Baking Gingerbread Cookies for St. Nicholas Day

Happy Saint Nicholas Day!  Did you know that St. Nicholas is the patron saint of - among other things, like sailors - bakers?  In many countries on this day it is traditional to give some kind of spiced gingerbread cookies to children, along with chocolate coins!

I recently bought a cute terra cotta cookie mold at Cost Plus World Market that I wanted to try out.  So Wednesday night I spent a quiet evening baking a new recipe I found for Soft Glazed Gingerbread Cookies to give away to godchildren and friends.  They turned out pretty well, and were a good precursor to the book I want to tell you about today!

The Baker's Dozen, by Aaron Shepard with illustrations by Wendy Edelson.

Van Amsterdam the baker was well known for his honesty as well as for his fine Saint Nicholas cookies. He always gave his customers exactly what they paid for -- not more and not less. So, he was not about to give in when a mysterious old woman comes to him on Saint Nicholas Day and insists that a dozen is thirteen! The woman's curse puts an end to the baker's business, and he believes it would take Saint Nicholas to help him. But if he receives that help, will it be exactly what he imagined? This is a great way to teach young children about the the joy of giving, and about the life of St. Nicholas.

Read more about The Baker's Dozen and activities for Saint Nicholas Day on the St. Nicholas Center website, here. 

Saint Nicholas: Why Do Children Love Him So?

The most famous story about St. Nicholas concerns a man who, because of extreme poverty, had agreed to sell his three daughters into slavery. St. Nicholas heard about it and came in the night, leaving behind him a bag with enough gold in it to save one of the children. Three times he came secretly so that the man would not know from where the money came. On the third night, the man saw him and asked for the Saint's forgiveness because he had nearly sold his children as slaves. Because of this and similar acts, St. Nicholas became the patron saint of children and the type of the cheerful giver of good gifts. 

In the Protestant West, which suppressed the invocation of saints, Saint Nicholas became popularly known as Santa Claus. 

In accordance with early Christian tradition, saints are remembered in the Orthodox Church on the date of their passing from this life into the next. Saint Nicholas is thus remembered on December 6. 

Orthodox Christianity maintains that even though people are dead according to this life, that they are alive in the spiritual realm, and continue to pray for us. Our "prayers to the saints" are actually requests that they pray to God for us, much as we ask believers who are still alive in the flesh to pray for us. [source]

My Other Posts about St. Nicholas:
(click on titles for links)

Will the Real Santa Claus Please Stand Up?

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

Who is the Man in the Red Suit?

Why Belgian Cookies for St. Nicholas Day (December 6)?

Letters from Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien

Decking the Halls with Boxes and ABC's!

Update: Everything is topsy turvy at my house...
I'm blogging in what used to be our dining room, cooking in what used to be our laundry room, and pretty much living in the middle of stacks of boxes while new construction is being done on our home.

I'm taking a quick break from packing, dusting, picking out plumbing fixtures, dusting, and addressing Christmas cards to share a sweet little Christmas board book with you for St. Nicholas Day (we didn't do much to celebrate his day this year).

The book is The ABC's of Christmas by Jill Howarth, and it couldn't be any cuter!  I've given a copy to my little godson and am bringing another copy with me to New York for my toddler grandson when I travel there tomorrow!

This book offers a festive way to learn all the letters of the alphabet using fun Christmas-themed word associations!  

Of course Santa shows up at the end.  Shhh.  (He's catching some sleep... Zzzzz...because he's so tired from all his hard work!)

Happy St. Nicholas Day, and a blessed Advent from our house to yours!

St. Nicholas Day is Almost Here! Are You Ready? (He's Coming to a Home, Church, Town Near You on December 6th!)

Our family and parish has always loved celebrating St. Nicholas Day, and today I'd like to tell you about a website that I know you'll find invaluable for your own family's celebration of this special saint and his day.

Why St. Nicholas vs. Santa; and why Dec. 6th vs 25th?

Was St. Nicholas a real person?

Why secret gift giving?

You can find answers to the above questions and more here, on this incredible website, devoted to families and all things St. Nicholas on the St. Nicholas Center website.

