Chefs Mesnier and Ramsdell Assemble the 2006 Gingerbread House

In this photograph, taken by Shealah Craighead, former White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier (right) and assistant pastry chef Mark Ramsdell (left) work on assembling the 2006 Official White House Gingerbread House in the China Room. Ramsdell joined the White House pastry team in 1992, and worked alongside Mesnier as an assistant pastry chef in the White House Kitchen during the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations. Mesnier retired in 2004, but returned at the request of First Lady Laura Welch Bush to create the "Red and White" gingerbread house for the 2006 holiday season. Mesnier and his team decorated the gingerbread White House with more than 850 snowflakes and red bows made from royal icing.