Art

Over the years, I’ve attended many holiday parties, and hosted even more. I’ve appreciated all festive offerings, and while I would never turn my nose up at a jar of caviar or good bottle of wine, the gifts I’ve enjoyed the most came from creative minds and loving hearts. A particularly memorable one was a forest green ceramic planter filled with fresh sprouting seasonal herbs, including rosemary, sage and thyme, potted in an edible soil of crumbled dark chocolate brownies. These whimsical treats can be tailor-made to accommodate the dietary restrictions of the host (low cholesterol, or gluten-, lactose-, tree nut-, or sugar-free), and preferences (mild, hot, smoky, crunchy, sweet, savory, or vegan). You will need some simple supplies like Mason jars, cruets, clear gift bags, decorative tins, ramekins, twine and labels. Now let’s get this craft party started!

From the first model train his father brought home in 1954, Cardiff resident Bob Shultz now has a collection of about 100 train sets in his home that have delighted local children and other visitors for years.

Years ago, my aunt hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for 20 people. She prepared a turkey feast from scratch and it was delicious. The next day, 18 of us had a date with the toilet bowl and were queasy for days. The only two who weren’t impacted were the vegetarians. We were all stymied and started asking questions trying to deduce the source of our illness. Remember the board game “Clue”? Well, Mrs. Peacock poisoned Mr. Boddy with a contaminated turkey leg in the dining room. Turns out that Auntie left the unwrapped, partially frozen turkey on the counter to thaw overnight, so the vegetarians were unscathed by her “fowl” deed. Here are some cautions to help keep your dinner guests healthy, happy and free from harm.

“Nails have been a path to artistic expression for thousands of years,” reads a sign at the entry to Oceanside Museum of Art’s supersized exhibition “Tiny Canvases: The Art of Nails.” Farther along, there’s a sign about the history of nail adornment, mentioning “manicure kits dating as far back as 3200 BCE in the tombs of Babylonian soldiers.” Babylonian soldiers? Who knew? Jan Arnold did. She’s the co-founder and style director of Creative Nail Design (CND), the company that co-produced this stunning display of nail art, which opened in October and continues through Feb. 9, 2020.

For more than 40 years, a hardcover book with a red cover, filled with handwritten observations and details about a long-ago adventure, sat nearly forgotten on a shelf as the book’s owners, retired Superior Court Judge Marshall Hockett and his wife Debbie, pursued careers and raised a family.

With Thanksgiving approaching at gigabit speed, we’re all gearing up for the big day with a main course of stress, and side dishes of angst and doubts about menu choices, modes of preparation, presentation (and dinner guests). To help make this feast a delightfully memorable one, I’ll now take your questions and offer cooking tips.

In Neil Simon’s classic comedy “The Sunshine Boys,” a long-retired vaudeville duo agree to set aside their decades-long animosity to re-team for one last performance. But some old habits die hard. The 1972 comedy gets a funny and spirited workout at North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach, which is the ideal venue for the play. It presents Simon’s works more than any other local professional theater and its longtime artistic director, David Ellenstein, has long provided senior actors — like Simon’s 70-something vaudevillians — the chance to show audiences that they’ve still got it.

Marina Alberti, a senior at San Dieguito Academy High School, was one of three local artists selected to help beautify the Skyline School campus in Solana Beach.

From running a small operation out of his parents’ basement in Connecticut 20 years ago, Kyle Tortora has an inventory of about 1,200 Buddhist and Hindu statues stored in an Oceanside warehouse, sold through his website and shipped all over the world.

The Theatre School @ North Coast Rep presents the swashbuckling epic adventure The Three Musketeers as its next student production.