MARS — For the past three years, 6-year-old Madison Caruso and her grandmother have built a house together.

Madison's 4-year-old brother helps too, even if he occasionally eats the windowpanes.

Madison, of Mars, and her grandmother, Susan Roussey of Wexford, put together a gingerbread house each year. The family tradition allows for creativity, cooking and, of course, the chance to eat sugar.

Mary Jane Raupp of Cranberry Township also believes in the gingerbread tradition. She built a gingerbread masterpiece last year with her six grandchildren.

"They loved it so much!," she said, adding the gingerbread house is a holiday favorite because it allows for creativity.

The Palaski family of Seven Fields built houses for the first time this year."It was a good craft for us to do as a family," said Lisa Palaski, who helped build two gingerbread houses with her children Michael, 9; Carolyn, 7; and Joseph, 5.Michael made a white church modeled after St. Kilian Roman Catholic Church in Mars, which the family attends. The rest of the family put together a small brown cottage.Raupp, Roussey and the Palaski family are displaying their gingerbread houses at the Mars Public Library, where children's librarian Joyce Pappert coordinated the library's first gingerbread house contest this year. The library plans to make it an annual event.Participants were asked to enter handmade, gingerbread houses with mainly food decorations. The contest highlighted the creative process behind the seasonal delicacy.Architects choose house styles, colors and the multitude of candy decorations that can adorn the roof, windows, doors, yard and walls. Baking the gingerbread takes about an hour, and construction can take about three to four hours, said Raupp.It is all held together by a sugary cement made out of egg whites, cream of tartar and powdered sugar. The beaten mix makes a sticky concoction that hardens quickly.The icing can be spread using a piping bag. The funnel-shaped cake decorating tool is slowly squeezed to dole out icing.Of course, there is more than one way to stick a house together. Lisa Palaski and her children used peanut butter.

"It doesn't harden like the icing does, but its sticky enough," said Lisa Palaski, who said they used peanut butter to keep the brown color theme for the cottage.Construction may not involve heavy lifting, but it requires patience, accurate measurement and fresh batches of icing. Raupp, Roussey and the Palaski family presented a lot of ideas for decorations.Color is one choice Raupp said is important."We wanted more blue on the house, to give it a softer feel," she said, pointing out faint blue highlights on the windows of her gingerbread house.Roussey made a Christmas tree out of an upside-down ice cream cone covered in green icing.Roof shingles can be made out of NECCO candy wafers, almond pieces or just icing. Frosted shredded miniwheats make a great thatched roof, said contest participants.Around the yard are opportunities for candy trees, Tootsie Roll logs, gingerbread men, gelatin ponds and all sorts of simple accessories.A variety of candy lends to gingerbread houses. Gumdrops, candy canes, licorice, Sno-Caps, sprinkles, chocolate-covered pretzels, colored sugars, raisins, nuts, cookies — the list goes on and on. Coconut made excellent snow for Michael's white church.The contestants will eventually take home their creations, where they will likely not survive."We pick at it until it's gone," said Roussey, who suspected her 4-year-old would tear into the house pretty quickly.Although four entries were submitted for the initial contest, Pappert said she expects the event to become a tradition."I've already had people say they want to do something next year," she said.Since there are three categories in the competition — youth, adult and group — only two group entries directly competed. Pappert judged the two herself, and declared Madison and Roussey the winner of the category.Pappert said she looked at detail and the variety of accessories displayed. Next year the entire library board may judge the entries, she added.

<b>6 cups all purpose flour1¾ cups sugarÎ cups shortening1 tablespoon ground cinnamon1 tablespoon ground ginger2 teaspoons double-acting baking powder1¼ teaspoons salt1 teaspoon baking soda1 teaspoon vanilla extract1 eight-ounce container sour cream2 eggs</b>To prepare dough: In a large bowl, measure 3½ cups flour and add remaining ingredients.With a mixer, at low speed, beat until mixed, constantly scraping bowl with a rubber spatula.Knead in remaining 2½ cups flour by hand to make a soft dough. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for two hours or until dough is not sticky and is of easy kneading consistency.To roll dough: Keep refrigerated until ready to use. Working with half of a batch at a time on a lightly floured work surface with lightly floured hands, knead dough until smooth.<BR><BR>

Then on a greased and floured 17-by-14-inch cookie sheet, use lightly floured rolling pin to roll dough to 3/16-inch or Ê–inch thickness. You can use dowels of the same size at either side of the dough on the cookie sheet to help create a uniform thickness. (For easy rolling, place cookie sheet on a damp cloth to prevent it from slipping.)To cut and bake dough: Make your pattern pieces out of heavy cardboard. Lay them on the dough and using a sharp knife use as many pieces as you can from the rolled dough on your cookie sheet, leaving at least ½-inch between the pieces. Remove scraps and reserve for re-rolling. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. (Place cookie sheet in the refrigerator while the oven preheats.)Bake until golden brown and very firm when lightly touched with your finger. Remove cookie sheet from oven and cool on wire rack five minutes. Carefully remove the baked pieces from cookie sheet and place on wire rack to cool completely.<BR><BR><BR><BR>

<b>3 egg whites½ teaspoon cream of tartar1 (16-ounce box) confectioners powdered sugar</b>In a large bowl combine all ingredients. Beat seven minutes with an electric mixer until smooth and thick. A good test is when a knife blade drawn through the icing leaves a clean cut.Store in a tightly sealed container if not using right away. Multiply recipe as needed.Makes two cups.Recipes from www.gingerbreadlane.com<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>