And the Winners are...

THANKS to everyone who voted in this year's Boga Bake-Off!!

Without further ado, this year's winners are:

1st Place:  Russian Ornament by Jamie

2nd Place:  A Charlie Brown Christmas by Robin

3rd Place:  Bogas in a Sleigh by Mom

It was a highly entertaining ride to the finish line, as Russian Ornament made an overnight comeback  from fourth place to take the crown.  Charlie Brown and Double Rainbow held 1st or 2nd places for the majority of voting, but Bogas in a Sleigh eeked out a few more votes to place this year.  

Jamie is fairly stoked to have won her first title, and Robin is a little, uh, disappointed that her near-sweep of the contest was revoked in the final hours.  Mom still thinks the Bogas are cute.

For those of you wondering about BOO, Robin was behind that gem, which references the popular, cute dog on Facebook boasting over 600,000 fans.  She continued her pop culture references with Double Rainbow, but alas the popularity of the YouTube sensation was not enough to grant her the title.  Her final creation was Christmas Bonus....eh, not much to say there.

Jamie went a little darker this year with Edward Cullen and Donnie Darko.  There was also a Bella cookie but that one was totally botched, and didn't make an entry (post with outakes coming soon).  Crowd goes Wild for Sax rounded out her submissions.

Mom had a grand old time making her Bogas in a Sleigh, but it appears the people may be growing tired of the repetitive franchise.  Neverless, expect Bogas in a something to be back in 2011.  Along with Baby Jesus.

We had a total of 153 votes (up from last year's 118!); FInal tallys are:

1.  Russian Ornament (Jamie) - 28 votes

2.  A Charlie Brown Christmas (Robin) - 25 votes

3.  Bogas in a Sleigh (Mom) - 24 votes

4.  Double Rainbow (Robin) - 23 votes

5.  Boo (Robin) - 17 votes

6.  Edward Cullen (Jamie) - 9 votes

 7.  Baby Jesus in Gingerbread Man (Robin) - 8 votes

 
8.  Donnie Darko (Jamie) - 8 votes


9.  Crowd goes Wild for Sax (Jamie) - 5 votes


10.  The Elf (Cousin Jill) - 4 votes

11.  Christmas Bonus (Robin) - 2 votes

12.  Friendly Snowman (Cousin Jill) - 0 votes. womp womp :)

Thanks again for voting! Happy Holidays!

VOTE in the Boga Bake-Off!

The Bogas have made their cookies! We decorated on Christmas Eve, and the polls are open for you to choose your favorites. This year we have a guest participant from a family member out of Boston and her creations are included below.

Select your three favorite cookies in the checkboxes, and vote once! Voting is open all Christmas Day through tomorrow at Noon EST. We'll reveal Doug's winners and the people's champions tomorrow! Thanks for participating in Boga Bake-Off...we love doing it, and the winner thanks you in advance for your votes!

The Boga Bake-Off: History

Christmas 2010 marks the 5th annual Boga Bake-Off.  While most of you have participated in some previous polls, here is a quick history for you newbies:

The Chiribogas used to decorate Christmas cookies like any other family, but as they continued to bake, their creative juices flowed.  Santa turned sexy, snowflakes become infinitely more elaborate, and cookie shapes were seen as mere suggestions instead of strict  guides for designs.  Toothpicks became the go-to tool for applying individual sprinkles and a new type of cookie decorating emerged...the Boga Bake-off was born.  Past all-star submissions include Fried Egg, Moo, and Bogas in a Tree.

The patriarch, Doug Chiriboga, served as the sole judge of this cookie contest for the first few years.  But after internal debate and questionable motives, the voting was brought to the people.  Doug Chiriboga now names his top three placed cookies (we couldn't possibly strip him of his head judge title), while the people also have a popular vote.

Who will come out on top this year?  What cookies will have the honor of sitting in the freezer with the other past winners?  Will Jamie ever achieve first place or will Robin dominate once again? Perhaps Nancy will repeat last year's title with her now famous "Bogas in a __" series. 

VOTE Christmas Day to determine who will get bragging rights to declare themself winner of Boga Bake-Off 2010!

Highlights from last year:

Bogas in a Tree

Senor Teddy

Baby Jesus in a Box

Purple Haze

Moo

Cheeeeese

Ugly Sweater Party

Weird Ginger Santa

Gillyyyy

Amurrrrrica

Stuck in a Snow Globe

Eat me