When you visit stnicholascenter.org and you'll also find:

crafts
recipes

online books & stories

celebrating at home
st. nicholas and our american christmas customs
around-the-world celebrations

How about an 8 year old's perspective? I hope you take time to listen to this fun interview, "The Real St. Nick", about the difference between St. Nicholas and Santa - from the perspective of an 8 year old boy: http://www.ancientfaith.com/podcasts/closetohome/the_real_st_nick

And don't miss this beautiful picture book, "Saint Nicholas & the Nine Gold Coins" by Jim Forest. This beautifully told story of St. Nicholas and the dowry gold, seamlessly includes historical background and Jesus' teachings. Illustrated by Vladislov Andrejev, with rich, full-color iconographic art - available here.

You can also read my past posts from my Advent and Christmas Resource Page: 

• "A Timeline for St. Nicholas" here
• JRR Tolkien's "Letters from Fr. Chistmas" here.

Have a Cookie for St. Nicholas Day!

Thanks to all my readers who participated in my Giveaway (winner revealed below).  Out of 56 entries, List Randomizer could only pick one of you, but anyone can visit the ultimate St. Nicholas resource - the St. Nicholas Center website - for traditional St. Nicholas Day Spice Cookie recipes (there are even vegan and gluten free versions).  The website has lots of kids' activity ideas and poetry to help you celebrate this special day!

Dutch artist Anton Pieck (1895-1987) source

Congratulations to the winner of the Springerle Cookie Collection and the St. Nicholas book, A Baker's Dozen --  Jill M!  And thank you to Alice from The Springerle Bakery for partnering with me for this scrumptious giveaway!

How much do you know about St. Nicholas?  Did you know that besides being a patron and protector of children, he is also the patron saint of fishermen and sailors?

A Rhyme for Nicholas
(from Ten Saints by Eleanor Farjeon
Oxford University Press, 1936)

Nicholas, Saint of Children,
Loves to spend his wealth
On pretty toys for girls and boys,
Leaving them by stealth.
The wind in the chimney
Hears children call:
"Bring me this, Saint Nicholas!
Bring me that, Saint Nicholas!

 A silky scarf, 

 A bag of sweets, 

 A big gold ball!" 

Nicholas, Saint of Sailors,
Children of the sea,
When their sails are torn by gales
Close at hand is he.
The wind in the rigging
Hears the sailors cry:
"Save us here, old Nicholas!
Save us there, good Nicholas!
 Saint of Sailors,
 Bring us safe
 Home, high and dry!"

St. Nicholas Day, Dutch Style!

Updated 12/6 - Giveaway OVER LAST CALL: You have until 11:59 AM (PST) tonight to enter my Giveaway of Springerle Christmas Cookies and the book "The Baker's Dozen, A St. Nicholas Tale", by simply leaving a comment (here and/or on this post link on Facebook - go HERE for details). It's okay to comment more than once.  Winner will be announced tomorrow, on St. Nicholas Day, December 6th!

 




The Baker's Dozen is a story that involves St. Nicholas.  The setting is an American Dutch colonial town (later known as "New York").  

It made me think of another Dutch story, Mary Mapes Dodge's classic 1865 novel for children, Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates: A Story of Life in Holland.

My treasured copy - not sure about the copyright,
but the inscription inside is dated "1926".

Below is a lovely excerpt about the Dutch tradition of St. Nicholas Day, from the beginning of Chapter IX:

THE FESTIVAL OF SAINT NICHOLAS

We all know how, before the Christmas tree began to flourish in the home-life of our country, a certain "right jolly old elf," with "eight tiny reindeer," used to drive his sleigh-load of toys up to our housetops, and then bounded down the chimney to fill the stockings so hopefully hung by the fireplace. His friends called him Santa Claus, and those who were most intimate ventured to say "Old Nick." It was said that he originally came from Holland. Doubtless he did, but, if so, he certainly, like many other foreigners, changed his ways very much after landing upon our shores. In Holland, Saint Nicholas is a veritable saint and often appears in full costume, with his embroidered robes, glittering with gems and gold, his miter, his crosier, and his jeweled gloves. Here [in America] Santa Claus comes rollicking along, on the twenty-fifth of December, our holy Christmas morn. But in Holland, Saint Nicholas visits earth on the fifth, a time especially appropriated to him. Early on the morning of the sixth, he distributes his candies, toys, and treasures, then vanishes for a year.

