First things first: a relaxed agenda

The conviviality surrounding St. Nicholas is the beginning of an atmospheric, but also busy month. Finding the right present for everyone, crafting presents and writing poems takes a lot of time. Make sure you have a relaxed agenda and a rested head. A great energy eater is for example the question: What will we eat today? Relieve yourself of that question by coming up with a weekly menu over the weekend. If possible, you'll also stock up on groceries or order them. You can even make it easier to fill in the weekly menu by planning to cook for two days every Sunday - baked stew often tastes even better on the second day -, a pasta meal every Tuesday, a casserole every Wednesday and so on. Casseroles are also ideal because you can leave them with your family on days you don't eat with them, but also because nine times out of ten you can prepare them when it suits you.

Presentation of all those goodies

And then the day itself. A day that often begins with a cozy drink or extensive coffee table. Fortunately, for a Sinterklaas table with a high wow factor, you do not need to have Michelin stars behind your name. Even simple delicacies and dishes will get a boost in no time if you present them in the right way. Do you have a nice, complete dinnerware set in the cupboard? Unpack and use all the pieces throughout the afternoon and at dinner. With that excess of all the matching parts, even chocolate frogs get a rich look. Is almost every plate or dish missing a corner? Then it's just slim to mix together the most beautiful ones from the different sets. The same goes for the glasses. If you don't have enough of the same glasses, don't give two family members different glasses, but alternate as much as possible. Mix&Match is then the theme instead of I Unfortunately Didn't Have Enough. Whether you use a cozy mixed or a complete dinnerware does not matter for the effect. It's all in the number of pieces. The more parts, the greater the feeling of abundance. And abundance feels luxurious and cozy: there is something to nibble left and right. So divide that big bag of gingerbread and candy into several small bowls. And at the main meal, serve several small side dishes in addition to that large casserole. You can go all out with these side dishes (read: stewed carrots and roasted honey-bacon Brussels sprouts), but you can also keep things low-key (read: cucumber slices, bell pepper strips and marinated mushrooms). A banquette steals the show on a pie plate. And a large wooden serving board is ideal as a "drinks board" full of peppernuts, speculaas chunks and cinnamon muffins.

The conclusion of the meal: dessert

Sinterklaas Eve is all about fun and presents, but in the meantime there is a lot of snacking. As the evening progresses, the tension increases, the stomachs get filled and the appetite decreases. Would you still like to end dinner with dessert? Then skip mighty desserts like a chocolate lava cake or meringue and opt for a light ice cream dessert. After a weeks-long diet of gingerbread cookies, cake and chocolate letters, an ice cream dessert is exactly what you need. An ice cream dessert does not have to be complicated at all. Scoop two or three scoops of ice cream into a coupe, pour on some syrup for desserts and sprinkle with crumbled nuts. Optionally top it with a chocolate St. Nicholas and a dollop of whipped cream. Serve the ice cream in classic ice cream glasses and place a golden spoon next to each glass. The haute cuisine content of your dessert will instantly soar to great heights.

Don't forget the decorating!

When you think of Sinterklaas decorations, chances are you immediately think of the colors red and yellow. Very Sinterklazig indeed, but stylish this color combination is not exactly. Of course, with small children in the house you can't escape it and that's not a bad thing. But at some point you get past that phase and you might want a more mature decoration. The good news is: you can. In fact, the whole "see the moon shining through the trees" story lends itself perfectly to black and white decorations. Think of white window stickers, for example one with a scene of Amsterdam canal houses on which Santa Clauses are balancing with presents. Stick it on your window and the night provides a nice contrasting background. You get the same effect, but in the opposite direction, if you stick black figures on a large glass and put a tea light in it. All that black and white alternate with accessories of wood (atmospheric) and gold (festive). You can easily extend this black and white theme to the dining table by choosing black tableware on a wooden table or on a white tablecloth. If you expect a lot of sticky hands, turn it around and use white plates on a black tablecloth. Put gold-colored name plates on the plates and hang white/gold garlands on either side of the table. Happy St. Nicholas Eve!