Gingerbread House Activities in the Bay Area - 2014

My kids are begging me for a gingerbread house kit again this year, but every year they start and don't finish it. And then they don't clean up. So I'm looking into other options. Fortunately the Bay Area has many.

SAN FRANCISCO

The Mandarin Oriental is hosting "ho-ho-ho homes for the holiday" on Saturday, December 7, which includes gingerbread house making from 2-4. Kids get their own aprons and chef hats, decorating gingerbread houses and sugar cookies. For drinking, there's a hot chocolate bar (parents can hit the adult bar and get small plates on their own dime). Cost is $60/kid. RSVP at adomizio@mohg.com or call (415) 276-9784.

St. Francisco sugar tree. Photo by Peter Medilek

Not for your own making (okay, and not gingerbread), but check out the Westin St. Francis' 12 foot tall sugar tree. It has 1,000 pieces of hand-crafted candies and ornaments, including handmade snowmen, sugar ribbons, gift boxes, Christmas trees, candy canes, elves and stars in the rotating tree. It's in the lobby November 26-January 2, at 335 Powell in SF.

Coming Up: Jack London Sustainability Farm Festival - Free

A Sustainability Festival doesn't sound inherently fun to me, but after reading the description, I got a lot more interested. The Jack London Sustainability Farm Festival will highlight Jack London’s legacy as a farming pioneer and connect with today's innovators and their vision to preserve the land for tomorrow. This is crucial in Sonoma County, where the park is, and practiced today.

The park used to be famous writer Jack London's “Beauty Ranch,” where he experimented with many of these same sustainable farming ideas, which weren't common then.

The free family-friendly festival brings together the today’s sustainable farming culture to share ideas and celebrate good farming and food. The festival includes music, food, “DIY fun learning” activities for kids and adults, plus information stations staffed by park docents explaining Jack’s early farming techniques. It will be a time capsule-like experience. In 1915, Jack London experimented with groundbreaking methods of farming, along with more humane methods of dealing with farm livestock. A recent Modern Farming article said that “Jack London has been called many things throughout history, among them, an author, explorer, visionary and a socialist. He has even been called the greatest romantic of his time. However, above all these fancy titles, he was a farmer – and an inventive one at that.”

If you want to see rare footage of Jack London working with his farm animals a few days before he died, check out this YouTube video.

Schedule highlights:
11 a.m. “Autumn Farm Forum,” about food and farming in Sonoma County, presented by Marcy Smothers and Clark Wolf.
12 noon - Information stations open. Participants include Benziger Family Winery, Fiber Arts, Luther Burbank Experimental Gardens, Nana Maes Organics, Oak Hill Farms, Quarryhill Botanical Gardens, Quarter Acre Farms, Sonoma County Beekeepers Association, Sonoma County Waste Management, Sonoma Water Agency, The Green Team – Sonoma Valley High School Wolf Pack Recycling Team, Two Moon Farm as well as Breck Parkman, Senior Archaeologist California State Parks, Jack London State Historic Park Master Gardner, and other current local innovators in the sustainability movement.

What: Jack London Park Sustainability Farm Festival
Where: Jack London State Historic Park, 2400 London Ranch Road in Glen Ellen
When: Sunday, October 5 from 11-4
Cost: Free (except for $10 per car parking fee)
More info: website or call (707) 938-5216

Bay Area Factory Tours

I love going on factory tours, and thought I'd put something together in case you're looking for some fun ideas for the summer. What are your favorite factory tours? Have you been on any of these? Are they worth it? Leave a comment below!

Boudin - a staple in San Francisco since 1849, Boudin's sourdough bread is my favorite! The Fisherman's Wharf location has a huge restaurant, store, big window baking area and self-guided museum and bakery tour. Watch a short YouTube video of the dough preparation and baking process here - via Samantha Brown. The tour has historic and interactive exhibits and you can look down into the bakery as they work from the second floor. You can also watch the bread shaping process (free) from the street. A baker explains what he/she is doing and you can ask questions.
Where: Fisherman's Wharf (160 Jefferson Street), San Francisco
When: Daily 11:30 a.m. - 9 p.m.
How long: self-guided - 25-50 minutes
Cost: $3, but free after dining there or if you go when there's no one standing at the kiosk.
Reservations: None needed.

TCHO - artisan chocolate maker offers great tours of their factory, plus chocolate tasting! Frisco Kids TCHO tour review here.
Where: Pier 17, San Francisco (next to the Exploratorium) moved to Berkeley in March, 2014
When: Daily 10:30 and 2
How long: 40 minute tour, which includes a video/talk, factory floor viewing and tasting
Cost: free

Coming Up: Plowing Play Day at Jack London State Historic Park

Jack London State Historic Park is hosting its 30th annual Plowing Play Day, which is a free family event presented by the North Coast Draft Horse and Mule Association. You'll see harnessing and plowing demonstrations, get free horse-drawn wagon rides, and medieval horseback Skill at Arms. You'll see all kinds of horses (including the famous Clydesdales). Picnic food is available.

What: Plowing Play Day
When: May 19 from 10-4
Where: Jack London State Historic Park (2400 London Ranch Road, Glen Ellen)
Cost: free (but $10/parking)

Rules for Attending a Wine Festival

I get a lot of press releases. Most I delete or file away for future story ideas (and generally I rarely get back to them). This one made me laugh, especially with Napa and Sonoma so near. Thought my wine drinking Frisco Kids readers would appreciate it.

Do you have rules of your own to share? Do so in the comments.

