SEQUIM — The gingerbread foreman and forewoman are again gracing the Sequim Post Office with a sweet replica.
Postal clerk Cheri Barnett, with assistance from husband and co-architect Brooks Barnett, fashioned a 2-foot-tall white-frosted gingerbread Washington Monument in their home and brought it to work — to rave reviews.
“When do we eat?” asked one writer in the Post Office guestbook, while another gushed, “Exquisite! What will you do next? Mount Rushmore? A map of the U.S.?”
Barnett got that same “when do we eat” question back in January when she erected a gingerbread White House at the post pffice, 240 S. Sunnyside Ave., in honor of Inauguration Day.
Then, as the United States of America’s 233rd birthday approached, she was inspired to build another gingerbread structure and clothe it in white fondant icing.
Edible obelisk
“I just wanted to do something patriotic,” Barnett said Monday.
The obelisk is entirely edible, and after it’s taken down this weekend, a co-worker plans to bring the whole thing home for a grandchild to nibble on.
“My next project is in the works,” Barnett said.
She has a specific idea for another America-the-beautiful-theme baked good, but declined to disclose its identity.
After all, she can’t guarantee that the home-designed and -made edifice will meet her standards and make it through the car trip from home to post office.
Her mind is working, however, even as post office patrons are still praising this month’s monumental cookie.
“It’s like an addiction,” Barnett said, smiling.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsula dailynews.com.
