My Colorado Gingerbread Home

From when I left Oklahoma in 2012 to moving back in 2022, I lived in eight different places - houses with roommates and solo, apartments/ townhouses by myself, and a duplex with roommates.  This also means I moved at least eight times, not counting the moves back to my parents’ house before picking up again a month or so later.  I say “places” because not all felt like “home.”  Sure, they were where I slept and went after work, but I knew all of them were temporary.  Some were someone else’s home, and some, even if I lived alone, were not where I would stay indefinitely.  Each place had a character though, a part of the space I made my own, especially if shared.  I have forgotten the address of some of these places and don’t mind never visiting again.  For others, I am happy for the opportunity to return, even if I and the place are not the same.  One such house is Elk Run, the house I lived in most of my time working at Horn Creek Camp in Westcliffe, Colorado (previously shared about in “Horn Sweet Home and the Breads of (Camp) Life”).

Elk Run, taken when I visited Horn Creek November 2023

As a common practice in the camping community, most buildings and houses at Horn Creek (now Sky Ranch Horn Creek) had names, probably dating to the camp’s inception in the 1950s.  Most included animal names like Antelope Bluff, Running Deer, Elk Run, and Lonely Goat.  They housed full-time staff, interns, or summer staff and were rented out the rest of the year or closed down for the season.  My year as an intern at Horn Creek was the first with no male interns.  I was one of four female interns, and we had a Base Camper (girl) who was staying on full-time to work maintenance.  Because there were more of us girls (including three Base Campers) than the three guy Base Campers, we had the first choice of housing.  We voted on Elk Run, a two-story house that previously was only used for guys' housing. It had five bedrooms downstairs, one in the front right off the kitchen and four in the back that included sink vanities in each room. There was a small bathroom at the back with a shower and toilet, and the front door opened into the small kitchen.

Elk Run's kitchen, taken when visiting with other former interns November 2023

There was no eating area, but there was a big porch with rocking chairs and an upstairs with a small living room, two bigger rooms with two bunk beds each, and a full bathroom.  Our other option was Antelope Bluff, our summer housing.  The downstairs was smaller than Elk Run, and the upstairs had an outdoor entrance, so it was cut off from the main house.  We thought we'd have a better chance of bonding with the younger Base Campers, those taking a gap year after high school, if we were all in one house.  All four interns, including me, were excited about having our own rooms after being with other summer staff college students during June and July, but the house needed some deep cleaning after being used by guys for years.  After all, there were rumors that they didn't always make it to the bathroom in the middle of the night when there was a sink in their rooms, and there was for sure a deer butchered on the one kitchen table used as an extra counter.  Deep cleaning and fresh paint coats were required before we moved in!

Once the updates and cleaning were complete, we moved into Elk Run in mid-August.  The retreat season was just beginning, and the Base Campers joined us in the house for what would be a life-changing year.  While the four of us female interns remain unmarried today, three of the Base Campers and our maintenance staff member/ former Base Camper formed relationships with their now spouses that year.  We all made memories and friendships in that house, though.  

As shared in “Family Camp, Camp Family,” not all days were rosy.  With different personalities and ages ranging from 18 to 28 (me), and by the fact that we lived with the people with whom we also worked, there were times when tensions rose.  Doors may have been slammed, hot water was used up, people didn’t respect quiet hours, and the communal areas were left a mess.  Eventually, at the suggestion of one of our guy Base Campers, we started having monthly meetings or bonding time in the house (someone affectionately named it “tummy time” - but no, we didn’t all lay on our “tummies”).  This was where I watched Nacho Libre for the first time since college.  There’s nothing like seeing a dumb but funny movie through the eyes of old teens and young 20-somethings to lighten a mood.  To help with arguments over who was cleaning what, and when, someone created a Chore Wheel, not unlike Pam’s in The Office; only it was a little smaller and less fancy.  (Yes, you’re right, people could have just cleaned up their own messes…)  We also shared many meals, several made from leftovers from camp, with the occasional home cooking thrown in.  One of our Base Campers made a vat of chicken and dumplings in one of the giant camp stockpots.  The pot took up space in our one refrigerator for at least two weeks, but being a Southerner from Virginia and using her grandmother’s recipe, it was at least delicious!      

