Holiday Gift Guide 2013

2013 Marin Holiday Guide

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Feliz Foodie Navidad A few gift ideas for the celebrity chef in all of us...

By Brooke Jackson These days, there is so much interest in food and cooking that even the most casual home cook in Marin has become a bonafide "foodie." With the holiday season looming, what to get all those foodies for gifts can be a tricky business. Sure, you could go with a gift certificate to Williams Sonoma or the latest blender hawked on The Food Network, but for the more unusual or truly useful presents, read on.

Every authentic foodie needs a good knife in their arsenal. A Japanese Santoku is extremely versatile functioning as both a chef 's knife and a vegetable cleaver. Look for blades made of high carbon stainless steel which hold their razor sharp edge after many uses.

Check out www.webstaurantstore.com for well-priced models or www.cutleryandmore.com for a higher end selection.

To keep those knives sharp, a professional with the right equipment is crucial. Edgeworks is a mobile sharpening service that visits farmers markets in the county and will even sharpen your kit by mail with a speedy 48 hour turnaround. Art Downing has honed

his craft for years and can put the edge back on serrated blades, scissors and any type of knife you have. Consider a gift card for Art's outstanding sharpening service for a stocking stuffer or meet up with him at one of his posted locations then imagine the delight on your foodie's face when they discover you've returned their knives to razor sharpness. www.edgeworksharpening.com.

Just as important as a good knife in every kitchen is a stable of good pots and pans. Le Creuset has been making their enameled cast iron cookware since 1925 and their Dutch ovens are a "must have" for the foodie on your gift list. With colors such as flame orange, Caribbean turquoise and Marseille blue, a bubbling pot of stew never looked so good. These ovens are expensive but worth every penny and will last a lifetime. Find them at cookware retailers such as Sur La Table or online at www.cookware. lecreuset.com.

If your friendly chef needs reading glasses to see recipes and chop, dice and measure accurately, a pair of Chefspecs is the perfect gift. These sturdily designed glasses are durable enough to run through the dishwasher if they get spattered with batter and are decorated with adorable spoons on the ear pieces. They come with a magnetic case that attaches to the fridge or stove, anti-fog gel to prevent steam ups when opening the oven door and a microfiber cloth to polish them with. www.chefspecs.com.

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To deepen the flavors of the dishes your foodie is cooking, a selection of top-notch spices, unusual salts or whole peppercorns would be an ideal stocking stuffer. Whole Spice (store in Oxbow Market, Napa or online) carries such choices as wild porcini mushroom sea salt and Kai black lava Hawaiian salt, as well as a wide range of spices from around the globe. Think lemongrass powder, Lapsang Souchong tea, crushed vadouvan, harissa and their proprietary blends. www.wholespice.com. Penzey's (store in Montgomery Village, Santa Rosa or online) is another retailer of fine herbs and spices. Tellicherry black peppercorns, Krakow Nights polish sausage seasoning and Vietnamese cinnamon are just a few of the offerings at this Mecca of flavor. www.penzeys. com.

All foodies need a dose of creativity to keep them inspired and cooking classes can deliver that big time. ITK Culinary in Sausalito offers a wide range of fun, hands-on classes on everything from dim sum to ice cream, taught in a bright, spacious building on Bridgeway. www.itkculinary.com. Just down the road from ITK is the cooking school at Cavallo Point, within view of the Golden Gate Bridge. Sign your foodie up for an interactive workshop to learn about pickles and fermented food or cooking from the farmers market. www.cavallopoint.com. For something with a romantic twist, consider splurging on a weekend cooking adventure at the Apple Farm in Philo. Tucked into the Anderson Valley, the farm offers a fun and informative experience of cooking on a working farm. Guests take part in the preparation and enjoyment of meals then toddle off to a cozy cottage for the night. www. philoapplefarm.com.

Further in the realm of inspiration, nothing can capture the imagination and get the creative juices going like a good cookbook. Local gem Book Passage not only has an outstanding selection of cookbooks to choose from, with gift wrapping for free, but also offers events and programs to enlighten your foodie.

