Happy St. Nicholas Day / Tuesday Everybody! In my background, I have Flemish (Lowland Dutch) and German, and from what I understand, both backgrounds celebrate St. Nicholas Day. St. Nicholas is who Santa Claus is based on. He was a real person. Unfortunately, not a lot is known about him, other than the fact that he would often provide for the poor and needy. There's a story that there was a girl whose father was too poor to provide a dowry (which was extremely important back then, not as much now). So at night, St. Nicholas dropped off money so that the girl could get married. He was a bishop and tried very hard to help all those in need. I heard that the Dutch put out wooden shoes. They place hay in the shoes for St. Nicholas' horse. Growing up, we'd put out a shoe downstairs the night before St. Nicholas Day. In the morning we'd have  presents in and under our shoes, and sweet treats in our shoes. It was great fun, and not many people I know celebrated...

Hey Everybody, Because I have a book review to do for Monday, Dec. 6th, but still wanted to mention this particular day (since it has special meaning for me) I thought I'd double-post. This post will cover St. Nicholas and then I can put up the book review. St. Nicholas has all kinds of legends connected to him. However, there are a couple of things I know: 1. He was a Catholic Bishop 2.  He helped people The other thing is, it seems (based on what I see and hear) that the legends of Santa Claus sprung in part from legends surrounding St. Nicholas. Growing up I've met a few people who celebrate this day. One lady I know said, when I mentioned St. Nicholas Day, "Oh yes, Little Christmas."  I don't remember if I ever heard it referred to as "Little Christmas" but it fits. Here's how it works. The night before Dec. 6th children put out one of their shoes. The next day (Dec. 6th) there's candy and small gifts in (and sometimes gifts und...