Edible Fenway: so good, so good

We have to say we weren't shocked when Legal Sea Foods executive pastry chef David Topian and his team - Angela Ernst and Brian Harper - yesterday walked away with first prize in the 22d annual Christmas Festival Gingerbread House competition. Their impressive gingerbread Fenway Park, complete with crowded stands and scoreboards, really stood out. "It's so intricate and it just captures it . . . right down to the $8 hot dogs and the $21 lobster rolls," said Fox 25's Maria Stephanos, one of several celebrity judges, who brought her kids, Isabella and Liam, to the Seaport World Trade Center to help. (City councilor John Connolly also judged.) Topian, a huge Yankees fan, admitted his staff teased him about building Yankee Stadium. He decided that wouldn't fly in Boston, but he did pull a little prank: He buried a Derek Jeter baseball card in the gingerbread field. "And no one's going to pay thousands of dollars to dig it up," he cracked. The gingerbread creations, constructed by various swanky bakers, are on display at the Trade Center this weekend. After being ogled by Christmas shoppers, they'll be sold to support Rosie's Place.

Barney Frank stole the show at the taping of the NPR news quiz show "Wait Wait . . . Don't Tell Me!" at the Wang Thursday. The congressman, who watched from the boisterous audience until he was called to the stage, had more quips and one-liners than the panel of officially funny people - comedian Mo Rocca, Globie Charlie Pierce, and columnist Amy Dickinson. About being blamed by some for the financial crisis, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee said, "[The Republicans] were in power from 1995 to 2006. . . . What they revealed to the world was that I had a secret hold on Newt Gingrich and Tom DeLay. They didn't do anything without . . . me." And when asked by host Peter Sagal how he negotiates with his enemies, Frank, nicknamed "Sabertooth" by George Bush, explained the pragmatics of his politics. "If you're not able to work with people you despise, you have to find another line of work," Frank said. "That doesn't mean when the time comes, you don't whack them!" Catch his act this weekend on WBUR.

Newton filmmaker Sam Weisman is in New Mexico at the moment directing episodes of Mary McCormack's new USA show "In Plain Sight." Weisman reports the cast is stellar, especially Hanover homegal Nichole Hiltz. . . . Pats running back Laurence Maroney may be on the shelf with a shoulder injury, but he's still getting around. Monday, we're told, Maroney will be doing a meet-and-greet with fans at Reebok's new store at Patriot Place.

Bruins Phil Kessel and Blake Wheeler joined four soldiers for some Newbury Street-style pampering at the Barbershop Lounge yesterday; the team wanted to honor the four active-duty hockey fans with a little TLC. The Bruins also invited 1,200 soldiers and their family members to today's game, with defenseman Aaron Ward kicking in a $15,000 donation to buy seats. Getting groomed yesterday were: Adam Stebbins of Townsend, Douglas Freeman of South Carolina, Harold Cooper of Somerville, and Matt Maguire of South Boston. Maguire won't be at the game today, but he's got a good excuse - he's getting married. "I'm marrying a fantastic young lady named Jamie," he said, proudly. And now, he'll have really nice hands for her to slip that ring on. "The manicure and hand massage were great," he said. "That was new for me."

Will Steve Carell's next role involve a beaver puppet? That's the scuttlebutt in the Hollywood Reporter, which wrote yesterday that Anonymous Content, an indie producer, recently picked up a Kyle Killen script about a man who walks around with a beaver puppet on his hand - and Carell (inset) could play the lead. Insiders who've seen the script told the paper it's a whimsical and winning story about a man who attributes human emotions to a beaver puppet. Carell is also reportedly weighing such projects as "Get Smart 2" and "Brigadier Gerard."

Celebrity doc Michael Dansinger (inset) is teaming up with Life in Synergy founder Helena Collins to create a nutrition program for her new Boylston Street fitness studio. Dansinger, weight loss and nutrition consultant for NBC's "The Biggest Loser," said he's been looking for a facility to work with; he thinks people can be more successful if they're part of a community where personal training and nutrition classes are offered. "When you're doing it alone, it's kind of a grind," the assistant professor at Tufts said. "Helena makes exercise sexy."

"The Kennedys: America's Emerald Kings," will have its world premiere at Boston College on Monday. The documentary, based on Thomas Maier's book, traces five generations of Kennedy and Fitzgerald family trials and triumphs. Director Robert Kline and state Senator Harriette Chandler, a friend of the family, are expected to speak at the screening.

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