In 2006, Berkeley Repertory Theatre arranged to send four shows from the Bay Area to the Big Apple — now it celebrates the new year with four new plays.

The rich and colorful pageantry of the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble, complete with dazzling costumes and choreography based on traditional Hungarian folk dances, will come to the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts at UC Davis next month.

“Breaking and Entering” — Writer-director Anthony Minghella leaves viewers with their faces pressed to the glass, looking in on but not really involved with this dramatic study of a London couple and an immigrant mother and son whose lives cross over a series of burglaries.

“We know what happened to the myrrh and the frankincense — Mary used them as a sort of potpourri. They were in a barn after all. But who was the culprit who made off with the gold coins and left Mary, Joseph and the infant Jesus in that lousy stable without any chance to upgrade to a suite?”

On a recent visit to Tomales Point Elk Preserve in Point Reyes National Seashore, where I had taken my Toronto cousin for the afternoon, I rounded a curve on our way out of the park, when a 10-point elk appeared before us just a few yards from the road.  He was magnificent — tan, chocolate and beige coat gleaming in the late afternoon sun, his stunning set of antlers forming a breathtaking sight against the backdrop of a perfectly blue sky. For a fleeting moment I thought I had stepped into the setting of the new British flick “The Queen.”

Woody Guthrie wrote Hanukkah songs, and his evocative lyrics proved to be a great match for the music of the Klezmatics, who recently finished work on an album of newly recorded Hanukkah songs titled “Woody Guthrie’s Happy Joyous Hanukkah.”

Recounting the rich history and reliving the timeless sounds of phenomenal Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, the award-winning Broadway musical “Jersey Boys” answers the musical and philosophical question, “How did four would-be wise guys from Newark, N.J., become one of the greatest chart-topping successes in pop music history?”

When the 50 original contestants reconvene in Los Angeles on Wednesday to crown “The Biggest Loser” on the reality TV show, Cheryl Forberg will be there, almost as proud as they are about their svelte new shapes.

Education

Dr. Connie Guttersen says you have to love to eat to be successful on her Sonoma Diet, a diet inspired by Mediterranean, Latin American and Asian cuisines.

Betty Teller

It’s traditional to eat latkes, also called potato pancakes, during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. The eight-day candle-lighting festival begins this year on the night of Dec. 15.

Truth be told, it’s kind of fun to announce plans to spend a day with the CIA, even if the answer to the subsequent question — “Doing what?” — is “baking cookies.”

No apres-ski menu is complete without chili. It’s a great way to warm up, and fill up, after burning calories cutting tracks in the snow.

Each Tuesday The Register reviews an area restaurant, with an emphasis on establishments where a couple can dine for $30 or less. Reader suggestions are welcomed.

Say sauvignon blanc and many think of the great Pouilly-Fumés and Sancerres from the Loire Valley in France or maybe the strikingly different New Zealand whites.

About 2 million people enjoy zinfandel on a frequent basis, and nearly one-fourth of them have at least four cases of the wine at home.

The public is invited to attend a meeting of the Napa Valley College Viticultural and Winery Technology advisory committee on Friday, to discuss the current and future activities of the department.

It seems that just about every month a report is published telling of a new study that links wine to improving people’s health.

Dangers to pets lurk throughout the house all year, but especially during the holiday season.

Holiday classes at Whiting nursery

In the area of do-it-yourself home projects, one of the last frontiers is the closet. The average price of a master-room closet renovation is $3,500, according to Closets, a trade magazine. In an article in AOL Money & Finance, the Association of Closet Storage Professionals says do-it-yourself closets represent a $2 billion industry that has grown by 25 percent every year for the past five years.

William "Bill" Howden and Candiss Pridmore, both of Napa, announce their engagement to be married in May 2007 in Napa.

Israel Torres and Nadia Pena, both of St. Helena, married on June 17 at the St. Helena Catholic Church. The reception was held at Muray Hall.

Keiser Jesse Patrick Keiser of American Canyon and Jennifer Louise Schindler of Napa were married on July 22 at 5 p.m. at the Napa home of the bride's mother and step-father. The reception was held at the same location. It was the hottest day of the year.

Mr. and Mrs. Walter Brett of Park City, Utah, are pleased to announce the marriage of their daughter Kirsten Condas Brett to Michael Roy Valine, son of Vernon and Diana Valine of Napa. They were married July 1 at the Lodge at Torrey Pines in La Jolla. Michael is a landscape architect with Urban Arena, a landscape architecture and planning firm, and Kirsten teaches fourth-grade in the San Marcos Unified School District. They spent their honeymoon in Mexico and currently reside in Del Mar.

Bronwyn D. Carlson of Napa and Martin J. Morrison III of West Allenhurst, N.J., announce their engagement to be married on April 28, 2007, in Napa.

George and Marge (Williams) Rusch of Knoxville, Tenn., celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in Berkeley on Nov. 27. It was an early celebration with extended family at the Claremont Resort and Spa in Berkeley. They had dinner with extended family at the home of nephew and niece, Erle and Sara Pinkerton Flad. The couple was married on Dec. 22, 1956, and lived in Napa County for 33 years. They moved from Napa two years ago to reside with their oldest daughter after many wonderful years in Napa. George and Marge miss their friends in Napa.

Monica Diana Batanero and Dr. Ryan Michael Crowley were married Sept. 23 at St. Timothy Catholic Church, Laguna Niguel. Anna Batanero Rochester, sister of the bride, was matron of honor. Dr. Brooks Larsen was best man. Ushers were Brent and Bryan Crowley, brothers of the groom; and Mike and Roy Batanero, brothers of the bride. The couple chose passages from scripture read by Jaime Crowley, sister of the groom; and Danny and Maryhelen Batanero, brother and sister-in-law of the bride. Three-year-old Elizabeth Batanero, the bride's niece, was flower girl.

FREITAS-KURTZ -- Robert John Freitas, 24, Viewridge Drive, Angwin, to Esther Noelle Kurtz, 23, Viewridge Drive, Angwin.

SPANTON -- Michael Spanton vs. Alice Spanton. Nov. 27, 2006