. A cancelation gave Buck a spot.

The cost to enter was $15, which included the house sides and a roof, along with an assortment of edible trimmings, and a hot buttered rum drink. Participants had nearly 30 different types of goodies to choose from for their house trimmings, although a few people brought their own cookies and candy.

Logan decided to step it up this year and make adult class a contest. Nineteen of the participants' houses were on display at Dog Hill Bistro for a People's Choice Award. Only the house of John and Karen Thorson's was not on display because the roof caved in – twice – and didn't survive assembly. "I guess I had too much snow on it," said John. "We had fun and learned a lot. We learned structurally that there's a weight load for the roof," said Karen.

After seeing so much participation by parents in the first children's gingerbread class and they were having so much fun that she decided to do something for the adults. She said the adult gingerbread houses were more imaginative than the children ones. "The adults used a lot less candy, but they were a lot more messy," said Logan.

Seventeen of the participants were Plains residents. Polly Gill, a former resident, traveled from Spokane to take part. Josh Reynolds and his wife, Sara, Logan's daughter, came from Missoula to build their gingerbread houses.

Not all the houses were done with a traditional look. Tracy Muse of Plains made a replica of the old Plains jail. Terry Christensen designed a three-stall railroad roundhouse with a marshmallow locomotive in one stall. "He can never be normal," said his wife, Judi, who went with the traditional concept, but included a gingerbread man stuck coming out of the top of the chimney. "He would have been upside down, but I ate the legs," she said. Buck was the only contestant with a Santa gingerbread man on the roof, but perhaps the oddest was Josh Reynolds' gingerbread man, who was coming out of the chimney with his head on fire.

Naomi Banham, a Dog Hill Bistro employee, had the simplest structure – a 4½X4½-inch outhouse. Banham and fellow bistro employee Brittany Riddle, along with Todd Logan, Kathy's husband, were the only three to have participated in the adult class both years.

Ed Moreth

GINGER CLAUS – Bob Buck's gingerbread Santa Claus slips down the chimney of Buck's first gingerbread house at the Dog Hill Bistro.

"It was super cool to hear the excitement while they were building and the excitement from people leading up to it," said Banham, who added that people started signing up for the event a month ago.

Todd was the official hot "glue maker" for the participants, but toward the end of the class he quickly put together a structure out of spare gingerbread parts, which he called "Todd's Bar."

People can vote on their favorite gingerbread house at the bistro. Logan plans to tally the votes on Friday. The winner will receive a $20 gift certificate to the bistro. "It was a huge success and people had so much fun," said Kathy Logan. She said that 20 people is the maximum number she can due to space limitations, but if interest continues to grow, she might have to have two classes next year.

Terry Christensen already has a plan in mind for next year, but wouldn't give details. Buck also plans to participate in the 2019 contest. "I'm gong to practice with cardboard and make my yurt next year."