Christmas Day is devoted by the Hollanders to church rites and pleasant family visiting. It is on Saint Nicholas's Eve that their young people become half wild with joy and expectation. To some of them it is a sorry time, for the saint is very candid, and if any of them have been bad during the past year, he is quite sure to tell them so. Sometimes he gives a birch rod under his arm and advises the parents to give them scoldings in place of confections, and floggings instead of toys.

I just love the way Mary Mapes Dodge enthusiastically interweaves little explanations/asides like the one above about Dutch culture and history throughout the story of Hans Brinker.

Set against a backdrop of frozen canals, this beloved tale is about how 15- year-old Hans - a most honorable hero - and his younger sister Gretel yearn to compete in their Dutch village's most exciting event of the year: the great ice-skating race!  

With their hand-carved wooden skates, they don't seem to have a chance against their well-trained friends, who own steel blades.  The prize?  Silver Skates, of course.

The conflict?  The reason Hans' family is poverty stricken is that the father, Raff Brinker, who is sick and has amnesia from a head injury caused by a fall from the dike, cannot remember or communicate where he has hidden their savings.  (By the way, Raff is also prone to violent outbursts - lots of Victorian literary drama here!)

Hans, Gretel, and their mother must work very hard to make up for the incapacitated father's lost job and wages.  The Brinkers are looked down on by most of the community families because of the father's confused state of mind and because they are poor, but luckily a kind doctor enters their lives...I hope you'll read this truly heart-warming story with your kids!  Best for ages 8 and up.

Giveaway Part Two: A Saint Nicholas Tale

I'm adding a book to my St. Nicholas Day Springerle Cookie Giveaway! UPDATED 12/6: GIVEAWAY OVER

The Baker's Dozen: A Saint Nicholas Tale, was written by Aaron Shepard, and sumptuously illustrated by Wendy Edelson.

If you saw my last post, you know I'm really excited about my "sweet" Cookie Giveaway from Springerle Bakery (go HERE for details).

Did you know that St. Nicholas is the patron saint of bakers?

Saint Nicholas
Patron Saint of Bakers

Copyright © 2002-2011 St. Nicholas Center

I know your kids will love The Baker's Dozen - it's a story about a baker from "the Dutch colonial town later known as Albany, New York."  His name is Van Amsterdam, and he is well known for his honesty as well as for his fine Saint Nicholas cookies. 

He always gives his customers exactly what they paid for -- not more and not less. So, he was not about to give in when a mysterious old woman came to him on Saint Nicholas Day and insisted that a dozen was thirteen!

The woman's curse puts an end to the baker's business, and he believes it would take Saint Nicholas to help him. But if he receives that help, will it be exactly what he expects? 

You'll have to read this story to find out the surprising ending.  It teaches a good lesson about the joy of giving.  And you can make your own St. Nicholas cookies! Aaron has included the recipe at the end of the book (it's also on his website, HERE).

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:
(The Springerle Bakery can only ship to addresses in the U.S., so to be eligible for this giveaway, you must live in the U.S.)
How to enter -
1- Leave a comment here between now and December 5 at 11:59 p.m. (PST) on this post and any others I post through December 5, 2013, to enter this giveaway.
2- Leave a comment on Facebook ("likes" don't count, must be a comment) when I link to any blog posts between now and 11:59 p.m. (PST) on December 5, 2013, to enter this giveaway.
3- Enter as many times as you like between now and 12/5/13.
Giveaway winner announced -
Giveaway ends at 11:59 p.m. on December 5, 2013. The winner of this giveaway will be chosen using List Randomizer and announced on St. Nicholas Day - Friday December 6, 2013, at 7:00 a.m. (PST).
Shipping -
1- The winner needs to contact me via e-mail (wendyb[spam]1963@[spam]sbcglobal[dot]net) with their mailing address by 11:59 p.m. (PST) on Saturday, December 7, 2013.  If not, a new winner will be chosen.  
2- The winner's mailing address will also be given to The Springerle Bakery so that the cookies can be shipped on December 10, 2013.

