If it makes you feel any better, Errol had a problem with the same two puzzles, but I I think he's finished it now. The gingerbread puzzle is probably hard, as there are a lot of sub-puzzles to solve beforehand. I'll do a bit more work in the pantry to offer some subtle hints.
You know that the gingerbread is on the top shelf, because Mrs Claus told you so. If she can't reach it, then it's unlikely that you can reach it, as elves are shorter than humans. You need to get higher. Perhaps, you could stand on something. If you still can't reach it, then perhaps one of the toys will help.
The mine is dark. You need a light source. Now where have you seen a light source? Don't forget to examine everything in the room where you saw the light source.
I've fixed the issues you raised and added graphics for the three missing outside locations in version 0.0.2. One more indoor location to go (I'll do that today), then need to add some details and clean up the stray pixels.