Gingerbread AdventuresWhat fun is cooking if you can't identify the ingredients you're using to make your masterpiece? The New York Botanical Garden is currently offering a special kids program called Gingerbread Adventures that will answer all your little one's questions about this holiday staple.

Gingerbread Adventures offers your child a hands-on learning experience where he or she can smell, touch, and taste the spices and other plant parts that make up a classic gingerbread recipe. With his field notebook in hand, your child will learn about all of the special ingredients for gingerbread and match them up with the names in his pamphlet. A good time in guaranteed for all, and there's still time to get in on the fun. Over the next few weeks, you and your child can experience this fun, behind-the-scenes look at gingerbread in the Everett Children's Adventure Garden starting at 1:30 p.m. everyday and at 10:00 a.m on December 21, 24, 28-31 and January 1 and 4.

Be sure to also check out the illuminated winter wonderland of the Holiday Train Show in the Conservatory as you step into a freeze-frame of the perfect holiday season in New York - twinkling lights surrounding replicas of historic landmarks and model trains speeding along more than a quarter mile of track. All recreations are made entirely from natural materials the towering Brooklyn Bridge in sugar pine cones, a pomegranate torch for Lady Liberty. It's spectacular!

Link: www.nybg.org

Happy HanukkahIt's time for the yearly Festival of Lights, and Cupcake Kids is ready to celebrate with yummy gelt, latkes, doughnuts, rugelach and dreidel games!

Every holiday has keystone traditions that help to make the celebration extra special, and Hanukkah is no exception. The traditional foods celebrate the miracle that Hanukkah commemorates by heavily incorporating oil into their ingredients or preparation. Latkes, doughnuts and other fried foods pay tribute to the purified oil that burned in the menorah at Jerusalem's Temple for eight days when it should have lasted for only one.

This year, take your Hanukkah traditions to the next culinary level by experimenting with your recipes. Keep your latkes crispy by draining them on a drying rack instead of paper towels and top them with applesauce brightened by the unusual addition of cranberries. Also try using sweet potatoes as opposed to the favored Yukon Gold potatoes for a sweet twist on an old favorite. Happy Hanukkah to everyone, and enjoy a great meal!

It's Time For GingerbreadWhether they're crispy gingersnaps, soft cookies, spiced cake or fantastically decorated houses, Gingerbread is a staple of the holiday season. This treat made with molasses and flavored with ginger, dates back centuries although it didn't officially get it's name until the 15th Century. Quickly a favorite in Europe, Queen Elizabeth I honored guests in court with a gingerbread portrait decorated with cloves dipped in gold. Over the past century, Gingerbread has been further popularized with stories such as Hansel and Gretel and The Gingerbread Man making it the treasured Holiday tradition that it is day.

At CK, we love this time of year as we get to help hundreds of kids and their parents decorate their very own Gingerbread House Masterpieces! Join us at one of our upcoming classes or invite us to your corporate holiday event, birthday or play date to decorate a house of your very own. If you can't make it this year, don't be intimidated by gingerbread. Check out this easy recipe for gingerbread cookies. Your kids will remember rolling and decorating them for years to come.

Gingerbread Cookies

3 C all-purpose flour
3/4 t ground cinnamon
3/4 t ground ginger
1/2 t allspice
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/4 t fresh black pepper
1/2 C butter
1/4 C vegetable shortening
1/2 C light brown sugar
2/3 C molasses
1 egg

Sift the flour, spices and baking soda in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the butter and shortening with an electric mixer. Add the sugar, molasses and egg and mix until well combined. Gradually mix in the flour mixture by hand to make a stiff dough. Form the dough into two disc shapes and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until chilled. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of 1/8 inch (slightly thicker for softer cookies). Using floured cookie cutters, cut the dough into a variety of shapes and sizes. Decorate the cookies with raisins, currants or white chocolate chips to make eyes, a nose, a mouth and/or buttons before baking (optional). Place the cookies on a baking sheet, about 1 inch apart, and bake until firm, about 8 to 10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool for 1 minute on the baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to cool. Decorate and enjoy! Makes 1 dozen large cookies.

December Giveaway - Celebrate Green!When it comes to the holiday season, there's always a lot to think about. In all this hustle and bustle it's easy to forget to keep the fate of our planet in mind, and that's why our December Giveaway is the book Celebrate Green! by mother-daughter team Corey Colwell-Lipson and Lynn Colwell. Inside this book are all the greatest tips for cooking up your favorite holiday traditions, buying gifts, and celebrating without hurting the planet.

Start off the New Year with a new set of easy, Earth-friendly tips for success! Join our email updates list to be eligible to win. The winner will be notified via email the first week of January. Joining will also make you eligible for future giveaways!

Link: Celebrate Green

Chef of the Month - LiamAny great chef has a serious sweet tooth, and our December Chef of the Month, Liam, is no exception. Liam's first cooking class was Let's Make Cupcakes!, but most recently Liam met his match with a real chocolate pro, Jacques Torres, on our Urban Foodies tour of Jacques's Chocolate Factory where Liam learned all the tricks from the master himself. As a true renaissance man, Liam also loves video games, swimming, Star Wars, ice skating, and playing with his older brother and best friend Ronan - a fellow Cupcake Kids chef extraordinaire!

Name: Liam
Age: 7 years
Neighborhood: Cold Spring, NY
Favorite Food: Chicken Noodle Soup with extra Carrots & Lemon Gelato
Favorite Kitchen Utensil: Spatula for making Taco Pancakes