I know it’s a little early yet, people – I usually don’t start gushing about Christmas until at LEAST after Thanksgiving – but I needed to let everyone know my intention to make this Christmas the one where I bake. There will be a gingerbread house of incredible proportions.

In fact, there’s a very good likelihood that, in honour of the new residence building at my old college (which I went to the ribbon-cutting ceremony for yesterday, and it was a jolly good show), I might build a scale model replica of Morrison Hall. Or maybe University College! Or, possibly, I might just try to do the Soldier’s Tower, and use melted lollipops and Life Savers to make the stained glass windows depicting scenes of war and sacrifice.

Also, I’m going to steal Martha Stewart’s intriguing but underdeveloped Sugar Cube House idea, and evolve it into a much better Sugar Cube Igloo(!) with marzipan penguins and gingerbread Eskimos scene. I’m also in negotiations to get my wintery candy extravaganza narrated by Morgan Freedman.