St Nicholas was a Christian priest, who later became a bishop. He was a rich person, and traveled the country helping people, giving gifts of money and other presents. St Nicholas did not like to be seen when he gave away presents, so the children of the day were told to go to sleep quickly or he would not come! Nothing has changed and Santa Claus will not arrive this Christmas unless the children go to sleep early.

A famous story about St Nicholas, is about a poor man who had no money to give to his three daughters on their wedding day. St Nick dropped bags of gold into the stockings which the girls had left to dry by the fire. The sisters found the gold and ever since, children have hung up stockings on Christmas Eve hoping that they will be filled with presents by Christmas morning.

Despite being quite young Nicholas had earned a reputation for kindliness and wisdom. In the year 303, the Roman emperor Diocletian commanded all the citizens of the Roman Empire, which included Asia Minor, to worship him as a god.

Christians believed in one god and one god alone, so their conscience would not allow them to obey the Emperor's order. Angered by their stubbornness, Diocletian warnd the Christians that they would be imprisoned. The Emperor carried out the threat and St Nicholas who resisted too was also imprisoned. For more than five years, St Nicholas was confined to a small cell. He suffered from cold, hunger, and thirst, but he never wavered in his beliefs. In 313, when Diocletian resigned, and Constantine came to power Nicholas was released, and he returned to his post as Bishop of Myra. He continued his good works and became even wiser and more understanding by the time of his death on December 6, 343.

In the eyes of the Catholics, a saint is someone who has lived such a holy life that, after dying and going to heaven, he or she is still able to help people on earth. They often become patron to different groups of people - one such was children and many legends sprang up to explain his presence.

By 450, churches in Asia Minor and Greece were being named in honor of him. By 800, he was officially recognized as the a saint by the Eastern Catholic Church.

In the 1200s, December sixth began to be celebrated as Bishop Nicholas Day in France.

By end of the 1400s, St Nicholas was the third most beloved religious figure, after Jesus and Mary. There were more than 2000 chapels and monasteries named after him.

In the 1500s people in England stopped worshipping St Nicholas and favoured more another gift giving fgure Father Christmas. Over the centuries, St Nicholas' popularity grew, and many people in Europe made up nw stories that showed his concern for children. The name Santa Claus was derived from the Dutch Sinter Klass pronunciation of St Nicholas. Early Dutch settlers in New York (once called New Amsterdam) brought their traditions of St Nicholas. As children from other countries tried to pronunce Sinter Klass, this soon became Santa Klass, which was settled as Santa Claus. The old bishop's cloak with mitre, jewelled gloves and crozier were soon replaced with his red suit and clothing seen in other modern images.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup cranberries

Select firm, red cranberries. Prick twice with needle. Boil sugar in water until it spins a thread. Put in cranberries and cook gently until syrup jellies when tested from the tip of a spoon. Remove berries one at a time and place on wax paper. Let stand until dry. Dip the berries in granulated sugar.

This makes approximately 25. They are decorative and can serve as an excellent garnish.

from New Zealand

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 oz butter
1/2 teaspoon salt, pinch of cayenne pepper
3 oz. grated cheese
milk to mix to a fairly firm dough

1.Mix together flour, baking powder, salt and pepper
2.Cut in the butter: add milk and mix just enough to incorporate.
3.On a floured board, roll our to 1/2 inch thick.
4.Cut into rounds and place on greased cookie sheet.
5.Brush tops with milk and sprinkle with some more grated cheese.
6.Cook at 400 farenheit for 10 minutes.
7.Cool on a wire tray under cloth.

Ingredients:

6 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups butter
1 large can evaporated milk
2 packages chocolate chips
1 jar marshmallow cream
1 cup nuts

Cook in heavy pan until boiling, boil 10 minutes, stirring all the time. Take off burner and add chips, marshmallow cream and nuts, make sure you mix well, pour into 9 x 13 buttered pan. It will make 6 pounds.

From Germany

Ingredients:

3 and 1/4 cups flour
1.2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground cloves
1 cup salted butter, softened
3/4 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1 large egg
1/2 cup unsulfered molasses
2/3 cup confectioners sugar
1 - 2 tsp milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325'
2. Whisk together flour, salt, cinnamon, baking soda, ginger, and cloves
3. Cream butter and sugar. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add egg and molasses and beat on medium speed until smooth.
4. Scrape down bowl and add flour mixture, blend on low speed until just combined -- do not over mix!
5. Separate dough into 2 balls and flatten into disks. Wrap each disk tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour.
6. On floured surface with floured rolling pin, roll dough out to 1/4" thickness. With floured cookie cutters cut into shapes. Gather scraps and re-roll dough until all is used. Place on ungreased baking sheets about 1/2" apart.
7. Bake 9-11 minutes -- do not brown. Transfer to cool, flat surface and cool.

Preparing Icing:

1. Whisk sugar and milk until smooth but still liquid.
2. Add extra milk if seems dry.
3. Spoon icing into a pastry bag with small piping tip, or other icing dispenser.
4. Decorate as desired.

from Sweden

3 cups buttermilk baking mix
10 1/2 cups smoked ham
4 cups sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons parsley flakes
2 teaspoons spicy brown mustard
2/3 teaspoon milk

1.Heat oven to 350 farenheit.
2.Lightly grease jelly roll pan, 15 1/2 x 10 1/2 inch.
3.Mix thoroughly the Bisquick, finely chopped, fully cooked ham, and remaining ingredients.
4.Shape mixture into 1 inch balls.
5.Place about 2 inches apart in pan.
6.Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until brown. Immediately remove from pan. Serve warm.

Makes: 16

This is the 1714 recipe for King George's first Christmas pudding.

1 lb of eggs
1 1/2 lb shredded suet
1 lb dried plums
1 lb raisins
1 lb mixed peel
1 lb currants
1 lb sultanas
1 lb flour
1 lb sugar
1 lb breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1/2 grated nutmeg
1/2 pint milk
1/2 teaspoon of salt
the juice of lemnon
a large glass of brandy

Let stand for 12 hours.
Boil for 8 hours and boil again on Christmas Day for 2 hours.
This will yield 9 lbs of pudding.


History of Christmas Puddings
Traditional Christmas Puddings were more like large footballs than the supermarket ready basins of today.
The mixture was tied up in a cloth bag and then boiled in a large pan, and in many cases in the same tub that boiled the clothes wash!
Christmas Puddings used to be called Plum Puddings because one of the main ingredients used to be dried plums or prunes.
The very earliest puddings consisted of chopped-up meat, suet, oatmeal and spices. They were cooked in the intestines of a sheep or pig.
Puddings as we known them began to appear in the sixteenth century, and since they were boiled in a bag, they were known as 'bag puddings'.

The legend behind Little Jack Horner:
Jack Horner was a steward to the Abbot of Glastonbury, and he had to take a pie to King George VII as a present from the Abbot. The pudding contained title deeds to 12 manors sent to the King in the hope he would not pull down Glastonbury Abbey. The King only received 11 deeds.

Little Jack Horner
Sat in the corner,
Eating of Christmas pie:
He put in his thumb,
And pulled out a plum,
And said, "What a good boy am I!"