120217-metro-gingerbread
An excited Andrea Boccaccio gets her first look at Santa as he makes his grand entrance at the fourth annual Gingerbread House Unveiling and Celebration at the El Conquistador Tucson, A Hilton Resort, Dec. 1, in Tucson. The house measures 12-feet-by-12-feet-by-14-feet with a 6-feet-by-5-feet addition. General manager Ghee Alexander estimated more than 1,000 people lined up for a tour. It took the Hilton’s pastry crew more than 250 hours and 340 pounds of flour, 21 pounds of butter, 550 pounds of powdered sugar to make the 450 9-inches-by-13-inches gingerbread tiles that form the structure.
An onlooker takes a photo of a life-size gingerbread house unveiled Friday in the lobby of the El Conquistador Tucson hotel. An estimated 1,000 people lined up to tour the house, which took a pastry crew more than 250 hours and 340 pounds of flour, 21 pounds of butter and 550 pounds of powdered sugar to make the 450 gingerbread tiles that form the structure.

