Wild Thyme can help with holiday cooking, New Year’s Eve plans

Wild Thyme Cooking, 1060 Chinoe Road, will present a class on preparing a Feast of the Seven Fishes, a traditional Italian Christmas Eve meal, at 6 p.m. Dec. 17. Cooking this holiday meal could be intimidating with the variety of fish and seafood at one setting. Chef Allison Davis and her professional staff will break it down and teach how to recreate this meal for friends and family on Christmas Eve. Class is $60 per person. Book online at Wildthymecooking.com.

Also, at 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 19, Wild Thyme will present the holiday edition of the cooking with bourbon classes. You can learn how to create a holiday meal featuring bourbon. Class is $65; co-hosted by the Bourbon Belle Society. Theresa Stanley will have mixology tips and more. For group pricing, call 859-523-2665. This is the last bourbon class of the year, and attendees will get special giveaways.

Wild Thyme also has a special New Year’s Eve dinner, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Enjoy a couples’ dinner of six candlelit courses, featuring Lexington Pasta, surf and turf, sorbet and champagne toast for $80 per person. Make reservations online.

▪  The 2016 Beyond Grits dining guide, otherwise known as date night wish book, is out. This year’s version includes listings of several restaurants that joined Lexington’s culinary scene in the last year, including OBC Kitchen, Vinaigrette Salad Kitchen, Tony’s, Middle Fork Kitchen Bar, Buddha Lounge, Pasta Garage and Kentucky Native Café. Another new section includes unique experiences such as the Lexington Farmers Market and a local doughnut trail.

▪  Looking for gift ideas? Good Foods Co-op, 455 Southland Drive, has selected 12 Kentucky-related food picks for giving. Here’s what made their list: Gents Original (ginger ale made in Lexington), $11.99; Magic Bean Coffee, $11.99; Back Porch Hot Sauce from Winchester, $6.99; Kentucky Honey Farms of Midway, $6.99 to $16.99; Amaz Chocolate, $7.99; Crank & Boom Ice Cream, $4.99 to $7.99; Red Clover Dip of Louisville, $5.99 to $6.99; Sassa Bella Gift Sets of Harrodsburg, $13.49 to $32.49; Nate’s Organic Coffee’s Yo! Wake Up! & Congo Kivu, $13.99 to $14.99 per pound; Warrior Soaps, $10.99; Sweetgrass Granola of Crab Orchard, $6.99; Kenny’s Farm House Cheese of Austin, $10 to $19.99 a pound.

▪  Clawdaddy’s, 128 North Broadway, is offering holiday take-out specials with 36 hours notice including Maine crabmeat and shrimp dressing serving 10-12 for $90 and wasabi crabcake hors d’ouvres, 20 for $70 or deviled crab in eight individual shells for $80.

▪ Come for Breakfast with Santa from 8 to 10 a.m. Dec. 12 at Oleika Shrine Temple, 328 Southland Drive. Breakfast of pancakes, sausage, coffee and juice is $5 for adults and $3 for children. Kids can sit on Santa’s lap and have a picture made.

▪ Waveland State Historic Site, 225 Waveland Museum Lane in Lexington, will have a Dickensian Christmas and candlelight tour Dec. 11-12. Relive Christmas of the past with scenes from the classic story, A Christmas Carol. Santa will be in the parlor reciting the story, The Night Before Christmas. Enjoy cookies and hot cocoa while shopping in the log cabin gift shop. It’s open 6-9 p.m. Tickets are $7 for adults, $6 for seniors and children 6 and under are free. Call 859-272-3611 for information.

▪ Natural Bridge State Resort Park in Slade will hold a Breakfast with Santa and Craft Fair on Dec. 12. Breakfast starts at 8 a.m., followed by pictures with Santa in the Hemlock Lodge lobby at 9 a.m. There will also be a build-your-own toy workshop in the Magnolia Room and a crafts fair in the Trillium Room at 9 a.m. Call 606-663-2214 for more information.

▪ Former Lexington resident Jessica Welman was among the very last customers at Billy’s Bar-B-Q, which closed Nov. 29. She made a pilgrimage with her mother and sister to their favorite barbecue joint for the last time. She’s written a touching story about it on her blog, Culturalnitpickery.com. Fair warning: have a tissue handy. This is about much more than smoked meat, this is about love.

This story was originally published December 10, 2015 at 1:43 PM with the headline "Wild Thyme can help with holiday cooking, New Year’s Eve plans."