Lifestyle

While in normal times cooking a big meal at home is possible if not enjoyable, this year’s ballooning guest list makes it all but essential to call in reinforcements and pick up a Thanksgiving meal in advance, in order to be ready for the holiday.

t goes without saying that the first Thanksgiving was nothing like the holiday dinner we celebrate today. Right? Truthfully, it wasn’t all that different. Except we've got wine.

For a town of just 12,000 or so, Healdsburg is rife with festivals. Wine festivals. Food festivals. Art festivals. Jazz festivals. Songwriting festivals. Tech festivals. The list grows each year. And let 2024 be known as the year that the “Design Healdsburg” festival came to...

At the Healdsburg Certified Farmers’ Market, strawberries are reaching their peak sweetness, their scent lingering in the air before they are even visible in the stalls. Spring onions and green garlic are tender, fava beans are shelled by the pound and sugar snap peas—the kind of bright green that seems to be omnipresent in my life lately—offer that crisp, wet-mouth crunch that makes them an irresistible snack...

After pizza was more or less invented in Naples as a sauced-up flatbread, it took the globe by storm when American G.I.’s returned from World War II, bringing a fondness for pizza that led to a Cambrian explosion of different forms we know now. These include traditional Neapolitan styles, thin crust in New York, Detroit squares, sheet pans and deep-dish variants in Chicago, to name a few. You can find them all in California... and then some.

Jazz will again make itself heard in Healdsburg this June, songwriters will gather in the vineyards in July and Santa will light the Holiday tree—all thanks in part to the Chamber of Commerce’s Stay Healdsburg grants. A total of $95,000 has been granted to 20 local event organizers...

Debora Fudge has played a key role in shaping Windsor since 1994. With Fudge planning to step back from civic life, and heading out for a vacation in Europe this week, it seemed a good time to learn more about how she became so involved in Windsor and what she thinks of the town now.

Have a hankering for live music? At last, all the local venues have announced their free summer music in the sun (or on the grass, or at the park, or in the Plaza) programs, so music-lovers can begin making their summer weekday plans.

Now when most winemakers talk about “clones,” they’re talking about varietals selected for specific qualities, such as flavor, color or intensity. The Dijon clones of pinot noir or chardonnay are well known; but the canine clone of a winery dog is a new thing entirely.

Santa Rosa has its Rose Parade, Healdsburg has its 4H/FFA Parade, but Geyserville lays claim to the world’s biggest Lighted Tractor Parade, now in its 14th year (or is it the 15th?). On Saturday, Nov. 25, the small town where Alexander Valley meets Highway...