Last Friday, the city held its annual tree lighting ceremony downtown, setting “Spruce Springsteen” aglow with 20,000 LED lights. The event was held at the Pavilion this year instead of midway down the mall, with the addition of beer tents, bouncy houses, and a children’s train.
Whether you found the expanded event extra festive or nightmarish depends on your tolerance for lines and your relative anxiety over keeping track of your children in a dark and crowded place. Regardless, the holiday season is upon us. And with Thanksgiving falling late this year, it feels like an especially quick sprint to Christmas and New Year’s.
Some of us find this time of year stressful. So this week, we invite you to slow down and savor the best things about the season: family traditions and soul-warming food and drink. In this issue, local chefs and makers share their holiday food memories and even some recipes. And we’ve also got a sampling of local sparkling wines and holiday goings-on, from a mezcal challenge to cookies for a cause.
So whether it’s Charles Mingus’ eggnog, Kate Hamilton’s lefse, or your own favorite family treat, take the edge off with some alcohol, carbs, or whatever else you find calming, and save the diets for January.