Rules for Attending a Wine Festival

 

by Hedges Family Estate, Red Mountain, WA

- Don’t tether your wine glass to your neck
- Don’t pinch your fingers and say, “Just a little.”  Dump it if you don’t want to finish it, but I’m going to pour as much as I damn well please
- Don’t violently lift your glass mid-pour and say, “That’s enough.”  Same deal as above.
- Don’t say, “Give me the biggest thing you have.”  This isn’t NASCAR.
- Let “smooth” take the day off from your vocabulary… the whole day
- Don’t shove.  I mean… really
- Don’t say you hate Merlot. We all saw Sideways. Guess what: Miles didn’t want to drink Merlot because it reminded him of his ex-wife. That bottle he drank in the end—his most precious bottle—had a ton of Merlot in it.
- Don’t tell every winemaker about the winery that was down the street while you lived in Lodi
- Don’t ask how the wine scored… ever.
- Do wear a “Wine’er, Dine’er, 69’er T-shirt
- If you are going to wear one of the those little food trays that has a cutout for your glass, you better be damn sure you are cool enough to wear it.  Note: no one is that cool
- Over-buff late thirties guy: Don’t try to impress your date by contradicting me.  You’re going to fail.  Yeah, try me
- Don’t lick your glass… pig
- Don’t talk about your sulfite allergy.  There is a good chance you have no idea what you’re talking about
- Don’t dump into the water pitcher.  And always look before you drink out of it
- Practice spitting at home; it will come in handy
- Don’t talk about the legs after you swirl the glass.  Here’s a tip: the legs don’t matter.
- Don’t take your heels off and puke in the lobby
- Don’t ask what the most expensive wine on the table is
- Keep the rim of your glass food free
- If you proclaim that you don’t like white or rose, we will make fun of you when you walk away
- NO Perfume!  And go light on the lipstick, honey

Coming Up: Birding for Families

Here's something different to get your kids into spring and into nature - take them on a guided birding walk.

The event includes "binocular boot camp" - which is a bird-watching hike led by Sonoma Birding co-founders Tim Rusert and Darren Peterie. The goal is to find 20-25 species of birds (over 170 of wintering birds might be found).

What: Bird-a-Thon walk
When: March 24, 2013 from 9:30-11:30
Where: Jack London Park (2400 London Ranch Road, Glen Ellen, CA); meet in the upper parking lot.
Cost: $10/person (and $10 parking fee)
RSVP: Space is limited.
Who: Kids ages 8-15 and parents
Bring: binoculars, hiking shoes, warm clothing, snack, water
Details: here

Review: Kollar Chocolates

My friend Stephanie brought me some Kollar Chocolates from Yountville. Yes, they taste as good as they look. The box below features passion fruit, vanilla rum, Grand Marnier orange, extra virgin olive oil, ginger, coffee, and a couple I'm not sure of (but they were fabulous)

The one at the bottom is white/strawberry chocolate with pop rocks mixed in (Strawberry Fizz). We also got a dark chocolate one with pop rocks (aptly named Kollar Krack). Very cool design on top, yes? This was supposed to be for my kids, but they didn't fully appreciate the wonder of sucking on the chocolate and having the pop rocks explode, so I ate it all myself. If you're not heading to Yountville, you can order online.

I accept Kollar Chocolates as holiday or thank you gifts. Just sayin'.

Bay Area Holiday Events 2011

SAN FRANCISCO 
SAN FRANCISCO BOYS CHORUS
What: Winter Concert (Swing Noel)
Where/When: December 10 (St. Dominic's Catholic Church, SF)
Where/When: December 17 (Cathedral of Christ the Light, Oakland)
Cost: $20 requested donation
(Can't make it out? Listen to the concert on KQED channel 9 on December 19th (7:30pm) or December 20th (1:30am) for their annual Holiday Concert Broadcast)




RANDALL MUSEUM


What: Create hand-made gifts (roll bees-wax candles, make scented soaps, build wooden train, create candy 


house and more). Plus there's a Sweet Can Circus show.


Where/When: Randall Museum, December 3, from 10-2 for crafts, 2:00 for circus show


Cost: Varies per activity; circus show is $3




PENINSULA


Serramonte Center in Daly City has many activities coming up (free except for photo purchase):


-Santa's Arrival on Friday, November 18 at 5:30 (musical show, crafts)


-Photos with Santa from Friday, November 18-Saturday December 24


-Pet photos with Santa Monday, December 5 and December 12 at 6 p.m.


-Kids Club Holiday Pajama Party on Tuesday, December 13 at 5:30 p.m.


EAST BAY


What: Holiday Music Program (Steel Pan Trio, mariachi band, swing band)
When: Saturdays - November 25 from 2-4 p.m. and December 17 from 2-4
Where:  Bay Street, off I-80 at Powell Street and Shellmount Ave, Emeryville
Cost: Free

NAPA
DREAMS OF TOYLAND
What: Holiday vignettes designed by toy curator Dolph Gotelli (19-20th century collection of Christmas toys, games, decorations and Victorian ornaments
When: November 19-January 31
Where: Napa Valley Museum
Cost: $2.50-$10

FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS
What: Yountville's Festival of Lights (holiday street fair, carolers, horse-drawn carriage rides, performances, Santa Claus)
When: Friday, November 25 - from 2-6
Where:
Cost: Free (tasting tickets are $1)

Coming Up: Discovery Days Science Activities

Discovery Days are coming up, with hundreds of hands-on activities, performances, interactive demonstrations and family-oriented science enterainment. Look for events:


Cal State East Bay - Hayward - 10/29/11
Infineon Raceway - Sonoma on 11/5/11
Festival Finale at AT&T Park San Francisco on 11/6/11

Coming Up: Grape Stomp for Kids

When I think of grape stomping, I think of Lucy and Ethel.

Your kids can stomp grapes too - this Sunday from noon to 2 at Coppola Winery in Geyserville. FYI - if you miss this they have weekly family events!

Thank you to Sonoma on the Cheap for the tip.