Monika Spykerman

Clark County is flush with Nutcrackers this year. Five dance companies are undertaking either full-length productions of Tchaikovsky's original 1892 ballet or adaptations with nods to local history or modern times.

Five things to do this week Merry and bright Metropolitan Performing Arts presents Irving Berlin's “ White Christmas ,” opening Friday at 6403 E.

'Tis the season when twinkling lights illuminate our nights, making the darkness merry and bright. One light show is making a debut — Winter Gleam at Oaks Amusement Park in Portland — but several light shows have been going strong for decades, including the Christmas Ships Parade, which is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year. Meanwhile, Portland's Peacock Lane has been glowing every year for a century. Strolling through ZooLights or seeing the light display on Franklin Street in downtown Vancouver, it's easy to capture the holiday spirit.

Among chocolate's many merits are its ability to play well with other flavors. I love chocolate and mint, chocolate and raspberry, chocolate and cherry, chocolate and ginger and especially chocolate and citrus. When I was in college, I used to make myself a hot chocolate by brewing orange or lemon tea and then adding a packet of cocoa powder. That was powerfully good stuff.

Do your children or grandchildren need more mice? How about kites, birds, beavers or fairies?

Five things to do this week Fashion and feasting Join the Kwanzaa celebration from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

It hasn't been a good year in Monika's kitchen. Recipe after recipe went terribly wrong (see last week's “ madeleine madness ,” for example). I flubbed so many attempts I began to suspect I was under some evil cookery hex. I started to call it The Curse of 2024.

Five things to do this week Get cracking Columbia Dance presents its Fort Vancouver history-inspired “Nutcracker” with beavers

A reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the arsonist who set two Vancouver ballot boxes on fire is now $30,000, thanks to a $5,000 boost from the Arson Alarm Foundation, a fir

If you think 2024 was a year to remember, you'll have a chance to prove it at the Camas Public Library's Big Quiz of the Year on Friday.