Feast of Saint Nicholas

Today is the Feast of Saint Nicholas! This is a holiday mostly celebrated in some European countries, however our family also celebrates it because of our Dutch origins. December sixth is the feast day of the patron Saint Nicholas, which is how this tradition all started. The tradition has evolved, and now children leave out their shoes (traditionally wooden shoes in Dutch origin), and Saint Nicholas or Sinterklaas comes during the night, similar to Santa Claus, and fills the shoes with candies, cookies, small toys, and oranges. This tradition may also be where the legend of Santa came from. I am sure there are many other celebrations and traditions related to this feast day, but all I can remember from when I was younger was leaving out my shoes the night before and finding them filled with treats the next morning. I always thought it was like Santa visited twice, although this was a different Santa and it always made my friends jealous, as they did not celebrate this tradition and I got two visits from Santa. 
One treat I can remember always getting in our shoes were Speculaas. These are almond spice cookies served on this feast day. The cookies we got were usually cut into shapes affiliated with Dutch culture, such as windmills and tulips. I always really liked these cookies, and we only got them at this one time of the year. One year I tried making them for myself. They were pretty good, but the ones Sinterklaas sent always seemed a bit more special. Here is a picture of what our family woke up to.