Gingerbread Inferno!

Before...



and after:



For the second year now, Paul and I have spent part
of New Year's Eve afternoon witnessing one of the
year's truly great spectacles, at an undisclosed
location in West Seattle. (I've learned that this
is what glass artists do with their blow torches
when they're not creating objets.)

The artists begin assembling their
candy cache after Halloween, scouting grocery
outlets and Asian food markets, for the most
unusual candies possible. The actual construction
takes place over a period of weeks. The architecture
contained several non-candy components, my favorite
being sunflowers seeds (used on the roof) which,
according to the packaging, were coated in saccharine,
salt, and MSG. Who wouldn't want to burn these?!
Last year's "house" was a re-creation of Machu Picchu,
and I recall some red vines that withstood long blasts
from the blowtorch with nary a trickle of melting sugar.
(Haven't eaten a red vine since.) The giant jaw breakers
really steal the show as they drip away in colorful layer
upon layer. And the fireworks hidden inside! Sparklers!

For a firsthand look at the extravaganza,
check out the video below. (My apologies for the sideways
camera angle which cuts in halfway through. My fault.
But the footsteps up the center of the screen
make up for it, I think. I'm a poet, not a filmmaker.)