The award-winning Cooks with Books events include a meal at a Bay Area restaurant that is inspired by the author/chef who then discusses their book with guests; each diner gets a signed cookbook. Lectures, literary lunches and interviews with popular authors are just a few of the events offered at the Bay Area's "Liveliest Bookstore." A ticket to one of these programs stuffed in the Christmas stocking of your foodie will put you in good stead for the year ahead.

2013 Marin Holiday Guide

CONTENTS

Feliz Foodie Navidad ................................................................... 4 Fuss-Free Holiday Dessert Ideas ................................................. 6 Here’s to a healthful New Year! ................................................... 7 Marin Holiday Gift Guide Novato .............................................. 8 Marin Holiday Gift Guide ......................................................... 11 Don’t miss these upcoming holiday happenings, Marin! ........ 13 Great Holiday Gifts for People On-the-Go .............................. 14 Marin Holiday Gift Guide ......................................................... 15 2013 Marin Holiday Guide Art Director: Don Pasewark Graphic Designers: Michael DePugh, Jessica Armstrong, Jim Anderson Advertising Director: John Harper Display Sales: Susan Harker, Glenn Lurie, Tracey Milne, Jeffery Roloff Traffic Coordinator: Tom Cohen

835 Fourth St. Suite D (entrance on Cijos St.), San Rafael, 94901 Telephone: (415) 485-6700, Fax (415) 485-6226 pacificsun.com E-Mail: letters@pacificsun.com ©2013 Luxembourg West, Inc. dba Pacific Sun

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Fuss-Free Holiday Dessert Ideas

By StatePoint Between decorating your home and preparing the year’s most important meal, you may lose steam by the time you get to the sweet stuff.

But creating holiday desserts that stand out doesn’t have to be a daunting prospect. There are simple things you can do to give treats flair, without spending hours slaving away.

Whipped topping makes a perfect fuss-free topping on special occasion pies, cakes and cookies, as well as your everyday favorites like fruit, coffee and ice cream.

Your family and guests will taste the difference, so be sure to use natural ingredients. For example, Reddi-wip is made from real dairy cream, unlike other leading brands which have hydrogenated oils as their top ingredient.

To deliciously top off your holiday meal, try this recipe for Apple Crumble Pie, where warm apple pie filling is topped with a brown sugar and oat crumble and served in a flaky pie crust. Want to save even more time? Consider picking up a frozen dessert pie, such

as one from Marie Callender’s and top it off with Reddi-wip for a quicker, but still super tasty, dessert option.

Ingredients • 1 frozen pie crust (9-inch), thawed • 1 can (21 oz each) apple pie filling • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour • 1/2 cup quick-cooking rolled oats • 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar • 1 tsp. ground cinnamon • 1/4 tsp. salt • 1/2 cup cold Parkay Original-stick (1/2 cup = 1 stick) Reddi-wip Original Dairy Whipped Topping

Directions • Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Pierce bottom and side of pie crust lightly with fork. Bake 5 to 7 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool slightly. Reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees F. • Pour pie filling into baked pie crust; set aside. Mix flour, oats, sugar, cinnamon and salt in medium bowl. Cut in Parkay with pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Sprinkle evenly over pie filling.

• Bake 25 minutes or until juices are bubbly and topping is golden brown. Cool slightly. Cut into 8 slices to serve.

• Top with Reddi-wip, if desired.

More delicious recipes and holiday inspiration can be found at www.Reddiwip.com.

Don’t let your desserts take a back seat to the rest of your holiday food. With a quick rosette of real whipped topping, you can pack a big taste punch that’s fuss-free, leaving more time for making memories.

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Here's to a healthful New Year!

Take care of your body this holiday it's the gift that keeps on giving...

By Brooke Jackson The holiday season can feel like a revolving door of parties, get-togethers, open houses, pageants, performances and the like, so that by Jan. 2 you're feeling worn out, hung-over and rotund.

