by Renée Stewart-Hester | Dec 1, 2024 | Featured
I love the scent of December—frosty air filling the outdoors, fresh pine visiting the indoors and cookies baking in an over-worked oven, all of which awaken thoughts of holidays past and underscore the excitement for building another season of memories. As I prepared...
by Katie Tomsche | Dec 1, 2024 | Entertain, Noteworthy, Recipes
While hosting friends and family for holiday dinners, home cooks often need a go-to nibble to keep hungry guests at bay until the meal is ready for its glorious entrance to the dining table. Especially this time of year, it’s tempting to go the “easier” route and...
by Findlay Drabant | Dec 1, 2024 | Entertain
Santa Claus Lane is bustling with festive activities. Visit Santa Claus Lane, and enjoy a variety of festive activities, including a Santa Claus brunch. “[The brunch] is unlike any other in the area,” says Santa Claus Lane founder Paige Terwilliger. The special brunch...
by Renée Stewart-Hester | Dec 1, 2024 | Entertain, People
This jolly couple (LynDelle and Brett Vasey) find joy in sharing the holidays with the community. In case you weren’t aware, logic comes into play when explaining why (this) Santa Claus says, “Ho, ho, ho,” with a British accent—after all, a lot of things are different...
by Joanie Holst | Dec 1, 2024 | History, Noteworthy
From 1895 to 1953, in Wayzata’s Ferndale neighborhood, stood a magnificent, red brick mansion—Highcroft—on a 110-acre estate. Built by the Frank H. Peavey family, the estate also served as a working dairy farm. Beginning in about 1935 through 1942, a Christmas Eve...
by Jennifer Pitterle | Dec 1, 2024 | Featured, People, Sports
Three area players light up the roster of Minnesota’s professional women’s hockey team. It’s not for nothing that Minnesota is often called the State of Hockey. So when the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) launched its first-ever season in 2023–24, it was no...
by Kelly Cochrane | Dec 1, 2024 | Entertain, Featured, Interior Design
A Mound resident circles back to a new career. Little did Laura Lecy know that a COVID-19-induced craft exercise would result in a burgeoning business that is capturing the attention of locals, national customers and the U.S. military. Like most of us, Lecy of Mound...
by Dan Keegan | Dec 1, 2024 | Drinks, Entertain, Noteworthy
Wine can play different roles, especially during the holidays. The team members at Glen Lake Wine and Spirits suggest these wines as ones they regularly give as hostess gifts and keep on hand for company during the season. For your consideration: Mumm Napa: American...
by Renée Stewart-Hester | Dec 1, 2024 | Featured, Local Makers, Recipes
Get them out of storage, and get ready to fill those holiday-themed cookie jars that are hungry for some sweet (and sometimes savory) dough delights. While recipe traditions rule this time of year, surprise the cookie eaters in your house with new recipes from two...
by Emily Gedde | Dec 1, 2024 | Featured, Giving Back, People, Wellness
Wayzata man climbed “the mother of all mountains” to spread awareness about addiction and mental health issues. Ryan Rivard has conquered a lot of challenges in his life. He’s maintained 22 years of sobriety, started a nonprofit to support mental health issues for...
by Raela Schoenherr | Dec 1, 2024 | Book Club, Noteworthy
With highly memorable characters, deep emotion and a story that stays with you, We Begin at the End tells the tale of several residents of a coastal California small town. Author Chris Whitaker writes of 13-year-old Duchess, who cares for her young brother and her...
by Jennifer Pitterle | Dec 1, 2024 | Giving Back, Local Makers
Shirley Buehler’s homemade pies are a hot commodity at The Great Taste, a fundraising gala for the ICA Food Shelf in Minnetonka. For more than 24 years, Shirley Buehler has been something of a heartbeat at ICA Food Shelf, the nonprofit organization that provides food,...
by Renée Stewart-Hester | Dec 1, 2024 | Photo Contest
A resident finds beauty in the depths of winter. “I woke up to the most magnificent frost on a frigid January morning,” says Berit Francis of a not-so-unfamiliar experience for residents of the Bold North. “I was inspired by the intricate frost on the trees and...
by Mollee Francisco | Dec 1, 2024 | Book Club
Author’s debut novel is set in 1990s Excelsior. Romance readers searching for a story that feels like home are in luck. Mound’s Megan Effertz’s debut novel, Maddie + Max, released in April, is set in Excelsior during the 1990s. It’s a time and a place that the 1994...
by Findlay Drabant | Dec 1, 2024 | Gift Guides, Noteworthy, Wellness
While seasonal merriment and joy abound, there’s little doubt that the holidays can be stressful. However, Emily Brisse of Deephaven, an English teacher at Breck School, has a solution—and it also might help with What to Buy gift lists. Brisse is the author of two...
