We haven’t talked about this yet, and it’s a very fun thing for anyone who wants to get all quaint-y and holiday-ish. The sibling towns of Grass Valley and Nevada City both have very cool, throwback-and-stroll weekly Christmas festivals. Grass Valley has its Cornish Christmas on Friday evenings thru Dec 21, and Nevada City has its Victorian Christmas on Wednesday evenings and Sunday afternoons till Dec 23. I still don’t know what the difference is.

Possibly Cornish game hens? Not sure which one does figgy pudding. Actually, not sure what figgy pudding is. Also, a lot of good wineries in that area and both towns have a bunch of tasting rooms.

A new bit of info for anyone going wine tasting up in Amador County - the region near Plymouth. A bunch of the wineries have started charging a tasting room fee - most are $5 or $10 as of Dec. 1 The reason: So it won’t feel like a pub crawl up there. They just want folks not to think of it as free-bee drinking. And most places are being pretty reasonable about it. Example: my friends at Andis. They’re charging $5, and that money can go toward buying a bottle.

And here’s a chance to do some advance planning for January: Dine Downtown runs Weds Jan 9 thru Fri Jan 18. That’s when about 30 restaurants in the central city offer fixed price meals for $30. Also: BaconFest 2013 goes Jan 20-27 thru many Sacramento area restaurants, with specials and bacon-related events. See, who said it has to be grim in January?