A Sweet Giveaway for St. Nicholas Day

updated 12/6: Giveaway OVER St. Nicholas Day falls on December 6 each year, and will be here before you know it!  Why am I doing a cookie giveaway in honor of St. Nicholas, the good Bishop of Myra, who gave gifts and did good works in secret?  

Giveaway from The Springerle Bakery

Well, in central European countries such as Germany, Belgium, and Switzerland, it is a time-honored tradition to bake and give specially molded Speculoos (gingerbread spice) or Springerle (orange, anise, or lemon flavored) cookies throughout the Christmas season, but especially on St. Nicholas Day.

The Springerle Bakery has kindly partnered with me for this special cookie giveaway! Their cookies are little works of edible art!

Alice has baked up a special collection of 15 cookies just for my lucky winner.  You can see them pictured above.  There are 8 Gingerbread and 7 Springerle (vanilla-orange or lemon): from cookie molds depicting St. Nicholas, Nativity Scenes, Angels, and even a Gingerbread Man. The cookies range in size from approximately 2-1/4" to 4" tall.

I hope you'll take a minute to peruse The Springerle Bakery website.  These beautifully detailed cookies would make a very special (and tasty) gift - you still have time to get in a Christmas order!  There are large single cookies available, or collections of smaller cookies - each one handmade. (Note: they only ship to the U.S.)

A little bit about these cookies: To make these Springerle, very cold, stiff dough was rolled thin and pressed into a mold. The dough was unmolded and then left to dry for about 24 hours before being baked at a low temperature on greased, baking sheets. The leavening caused the biscuit to at least double in height during baking. This "pop-up" effect may be the source of the name in German. The baked biscuits are hard, and are packed away to ripen for two or three weeks. During this time, they become tender.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:
(The Springerle Bakery can only ship to addresses in the U.S., so to be eligible for this giveaway, you must live in the U.S.)
How to enter -
1- Leave a comment here between now and December 5 at 11:59 p.m. (PST) on this post and any others I post through December 5, 2013, to enter this giveaway.
2- Leave a comment on Facebook ("likes" don't count, must be a comment) when I link to any blog posts between now and 11:59 p.m. (PST) on December 5, 2013, to enter this giveaway.
3- Enter as many times as you like between now and 12/5/13.
Giveaway winner announced -
Giveaway ends at 11:59 p.m. on December 5, 2013. The winner of this giveaway will be chosen using List Randomizer and announced on St. Nicholas Day - Friday December 6, 2013, at 7:00 a.m. (PST).
Shipping -
1- The winner needs to contact me via e-mail (wendyb[spam]1963@[spam]sbcglobal[dot]net) with their mailing address by 11:59 p.m. (PST) on Saturday, December 7, 2013.  If not, a new winner will be chosen.  
2- The winner's mailing address will be given to The Springerle Bakery so that the cookies can be shipped on December 10, 2013.

If you're not familiar with St. Nicholas Day (Dec. 6) and its traditions, you will find lots of information in my past posts below (click on the titles to read):
Will the Real Santa Claus Please Stand Up?

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

Who is the Man in the Red Suit? 

St. Nicholas Day in Greece (Gold Coins!)

Letters from Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien

SAINT NICHOLAS OR SANTA?

We remember this saint, such a holy, good man.
Be like him in charity, do all that you can.
Many miracles Nicholas hastened to do,
Helping people in need with gifts that were new.

Call him "Santa" or "saint," they both mean the same,
For his nickname is Claus, short for Nicholas' name.
Giving gifts was his custom—we still do today.
Deeds done in Jesus' name forever will stay.

-Author Anonymous [source: St. Nicholas Center; photos mine]

St. Nicholas Day is Almost Here...

"I’ve come at last. She has kept me out for a long time, but I have got in at last. 
Aslan is on the move. The Witch’s magic is weakening." - Father Christmas, 
from C.S. Lewis' The Lion, Witch and The Wardrobe [Source] 

This beautiful illustration by Pauline Baynes was printed in 1991. Pauline Baynes (1922 – 2008) was an English book illustrator, whose work encompassed more than 100 books, notably those by C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien.

