We tried the TJ one last year, we usually make them on xmas eve so they aren't sitting out for long. It actually tasted pretty decent (ie, it was soft and not hard/stale) but it had a very strong anise flavor that I didn't like -- it tasted like more like pfferneuse cookies than gingerbread. I have taken a bit of ones from Target and the like and those are inedible.

I saw some at Ikea. I wonder if they're cheaper than Trader Joe's

Who wants a gingerbread house that can't be eaten?

Are the Whole Foods gingerbread houses out yet?

Our tradition is to smash them with sledge hammers out on the patio on January 1.

As a child I ate a gingerbread house that had been sitting around for a week or two. I was sick for a couple of days.

None of them taste good

Yeah, I didn't think people actually ete gingerbread houses. They're a theoretically edible novelty, but mostly for cute fun (and snacking on the candy as you're assembling). I don't think they're really supposed to be tasty.

No, they are not tasty. But they're fun!

Same here. We have made everything from scratch and we have bought the kits from TJs and World Market. Never tasted the gingerbread from the store bought ones. My son did when he was 3 and thought it was pretty bad.

Gross. We do the TJs ones every year but never tasted one.

People eat gingerbread houses? Ours usually sits in the house as a decoration for 3-4 weeks and everything is very stale.

If you want tasty gingerbread, make/buy the kind that bakes in a cake pan. If you want an architecturally sound gingerbread house, the taste and texture suffer.

I have built probably 10 gingerbread houses and never tasted a single one. I don't think they are meant to be especially tasty.

If you have tried the ones from TJ, are they actually tasty?
Most of the ginger bread houses I've tried are awful...