Festive Feasts and Family

By Brianne Harrison

As we’re fast approaching a holiday dedicated to feasting, it seems only fitting to mention Festive Feasts and Culinary Creations, a new exhibit at the Monmouth Museum that runs through January 3.

Festive Feasts is the museum’s annual holiday exhibition, and it features trees decorated by local garden clubs and the Friends of the Museum, stories and family-friendly activities, and their traditional, ever-expanding model railroad. The museum also has several holiday and food-related activities scheduled throughout the month. Activities include a festival of songs with Maureen McCrink on November 29; Chocolate Fairies with Don Magee—a chocolate tasting featuring bittersweet chocolate popcorn and fountain dipped chocolate pretzels on December 6; stories of festival feasts with Joan Jannerone on December 13; and Who Says You Can’t Play With Your Food? where participants learn to make crafts with food items, on December 20.

Holiday programs are held from 2-3:30 p.m. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday. Admission is $7 per person (children under 2 and Monmouth Museum members free). Visit monmouthmuseum.org for more information.

Don’t Miss…
The Thanksgiving Family Festival on November 27. Find buried treasure, uncover ancient stories, and learn to make pottery at the Newark Museum.

Annual Tree Lighting at Palmer Square on November 27. Enjoy music by Holiday Brass and the Princeton High School Choir as well as a reading of The Night Before Christmas before the 65-foot Norwegian spruce is lit by Santa Claus. Festivities will continue every Saturday and Sunday afternoon in December and on Christmas Eve.

Need Inspiration? Try the Designer Showhouse

By Brianne Harrison

This week is your last chance to visit the Stately Homes by the Sea Designer Show House. This year's show house, Sheep's Run, is a beautiful, spectacularly preserved brick house built in 1915 in a style that recalls a Cotswold cottage. More than 50 of the state's top interior and exterior designers worked to transform the house into an example of sumptuous country living. The Showhouse opened with a gala kick off (for photos, click here) in late April.

If you need persuading, it's easy to make a day of it. Tour the house, and then grab a bite to eat at the David Burke Fromagerie Cafe or brows the designer boutique. If the weather's nice, the Monmouth County Jersey Shore is nearby. Enjoy a stroll on the beach before the crowds and humidity arrive!

Tickets are $35 and benefit the Visiting Nurse's Association of Central Jersey. For more information, visit statelyhomesbythesea.com.