If you're not familiar with St. Nicholas Day (Dec. 6) and its traditions, you will find my past posts below (right-click the titles to read):
Will the Real Santa Claus Please Stand Up?

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

Who is the Man in the Red Suit? 

St. Nicholas Day in Greece (Gold Coins!)

Belgian Cookies for St. Nicholas Day (picture books and recipe)

Letters from Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien

A craft for St. Nicholas Day: Red Votives

Printables and instructions from St. Nicholas Center - here

There was a good bishop who lived long ago
There was a good bishop who lived long ago,

his memory is glorious, his legends are bold.
We call him Saint Nicholas, a servant of Christ,
who loved little children and taught what was right.

He is Father Christmas, and Santa Claus too.
He helped many people, the stories are true.
At Christmas he calls to us, both young and old,
To see that the story of Jesus is told.

The gifts that he brings us are signs of the love
That comes down at Christmas from heaven above.
We see Mother Mary, the babe in the stall,
With Joseph, the wise men and shepherds and all.

O blessed Saint Nik'las we hail you today.
The patron of many, to show us the way
To be good and generous, to help those in need,
To be kind to others in both word and deed.

[Text J.M. Rosenthal, 2002, source here: St. Nicholas Center]

BELGIAN COOKIES FOR ST. NICHOLAS DAY

On December 5th, the evening before St. Nicholas Day, children in Belgium put their shoes (or small baskets) on the hearth - along with hay, water, carrots, and a sugar lump for the saint's horse, with a glass of wine for the saint. The children may also include a picture they've drawn (or a list) showing what they would like. They believe St. Nicholas rides on horseback over the rooftops, dropping his gifts down their chimneys. What do they find in their shoes the next day?  Chocolate, oranges, marzipan, small toys, and ...speculoos cookies!

Originating in Belgium and the Netherlands, speculoos cookies were first traditionally baked to celebrate St. Nicholas Day. The name may derive from the Latin speculum, "mirror", in reference to the bas-relief image of Saint Nick stamped into the cookies. These cookies (some very large) are still displayed every year on December 6 in the windows of Dandoy, in Brussels.

Alternatively, the name of these thin, crunchy cookies could have been derived from specerij, the Dutch word for "spices". The cookies are flavored with holiday spices—cardamom, cinnamon, clove, ginger and nutmeg—plus white pepper. Less spicy and sweeter than gingerbread, speculoos cookies make a perfect accompaniment to a hot cup of coffee or cocoa.

Biscoff (as in "BIScuits for COFFee") is the most readily available brand of speculoos cookies. An all-natural (nut-free) spread is made of the ground spéculoos cookies.  And it's lucious! It was created in 2007 on a Belgian reality TV show contest seeking the year's best new invention. The spéculoos spread made by contestant Els Scheppers was a top finalist.

My daughter discovered this spread when she and her husband were living in France. As of about two months ago, and to our extreme delight, it's finally available in the U.S.  You have to try it on apple slices!

By the way, did you know that St. Nicholas is also the patron saint of bakers?

Saint Nicholas
Patron Saint of Bakers

Copyright © 2002-2011 St. Nicholas Center

What does all this have to do with children's books?  I found two wonderful picture books about baking to share with you today. (Even St. Nicholas would have liked them!)

The Baker's Dozen: A Saint Nicholas Tale, by Aaron Shepard, gorgeously illustrated by Wendy Edelson (Make your own St. Nicholas cookies!  Aaron has included the recipe here, on his website).

Van Amsterdam the baker was well known for his honesty as well as for his fine Saint Nicholas cookies. He always gave his customers exactly what they paid for -- not more and not less. So, he was not about to give in when a mysterious old woman comes to him on Saint Nicholas Day and insists that a dozen is thirteen! The woman's curse puts an end to the baker's business, and he believes it would take Saint Nicholas to help him. But if he receives that help, will it be exactly what he imagined? This is a great way to teach young children about the the joy of giving, and about the life of St. Nicholas.

