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?”

OK, all you Catholics, lapsed and practicing, Sister is back and she's not putting up with any nonsense in her class even if it is Christmas and everyone's jacked up on sugar and excitement and bouncing off the parochial school walls. The Christmas party will have to wait until after the lesson. And the lesson is, of course, the story of the Nativity.

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.

Bill Bishop sums his life in one sentence -- "I'm the luckiest man in the world. For the biggest part of my life I have got to do what I love."

Donaldson Way student wins holiday art contest

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.

Quicker than you can say Starbucks, appliance-makers are heating things up in the kitchen with built-in coffee brewing systems designed for the homes of cappuccino- and latte-lovers everywhere.

During a recent repair to our potting shed, we decided to organize our garden tools.

NEW MARKET, Va. -- Leftovers will be a treasured part of the holiday season as long as Thanksgiving turkey or Christmas goose continue to headline family menus.

It's cold and often wet outdoors now -- a good time to think about bringing some of the beauty of nature indoors to enjoy. Stores are filled with glitzy, often garish and usually expensive decorations this time of year. With a little imagination and some foraging in your yard for fruits, flowers and other plant material, you can create an infinite variety of colorful, graceful and appealing arrangements.

On Sunday, art lovers and those in the market for a house have a rare opportunity to shop for both. At an open house at 1146 Ragatz Lane in north Napa, visitors can tour a cutting-edge home and enjoy specially chosen artwork, available for sale, which complements the interior.

Shopping for the holidays -- Part II

From the outside, the yellow house on the wide north Napa street is typical of the neighborhood. Nothing spectacular.

Darrel and Marlene (Hassenplug) Howatt of Napa celebrated their 50th anniversary on Nov. 10. After a family dinner at Jonesy's Steak House, they continued their celebration with a cruise of the Hawaiian islands. The couple met Easter weekend in 1956 at the Post 550 Legion Dance in Vallejo and were married on Nov. 10, 1956. They have lived in Napa County for 48 years.

CORRALES RIVERA-TORRES AYALA -- Carlos Ivan Corrales Rivera, 21, Chaucer Lane, American Canyon, to Margarita Torres Ayala, 27, Chaucer Lane, American Canyon.

William "Bill" Howden and Candiss Pridmore, both of Napa, announce their engagement to be married in May 2008 in Napa.

Queen of the Valley

The daughters of Howard and Elsie Goines: Nan Nelson of Crossville, Tenn.; Danna Shirley of Bartlett, Tenn.; and Paula Belden of Napa, wish to announce the celebration of their parents' 65th wedding anniversary.

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.