A Visit from St. Nicholas

"The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there..."

Clement C Moore 

A Visit from St Nicholas

On the eve of St. Nicholas Day (December 6th), children leave their shoes {or slippers} outside their bedroom doors in hopes that St. Nicholas will leave treats such as {Speculaas or windmill} cookies, candies, nuts or apples.

My son's slippers waiting to be filled.

Speculaas cookies

1 Cup (2 sticks) sweet butter, at room temperature
2 cups dark brown sugar
2 eggs
Grated rind of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg or mace
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon cardamom
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

In a large bowl, cream the butter with the sugar until fluffy. Stir in the eggs one at a time, blending thoroughly after each addition. Stir in the lemon rind.

Sift the spices and salt with the flour and baking powder, and stir gradually into the butter mixture. Wrap in waxed paper or plastic wrap and chill for several hours or overnight. (If you are in a hurry, start the chilling process in the freezer: leave the dough in the freezer for about 20 minutes.)

On a floured surface, roll out the dough to about 1/8 inch, or for larger figures to about 1/4 inch. Cut out with cookie cutters, or trace around a heavy paper pattern with a sharp knife. This dough can also be used with a cookie mold, or can be molded by hand.

Bake at 350 degrees until lightly browned. If you like you cookies soft, remove them from the oven when they are just set -- the longer the baking time, the crisper the cookie.

Filled with little gifts and candies!

The little "wish" pouch 
(which I got years ago as a Starbucks gift card holder) 

holds a little Matchbox car 

and a card from St. Nicholas... 

 Chocolate gold-covered coins are a traditional St. Nicholas Day treat!

I bought these at Target.

It's a fun tradition that precedes Christmas and keeps the religious aspect of the holiday season.  We simply explain to our son that St. Nick visits to check in on him to see if he's being good, and also to scope out where to leave his presents! 

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

♫ Christmas Caroler Cookies ♪

Bundled up for the cold to spread their Christmas cheer....

these cute little Christmas Caroler Kid Cookies are ready to sing your favorite carols!  

♫ Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle All the Way... ♫

The perfect holiday cookie for children,

(particularly preschoolers)...
these cookies can be customized to resemble your children and their little friends.

 The possibilities are only limited by your imagination.

Imagine a welcoming platter of these adorable cookies,

served with mugs of piping hot chocolate

after a frosty evening out caroling in your neighborhood!

* Tip:  Any basic sugar cookie recipe will work for the dough.

You can add food coloring or cocoa powder to give the children different complexions. *

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• Paste or liquid food coloring
• Small candies for decorating (optional)
• royal icing

Instructions:

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add granulated sugar, baking powder and salt. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour.

Divide dough in half. Shape each half of dough into a 6 inch roll. Wrap each roll in plastic wrap. Chill for 1 hour or until dough is firm.

Step 1.) Once the dough is made and chilled for about an hour, 

roll it out, and using a biscuit cutter or round cookie cutter,

cut the shapes for the children's faces.

Step 2.)  Roll small bits of dough to form a nose.
Press the nose gently onto the center of the cookie.

Step 3.) Using a straw, create a little oval-shaped, open mouth on 

each unbaked cookie to give them the appearance of singing.

Step 4.)  Once all of the mouths are done,

the cookies will look something like this.

Step 5.)  Using paste food colorings,

tint smaller batches of sugar cookie dough for hair, scarves, earmuffs and hats.

Step 6.) Using a clean garlic press,
force a tablespoon of colored dough through to make hair.

I have a new garlic press that I use only for this purpose.

Step 7.) Once the "hair" comes out,
gently lift it and press onto the heads of the cookies.
Use other small bits of tinted dough to form earmuffs, scarves and hats.

Like this...

Now your carolers are ready to be baked!

Step 8.) Pop the cookies into a 375 degree oven for 6-8 minutes.

Step 9.) Let the baked cookies cool on the cookie sheets
for 2 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Step 10.)  Once the cookies have cooled,
you can finish decorating them with royal icing and candies.

Step 11.) To give their cheeks a rosy appearance as if they've been out in the cold,

fill a small cup with a couple of tablespoons of water 

and add a scant drop or two of red food coloring or paste.

Step 12.) Use a clean paintbrush to lightly apply the diluted coloring 
to the cheeks of each cookie.

* Tip: the brush should be nearly dry.  
Keep a paper towel nearby to rub off the excess before applying to the cookie. 

Step 13.)  Attach mini chocolate chip eyes using royal icing
or other candies as you'd like!

Voila!


Individually packaged with musical note tags,
or set on a platter or in a box wrapped in sheet music,
this little cherubic chorus of one-of-a-kind faces is sure to be a crowd pleaser!

 

Christopher Pop-in-Kins

It's that time of year!

Christopher Pop-in-Kins is making his daily surprise visits!

Have you heard of this little elf?  

He is of one of Santa's elves that wants so much to see children at Christmas,

so Santa grants his wish to "pop in" to children's homes,

appearing in a different location each night after they've fallen asleep,

and then he reports back to Santa.

If you have little ones that can barely contain their excitement during the Christmas season,

this is a fun and adorable little tradition!

Each morning my 4-year old wakes up in eager anticipation of finding where Christopher Pop-in-kins is hiding!

It's so fun!

Another December tradition is to set out our Advent House.

Time is a hard concept for little ones to grasp...

a day can seem like a week...

a week like a month...

and it can seem like FOREVER until Christmas!!

An Advent calendar can be a fun way for the littlest members of your house

to countdown the days until Santa arrives.

For more early holiday ideas,

visit my previous post:

December

The countdown to Christmas has officially begun!