Christmas Cookies: Bite-Size Holiday Lessons, by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, with cute illustrations by Jane Dyer.

Similar to Rosenthal and Dyer’s previous book, Cookies: Bite-Size Life Lessons (2006), this adorable picture book offers a variety of terms defined in child-friendly ways, while relating to the theme of Christmas cookies: FRUSTRATED means, "I can’t believe we burned them again" / PERSEVERANCE means, "We tried and tried and tried, and finally we made the perfect non-burned batch,”/ and HOPE means, "I’m filled with good feelings about what will be.”

A variety of cutely dressed children and animals are depicted throughout the book with a little carryover of characters from one picture to the next. A sugar-cookie recipe is included in this "sweet" and wholesome Christmas story. Ages 3-6.

Happy St. Nicholas Day tomorrow, and Happy Reading!

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

Who was Saint Nicholas?  If you read yesterday's post, you know that people all around the world celebrate St. Nicholas Day on December 6th.  You can read the beautiful story of his life on  St. Nicholas Center.org, which is a wonderful website that has lots of history, recipes, crafts, and other ideas for celebrating St. Nicholas Day.  You might consider starting some fun family traditions to honor this good Bishop of Myra, who gave gifts and did good works in secret.

Illustrator: Elisabeth Jvanovsky
Image courtesy of St. Nicholas Center

One story is that Nicholas tossed bags of gold through an open window of a destitute family.  The bags are said to have landed in stockings or shoes left by the fire to dry. This led to the custom of children hanging stockings or putting out shoes, eagerly awaiting gifts from Saint Nicholas. Kids can put out their own shoes or hang their Christmas stockings, but I found an adorable blog post by one of my favorite author/artists, Carol Baicker-McKee, with her tutorial on how to make paper shoes (or her new boot template) for "St. Nicholas" to fill (traditionally with gold coins, oranges, fresh baked gingerbread cookies, chocolates, or small gifts).

St. Nicholas Day is a perfect reminder that we shouldn't forget the less fortunate during this Holy season of Advent.  Take time with your kids to bring canned goods to a food bank, try to find a day to work at a local soup kitchen, make gingerbread cookies to take to a lonely neighbor or shut-in ...the list is endless.  In keeping with the "shoe" theme, consider a company like Tom's Shoes to buy gifts from this year - with every pair you purchase, Tom's will give a pair to a child in need.



The Legend of Saint Nicholas by Demi (ages 8 and up)


St. Nicholas:  The Real Story of the Christmas Legend by Julie Stiegemeyer, illustrations by Chris Ellison. (ages 4 and up)


St. Nicholas:  A Closer Look At Christmas by Jim Rosenthal, Joe L. Wheeler.  This is a gorgeous coffee-table type book full of pictures and information about St. Nicholas.  Great for the whole family and a wonderful resource!

I wanted to share this yummy (and easy) dessert that I've made during the Advent Fast for St. Nicholas Day:
GINGERBREAD WITH LEMON SAUCE
2-1/4 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. sugar
2 t. ground ginger
1 t. ground cinnamon
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. ground cloves
1/4 t. salt
3/4 c. margarine, softened
3/4 c. water
1/2 c. molasses
Preheat oven to 350.  Grease 9x9x2-inch baking pan.  In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, cloves and salt.  Stir in margarine, water and molasses until well blended.  Pour into pan.  Bake 40-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out dry.  Cool slightly on wire rack.  Serve warm with Lemon Sauce (see below).  Makes 9-12 servings.

LEMON SAUCE:
1/2 c. sugar
2 T. corn starch
1-1/3 c. water
3 T. margarine
2 t. lemon zest
2 T. lemon juice
In 2-quart saucepan combine sugar and corn starch.  Gradually stir in water until smooth.  Stirring constantly, bring to boil over medium heat and boil 1 minute.  Remove from heat. Stir in margarine, lemon zest and lemon juice until well blended.  Pour into serving bowl; cover with waxed paper or plastic wrap.  Cool slightly.  Serve warm on Gingerbread.  Makes about 2 cups. (can top with Cool Whip)