Once I became a full-time staff member just before my second summer, I was allowed to stay in the house alone, except for one 30-something summer staffer who lived with me for June and July 2016.  It was this summer that I started baking bread.  I was tired of the meal served during the Western Night, so back at Elk Run, I had a quiet night alone eating my homemade bread with charcuterie after cleaning up the kitchens.  In August, the new female interns and Base Campers arrived and moved into our old house - Antelope Bluff.  I’m unsure how I lucked out, keeping Elk Run to myself.  This was especially surprising since I didn’t decide to put in my notice that I would be leaving for culinary school in December until after they moved into their house.  Once camp admin knew I would be going, it made sense to let me stay in the house since they were making plans to renovate the house before the next group of interns or summer staff moved in.  So, that fall, I had the house to myself.  There was no one to stomp up and down the stairs, turn the thermostat way too warm, do laundry at all hours of the night, or leave messes in the kitchen that were not mine.  I enjoyed the quiet, but it was also strange after being in the big house with seven other girls for the previous year.  When I didn’t have work or wasn’t spending time with friends on the camp property or off, I binge-watched Band of Brothers and The Pacific that fall.  One of our office staff, Judy, had an extensive movie collection, and she let me borrow from her shelves when I wanted.  I spent a lot of time with Judy that summer and fall - going on day trips to Pueblo (one of which was when I found a copy of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day and "Nomadic Baker” began) or watching movies at her house.  I did host the new set of intern girls (Fellows) a time or two.  One particularly memorable night was when I made chicken pot pie.  I used two glass Pyrex dishes which I took out of the oven and set on the stove to cool.  Everyone was gathered in the small kitchen before we took our dinner upstairs to eat in the sitting area.  Someone offered to pray, and we bowed our heads and listened to the prayer when suddenly there was a loud “Pop!”  What I neglected was looking at which burner I turned on for tea.  Instead of turning the back one on, I turned on the burner where the glass pan was supposed to be cooling.  The other one was fine, and the girls said, “It’s fine!” so we picked out the big pieces of glass and ate them both!

The following year I wasn’t in Colorado anymore but was at culinary school in Arkansas.  I happened to be taking Classical Pastries the quarter before Christmas, and our chef instructor assigned a gingerbread house for our final.  One of my favorite aspects of baking and going to school was baking the seasons.  A gingerbread house before Christmas was perfect!  

As a tribute to the house that was my camp home for almost a year and a half, and because I am not that creative, I modeled my full-sheet pan-sized house after Elk Run.  It helped that I had a photograph to use instead of going from memory, and it was for sure a labor of love. 

Each wall had to be baked, candy glass had to be poured, and walls and roofs were iced before it was assembled.

Our instructor said that we needed three elements made from scratch, but we could also purchase additional pieces to use for construction.  I used gingerbread and royal icing, but I also made pâte à choux (unfilled) as rocks to fill in gaps between the walls at the back, and I made candy “glass” for the windows.  Elk Run has an elevated porch with railings, so pretzel rods and sticks became my railings, but I made the steps and beams raising the porch out of rolled gingerbread dough.  Since we knew this task before Thanksgiving, my dad helped me construct templates out of cardboard over Thanksgiving break.  I used those to cut my gingerbread.  Since the roof was so big, I needed a third supporting wall in the middle. 

The house was built in stages and needed support while walls dried and icing hardened.

I made a few mistakes here and there - the photograph had a tree branch blocking where an upstairs window would be, and my icing was not always as neat as I wanted it to be, but it turned out to be a work of art I was proud of.  A year after I left Sky Ranch Horn Creek, I finished my rendition of Elk Run in gingerbread.  It was built in stages and took over 10 hours of hands-on time (not counting cooling and drying of icing).  The house was displayed with those of my classmates at school for events in December, and my instructor left a printed picture of the real Elk Run next to it for everyone to see the inspiration.  Everyone, especially those who lived there at one point or drove by every day at camp, was impressed, but it will only live on in pictures.  Sadly, neither the school nor I could store it, and Elk Run, along with the others, ended up in the trash.  

Elk Run in Gingerbread Form!

Three of Ken’s recipes in The Harvest Baker remind me of my time at Elk Run.  After retreat groups, we would sometimes have a cinnamon coffee cake left that we got to bring home.  Ken includes an Almond and Fresh Peach Coffee Cake that is better than camp’s convenient Krusteaz Coffee Cake, although that was pretty good! 

Almond and Fresh Peach Coffee Cake, photo by Allison Mayfield Photography

There is a Biscuit-Crusted Chicken Pot Pie which reminds me of the infamous Pot Pie Night. I did change the recipe from Ken's a bit. I prefer peas over broccoli in pot pie; I used turkey left over from Thanksgiving, and I made a gravy with white wine instead of stock only. 

Lastly, although it’s not a cookie and wouldn’t make a good house, Ken has a delicious Blueberry Gingerbread that is more of a cake and would be great for breakfast or dessert.      

Blueberry Gingerbread

One day I will try my skills at gingerbread house construction again, but for this holiday, I will remember my masterpiece, along with the house and the memories it represented.  Whether your holiday includes coffee cake, pot pie, gingerbread, or none of the above, I hope you enjoy delicious food and time with friends and family.  Merry Christmas!

My finished product with my real house inspiration!