Christmas Trees and Christmas Wines at Hawk Haven Winery
Saturday, December 14, 11am – 6pm
Hawk Haven Winery is hosting a one-stop-shopping day of Christmas tree shopping and wine tasting that’s good for parents and kids: Santa will be there for kids with long gift lists and wine professionals will be there for adults with long holiday wine wish lists. There will even be some live music and food available for purchase from Hit the Road Jack, the so-called “traveling division” of Jack’s Shack restaurant in Stone Harbor. Where else can you mull your Christmas tree over an actual glass of mulled wine? Just be careful to pick your tree before that second or third glass, lest you end up at home with a headache and an eight-footer. Hawk Haven Vineyard & Winery, 600 South Rail Road Avenue, Rio Grande; 609-846-7347
Winter Cooking Class at Daddy O in LBI
Saturday, December 14, 7–9:30pm
Going to Long Beach Island might not have been at the top of your December agenda, but it’s worth hitting the monthly cooking series at Daddy O Restaurant. The exact menu for the night’s meal isn’t published, but in December’s class, you’ll cook local Barnegat Light scallops and sip on some complimentary white wines (sauvignon blanc and chardonnay are mentioned). Think of it as an optimistic/deluded preview of summer to come. Tickets are $65 and reservations can be made online. If you miss December, January will focus on local tuna and a rum tutorial and February is local oysters (for Valentine’s Day) with Champagne, among other beverages. Daddy O Restaurant, 4401 Long Beach Boulevard, Long Beach Island; 609-494-1300
Dinner and a Holiday Piping Show with Summit House
Sunday, December 15 4:30–8:30pm
It’s a different kind of dinner-and-a-show at Summit House this Sunday, unless, that is, you’re used to following up a nice prix fixe dinner with a holiday bagpipe show. The night—which can be yours for $95—includes both a three-course dinner and aforementioned piping show, the annual performance of the Pipes of Christmas at Summit’s Central Presbyterian Church. The menu isn’t just a piping preamble, FYI: the night starts with a Poinsettia Cocktail (orange liqueur, sparkling wine, cranberry), and your choice of dishes like Chicken Liver with Plum Agrodolce, Osso Bucco with Berkshire Pork Shank, and Chocolate Budino with something called “Cinnamon Milk Crunch” (which, yes please). After dinner, it’s ten (plus) pipers piping in a holiday show just down the street, starting at 7pm. Dinner seats are at 4:30 and 4:45. Kids’ tickets are $55. The Summit House, 395 Springfield Avenue, Summit; 908-273-6000
Pie Class at GFG Bakery Café in Hoboken
Saturday, December 21, 5–7pm
GFG Bakery Café is a small franchise with eight locations and a fairly simple, fairly unique outlook: Greek from Greece (hence GFG), with breakfast bakery menu studded with things like spanakopita (which comes in vegan), walnut cake, baklava, yogurt parfait, leek pie, etc. Saturday’s cooking class, however, is all about pie: run by Hoboken GFG’s pastry chef, the class will take you through pie fundamentals (good crust, the right proportions) and introduce you to five easy recipes for classic holiday fillings. The Hoboken GFG emphasizes its classes are meant to be as entertaining as instructive—as in drinks will be served (though at extra cost) and moods will be relaxed. Tickets are $49. GFG Bakery Café, 221 River Street, Hoboken; 201-533-1040