While most children are awaiting the arrival of Santa Claus, many others are expecting a visit from St. Nicholas.

My grandchildren are very excited about receiving  gifts from St. Nicholas, since they also get to participate in plays and poetry recitals at our local church, and youth organization.

It makes this holiday that much more special, feeling like a star, performing on a stage at such a young age of three.

This year, my granddaughter received a Gingerbread House kit from St. Nicholas, and could hardly wait to get home, to get the project started with her mom.

She was very patient, following all the instructions from her mom, and very meticulous about positioning all the candy in the proper places ( sampling few here and there…that’s part of the fun).

She was so proud of her completed project, and so were we, so I promised that I will post some pictures on my blog.

This is the front entry to the Gingerbread house.  She was deciding on the colors and type of candy to use, and the positioning of the figures. Her mom handled the icing part.  The white base was part of the kit.

She decided on a back entry as well, including additional windows. How cute is that.  Maybe that’s grandma’s private entrance?

A side view.  As you will see, she decided to decorate the house from all sides.  Good thing there was plenty of candy with this kit.

View of the other side, and top of the roof.  Not sure what all the gum drops represent on the roof top??

Close up view of the roof with a chimney.  She was very excited about the chimney, so I needed to point it out as well.

If you are looking for fun projects to do with your children, or grandchildren, putting together a Gingerbread House is a wonderful idea.

It lets you spend quality time with them, and makes their imagination run wild.

If your children, or grandchildren are older, you may want to make a Gingerbread House from scratch.

With the upcoming holidays like St. Nicholas Day,  Hanukkah, Christmas, and New Year, there will be lots of parties to attend, and lots of party foods to prepare and sample.  I will contribute by posting some of my favorite recipes for these occasions.

At our latest family gathering at Thanksgiving, I prepared this fairly light caramel dip, and it was my daughter-in-law’s favorite dip.  I was so delighted, and decided to post it here for you to try and to enjoy.   It requires very few ingredients, and it is much lighter in flavor and texture, than the store bought caramel dip.  This recipe makes 2 cups of dip.

Ingredients:

1. 8 oz.  cream cheese, softened
2. ¼ cup honey
3. 2 tsp. cinnamon
4. A pinch of ground cloves (optional)
5. ½  cup Caramel Ice Cream Topping
6. 2 red apples, cored and cut into thin wedges, or chunks
7. 1 green apple, cored and cut into thin wedges, or chunks

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, honey, caramel topping, and 1 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon.
2. Beat until smooth.
3. Chill in the refrigerator.
4. Transfer into a serving bowl, sprinkle with ½ tsp. of cinnamon.
5. Place the bowl of dip on a platter, and arrange apple pieces around it.

Tip.   We found out that a very generous dipping with an apple chunk, tastes much better than just a light dipping.

Spear the apple piece with a toothpick, and submerge it in the dip…..yummy!!!!

I added a pinch (tip of 1/8  tsp. ) of ground cloves, to enhance the flavor and complement the cinnamon aroma.