St Nicholas Party

This is the kitchen table set for our annual St Nicholas Party. In Germany we don't have stockings at Christmas that Santa comes and fills during the night. Instead we open our presents on Christmas Eve, which have been left by 'Christkind' under the tree. However, on the eve of St Nicholas Day (6 December) we do leave out our shoes and good old Saint Nicholas comes and fills them with sweets, fruit & nuts, and presents during the night - sound familiar? Nowadays it's mostly a feast for children, but as with many ex-pats, for us it's taken a life of its own. What started out over 10 years ago with tea and cookies round the Advent wreath, has now grown into an annual festivity which includes tea, Lebkuchen, Stollen, heart-shaped waffles, mulled wine, potato salad and sausages, a team quiz and a puppet show!