This feeling leads many of us to start a fitness regime or diet and spend the winter focusing on our health at least for a few weeks, anyway. Wouldn't it be a great idea to pre-empt the stress, overindulgence and weight gain by setting up a plan now that's enjoyable and easy to stick to? Make it a holiday gift to yourself and include your loved ones in some or all of these activities. It's always easier to stick to a routine or enjoy a spa treatment if you have someone to do it with.

Marin County has a vast array of gyms, exercise studios, boot camps and outdoor fitness choices. One of the most unusual options is yoga on a stand up paddleboard and one of the best places to try this out is at 101 Surf Sports in San Rafael. Every Saturday, a

bevy of yoginis try out their down dog on the water, balancing on a paddleboard. At 101 Surf Sports they tether the nose and tail of the board so students don't have to worry about drift, allowing the mind and body to fully engage in the natural variations in balance of the board on the water. This unique motion helps to align all the muscles around the spine and joints, adding benefit to your other athletic pursuits while reducing aches and pains, all in incredible surroundings. They offer gift certificates, so you can give the gift of SUP Yoga to your friends and family. www.101surfsports.com Just a stone's throw away from 101 Surf Sports is Pelo Fitness, an indoor cycling studio. Spinning has been around for a long time and just about every gym offers it but at Pelo they use a customized system called the "Pelo Power Zone" which adjusts your workout to your body. The studio has a killer sound system and instructors play groovy tunes to get you pedaling to a dripping sweat before you know it. They also offer TRX and Body Align classes, both of which are the perfect complement to the spin workout. Right now they are offering a $20 discount off the monthly fee to take unlimited classes. Gift cards are available for that special someone in your life. www.pelofitness.com.

Good ab workouts are a crucial part of maintaining core strength as well as a physique you feel proud of. Around the county, lots of gyms offer stellar choices in this realm. Here is a smattering of what's available: Elan Fitness in San Anselmo has a 30 minute Just Abs class that is the perfect ad on after one of their cardio classes and will help your pants fit better. The Pilates Level 1-2 Mat Class

Page 10 >

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< Page 7 Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s to a healthful New Year!

at the Bay Club improves core control and muscle tone while focusing on proper alignment; it's a great way to get an introduction to Pilates. Rolling Hills Club in Novato offers a Pilates/Yoga combo class called Core Fusion that shifts all your attention to your body center. Keeping the abdominals strong is a critical part of good posture and a healthy back. www.bodiesinmotion.com, www.elanfitness.com, www.bayclubmarin.com, www.rollinghillsclub.com If your holiday indulging convinces you to restrict what passes your lips, consider a juice cleanse from Urban Remedy. They have several different types to choose from that focus on detoxifying, wellness or rebooting your entire system. All the juices are coldpressed and organic for the ultimate in health and healing.

Once you get done with the cleanse, have a look at Its All Good by Gwyneth Paltrow and Julia Turshen. This cookbook was born from Paltrow's own health crisis brought on by stress and bad eating. She had to go on an elimination diet and couldn't stand the thought of eating bland food so she created recipes that are delicious but contain no sugar, gluten or fat. Many of the dishes have an international theme, such as Korean chicken tacos and Mexican chopped salad with green goddess dressing while some are delightful comfort food, like Sweet Potato Muffins or Buckwheat Banana Pancakes.

The authors give easy alternatives to make the recipes vegan or dairy free. Consider picking up a copy for a friend as a holiday gift.

After the exercise classes and cleansing diets, it's time for a glorious spa treatment. The county has no shortage of day spas or great massage joints. Here are just a few of what's out there with their signature treatments: Stellar Spa in Corte Madera's Organic Rose Petal Facial, The Spa at Cavallo Point's Ultimate Detox that includes a body scrub, wrap, soak and massage, Evo Spa's Turkish Scrub and finally a soothing massage from Mill Valley Massage.

Staying healthy and fit throughout the holidays can be challenging but with a little advanced planning, fun activities to keep your body moving and some pampering time, it's a snap.

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Marin Holiday Gift Guide

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Don’t miss these upcoming holiday happenings, Marin!

