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A Sweet End to the Semester: Gingerbread 2012

For the twelve consecutive year, Northeastern Dining provided students with a much needed respite from studying for their upcoming week of final exams with the Gingerbread House Construction Contest. More than 300 student teams entered online via nudining.com for the chance to be one of the lucky teams chosen to participate in this year's contest. After the success of the previous eleven years, the number of teams swelled to sixty-four this year leading to the decision to move this year’s contest from Stetson East to the Stetson West Eatery. The change comes after many students ran out of room to decorate their houses in the atrium of Levine Marketplace.

While Northeastern Dining provided more than 700 pounds of gingerbread, 1,200 pounds of icing, and 2,000 pounds of candy to students, some teams took it upon themselves to bring their own edible supplies to make their house unique. This year's designs featured everything from Rice Krispies Treats to potatoes built into and onto the houses. Decorations including an eight foot gingerbread castle and a continuous loop of festive music gave Stetson West a very holiday feel.

Once all the houses were completed, the university community voted on their favorite house in person at Xhibition Kitchen's "Gingerbread Village." The houses were displayed among holiday lights and festive décor while students, faculty, staff, and visitors pointed out details on each house they walked past. For the second year, online votes were collected on NU Dining's Facebook and Twitter pages. Each house was photographed and every "like" the photo received counted as an additional vote. This allowed friends and family from near and far to be able to vote for their favorites as if they were here in Boston. With the Facebook photos receiving a combined 2,900 likes, online voting was once again a huge success and helped to determine this year's winners. Trinity Montoya and Nicole Bartalotta's Spongebob Squarepants-inspired "Under Da Sea" garnered 209 online votes – and that was only good for third place! Vanessa Mok, Marlanna Manzotti and Sarah Gaines' "International Gumdrop Headquarters" grabbed second place with 310 combined votes and this year's winners, Sara Campos and Danielle Casale, evoked childhood holiday memories with "Snoopy's Dog House" and received 349 total votes.

The giving theme of the holiday season is also an integral part of the contest. The first, second, and third place winners received cash prizes of $100, $75, and $50, respectively, and Northeastern Dining made a matching donation in the winners' names to their choice of either Toys for Tots or Haley House. The completed gingerbread houses were also taken to Rosie's Place and Pine Street Inn, two Boston-area shelters, to bring holiday cheer to the community.

For more sights and sounds of Northeastern's 12th annual Gingerbread Construction Contest, please visit the event photo gallery on nudining.com or check out the video of the event below!

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