December 6th - Saint Nicholas' Day

St. Nicholas has his feast day on December 6. In some countries where St. Nicholas is prominent, this feast day, not Christmas, is the primary gift giving day. Parties may be held on the eve, December 5th, and shoes or stockings left for St. Nicholas to fill during the night.

We also tried to make traditional German St. Nicholas Bread.

500g white bread flour
7g  dry yeast
150ml milk
75 g butter
60g sugar
0.5 teaspoon salt
Grated rind of 1 lemon
1 egg
1 egg yolks

Sift the flour into a bowl. Make a hole in the centre and sprinkle in the yeast. Warm the milk, pour it in, and dissolve the yeast. Sprinkle a little flour over the yeast-milk mixture and let stand, covered, until small fissures are clearly visible on the surface.
Meanwhile, melt the butter, add the sugar, salt, lemon rind, and whole egg, and stir to combine.
Add this mixture to the yeast-milk solution and beat to form a light, smooth dough. It must be neither too soft nor too firm and must be easy to shape. Let rise for 15–20 minutes.
The figures are each shaped from a smoothly rounded ball of dough which is first rolled out into a slightly elongated shape. Next the head is shaped. The arms, legs, and hat are attached with egg yolk beaten with a little water. The remaining decorations, such as the beard, nose, eyes, and so forth are shaped or cut out separately and likewise attached with egg yolk.
Preheat the oven to 180oc
Lay the figures on a baking sheet lined with silicone paper and let rise completely (at least 20–25 minutes). Bake on the centre shelf of the preheated oven for 20–35 minutes, depending on size.

Before baking:

 Post baking, pre eating:

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