Give the gift of giving and get that gurgley, warm belly sensation that only altruism can generate. The Center for Volunteer and Nonprofit Leadership’s got your warm-and-fuzzy fix with Holiday Gifts of Love, a collection of charitable events running throughout the holiday season in Corte Madera, San Rafael and Novato. Activities include making and serving food to the needy, and baking cookies for people with disabilities. Call (415) 479-5710 or visit www.volunteermarin.org.

A touch of Marin and London shall converge yet again at the Cow Palace arena in Daly City. The Patterson family of Marin County is helming the Great Dickens Christmas Fair & Victorian Holiday Party for its 35th year, running from 10am to 7pm Saturdays and Sundays from Nov. 23 to Dec. 22, as well as Nov. 29, the Friday after Thanksgiving. Get a sense of what the “dickens” that Charles was writing about, as the turf of the San Francisco Bulls transforms into a Victorian wonderland. A stadium’s worth of treats, shops, pubs, dance halls and 750 costumed actors all evoke 1865 London.

Tickets range from $8 to $90. Call (800) 510-1558 x 114 or visit www.dickensfair.com.

The San Rafael Parade of Lights and Winter Wonderland clocks in just under the Victorian Party’s tenure, kicking off its 34th annual holiday jamboree from noon to 8pm Nov. 29 and 9am to noon Nov. 30.

San Rafael’s A Street gets coated in 40 tons of snow from Fourth Street to Fifth Avenue, where kids can sled and parents can shop at a holiday marketplace before Mrs. Clause shows up, followed by the Parade of Lights.

No cost to attend; donations encouraged. Call 800-310-6563 or visit www.downtownsanrafael.org.

Bundle the kiddos up and head a wee bit north to catch Annie, running at 7:30pm Fridays and Saturdays, Nov. 29 through Dec. 14, and 2pm Saturdays and Sundays, Dec. 7 through Dec. 15 at Cinnabar Theater in Petaluma. The playhouse also hosts a holiday concert by Cinnabar’s community chorus at 7:30pm Dec. 14 at the United Church of Christ in Petaluma. Tickets for both shows are $15, $10 for youth. Call 707/763-8920 and visit www.cinnabartheater.org.

The holidays aren’t the same without a girl and her magical toy/culinary gadget, and, of course, ballet. Get into the toe-tapping spirit during Stapleton Ballet: Nutcracker, playing at 1 and 5pm Dec. 7 and 8 at the Marin Center’s Veterans’ Memorial Auditorium in San Rafael. The performances bring the classic Christmas tale to life with more than 230 dancers from the Stapleton School of the Performing Arts in San Anselmo - and you can meet them after both matinee performances. Tickets cost $32, $20 for youth and seniors. Call 415/473-6800 or visit www.marincenter.org.

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Great Holiday Gifts for People On-the-Go

Photo by: Steve Landaros

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By StatePoint No matter how hard we try, life just won’t slow down. And with the increasing need to be connected all the time, a few minutes off the grid could mean missing out on something. That’s why there are more options than ever to find the perfect tech gift for people with very busy schedules.

Whether you need a gift for a frequent traveler, a sleep-deprived student, or a parent constantly shuttling between errands, these gifts can fit their needs this holiday season:

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Frequent Traveler

For someone who is always traveling for work or constantly seeking out a new adventure, consider a gift card to an e-book store so he or she will always have something to read on a tablet while waiting to take off.

Students

Students are busier than ever before. Relentlessly running between classes, club meetings and internships (and maybe a party or two), students need a device that is easy to carry around, like the HP Spectre13 x2.

The HP Spectre13 x2 is a 2 in 1 Ultrabook designed to be fast and lightweight whether it’s operating as a tablet or a PC. The device offers access to photos, music and more, even while on-the-go.

With a notebook and tablet in one, students can take notes in Physics class and then use the same device to listen to music using Beats Audio on the walk across campus. For more information, visit www.hp.com.

Busy Parent

While you can’t give busy parents more hours in a day, there are some gifts that could make their lives a bit easier.

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Marin Holiday Gift Guide Your Comfort and Style is Our Passion!

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