Sunbelt Foodservice: Gingerbread Creations

and a toy train, complete with sound, that made its wayaround the gingerbread village.

2012 was the first time the gingerbread scene was cen-tered on a church. McTigue estimated it took about 300hours of work to get the scene to its final form. He carvedthe base out of eight blocks of foam material, working forabout three days on that portion of the project.

Once the base was completed, the tableau cametogether in six days, starting the Monday afterThanksgiving. About 15 culinary team members partici-pated in the project at various times. It was unveiled thefirst weekend in December. A month later, it was stilllargely intact.

Royal icing covered the foam base to make a snowylandscape. It also was used to make trees, icicles and thesnow covering the roof of the gingerbread chapel. Fondantwas used to create the people and animals—Mary, Josephand Baby Jesus, Santa Claus and his reindeer, carolers,snowmen, elves, owls, squirrels and even the AbominableSnowman, who was placed in a recess in the base so itwould be at children’s eye level.

Sugar was melted and colored to form the stained glasswindows as well as the river that runs through the scene(a polar bear is rafting on the river). Ice cream cones makea good starting place for the trees.

Gingerbread was used for the church, the fencing,the manger, an outhouse and Matt’s Tree Farm next tothe church. Pistachios were used on the chimney at thetree farm.

“We try to do everything edible,” says McTigue, admit-ting that he used to be a “purist” and would not allowanything inedible to be part of a gingerbread display.Today, he sees the value of adding some Christmas lights,for instance, to dress up a display.

He says that doing a project like this can reveal hidden talents in staff members.

“Sometimes you’re not sure what talents your staffmight have, and this gives them a chance to show offtheir talents.

“It’s really teamwork, and it’s a lot of fun to do,” he

adds. “We really look forward to working together andseeing how it comes out when we’re done. Everybody hasa little different skill and whoever wants to help out,they’re more than welcome to come and play around inour gingerbread room for a little while.”

Clockwise beginning at top right:

This tree was the special project of one of McTigue’sculinary staff members; she made all the fondant orna-ments herself.

Colored sugar was heated and then cooled slightly beforebeing poured into the area carved out for the river. It tookabout three coats to get the look of water.

Sheep, cows and donkeys are typical in nativity scenes; this version features a dog.

Santa and his reindeer are made of fondant.

A treat for kids who visited Lanier Village Estates wasthe Abominable Snowman in his cave, right at theireye level.

This snowman got too close to the campfire. He istoasty…and melting.

The chapel’s stained glass is made with five colors of melted sugar. The sugar was made intosheets that were dropped to shatter. Differentcolor pieces were placed into a cookie cutter,which was placed in the oven for about aminute to meld the colors.

Three walls of the church were put upbefore the pews and organ wereplaced inside; the final wall androof were then added.

Photos by Lorrie Griffith

by Lorrie Griffith/editor

Dave McTigue learned the art of gingerbread makingfrom a chef at a Hyatt hotel in Richmond, Va. McTigue hadjust graduated from culinary school and was working anapprenticeship there.

“The banquet chef was a big German guy with big rosycheeks who looked like Santa Claus, and he was doing a gin-gerbread house,” McTigue recalls. “I was working the nightshift, and I would come in early and help him out. He kind oftook me in and started letting me work with him, and I reallyenjoyed it. So I’ve been doing these ever since.”

Today, McTigue is culinary director at Lanier VillageEstates in Gainesville, Ga., a continuing care retirementcommunity (CCRC) with nearly 500 residents. The facility,on 107 acres, is owned and operated by ACTS Retirement-Life Communities, which is based in Philadelphia.

More than 400 residents reside in the independentliving apartment homes and villas, while the remain-ing residents reside in either the assisted living apart-ments in OakBridge Terrace, or the skilled nursingapartments in WillowBrooke Court, all provided onthe campus of Lanier Village Estates. About 625meals are served each day, and more than 228,000meals are served in a year.

After his apprenticeship, McTigue spenttime with Hyatt Corp. before joiningMarriott and spending 19 years withthe hotel chain before joining ACTS.Originally from Rochester, N.Y.,McTigue has spent his career in citieson the East Coast. Gainesville isabout 50 miles northeastof Atlanta.

The senior living business allows him to make strongerconnections with his “guests” than in the hotel business.

“In the hotel, you have people that are only there for acouple of nights, maybe a week at the most, whereashere, these folks live here, they become like family.You get to develop relationships,” McTigue says.

Lanier Village Estates was founded in 2001—McTigue joined the facilityduring its pre-openingphase—and in 2004,McTigue launched the hol-iday gingerbread tradition.

Over the years,McTigue and his culinarystaff have done bothlarge single houses andsmall villages in ginger-bread. Last year’s vil-lage was surroundedby toy train tracks,

SENIOR LIVING

Gingerbread Creationsa Christmas Tradition atLanier Village Estates

Dave McTigue isculinary director at

Lanier Village Estatesin Gainesville, Ga.

He and his staff createdthis gingerbread scenefor Christmas 2012in the complex’s clubhouse lobby.

SENIOR LIVING

22 23