daily californian logo

BERKELEY'S NEWS • NOVEMBER 20, 2023

Picks of the Week: Baking, bison and beeswax candles to prepare for Halloween

article image

WIKIMEDIA | CREATIVE COMMONS

SUPPORT OUR NONPROFIT NEWSROOM

We're an independent student-run newspaper, and need your support to maintain our coverage.

OCTOBER 15, 2018

Happy Monday, Berkeley.

Maybe you already have tickets to St. Lucia’s concert tonight at August Hall, or maybe you’re willing to splurge to buy them at the last minute. But if not, spend a night with the other saints of 2010s pop music: Vincent, Raymond and Motel.

Start off with the oddly inspirational video for St. Lucia’s “Dancing On Glass,” and transition into the equally upbeat “Young Blood” by Saint Raymond. Then, I’m a sucker for any song off Saint Motel’s 2016 album saintmotelevision, but I have particular soft spots for “Local Long Distance Relationship (LA2NY)” and “For Elise,” a riff on Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Für Elise.” And round out the night with the country-crossing tunes “New York” and “Los Ageless” from St. Vincent’s 2017 release MASSEDUCTION. Check out our playlist for some more saintly suggestions.

Or maybe you’re not in the mood for music, in which case you can watch the delightful 2007 movie “St. Trinian’s,” which centers on an all-girls school for juvenile delinquents, an art heist and a quiz show. It’s available on Amazon Prime for $3.

Now, Tuesday is Oct. 16, marking the 23rd anniversary of the Million Man March in Washington, D.C. in support of Black activist issues. It’s also the date that the Mormon-serving Brigham Young University was founded in Provo, Utah, as well as the date that Jadwiga was crowned the first queen of Poland in 1384. I don’t know for sure, but any of these facts could come in handy if you go to “Trivia Tuesday” at Anchor Public Taps in San Francisco’s Potrero Hill neighborhood. This 21+ event promises food trucks and prizes, along with 16 different beers on tap.

Or if reciting facts isn’t your forte, you could just sit back and listen to others talk about them instead at “Nerd Nite SF” at Rickshaw Stop on Wednesday. This monthly series brings science and music together, as experts present on “nerdy” topics with musical backing from DJ Alpha Bravo. This time, the lectures will focus on spinal health in space, sex addiction and squids’ ability to feel pain. The show starts at 8 p.m., and tickets cost $8.

Then Thursday is for arts and crafts in preparation for Halloween, which is just 13 days away. You could head to the Museum of Craft and Design in San Francisco for “Make: October,” a $6 event that offers a plethora of crafts for you to create. Try your hand at beeswax candles, foam pumpkins, paper marigolds and more from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. If you don’t feel like trekking all the way into the city, stay in and work on some projects that will turn your abode into a haunted house (or apartment). Hit up Ohmega Salvage in West Berkeley for some funky pieces, then make spooky figurines or potion bottles.

On Friday, catch a flick at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive with Cine/Spin at 8:30 p.m. This free-for-students event puts a classic silent film up against a score by UC Berkeley student DJs. This semester’s iteration features Jean Cocteau’s 1932 film “The Blood of a Poet,” as well as music from artists such as Connor Mikami, Vinay the Buddha and Versâam. If that’s not enough, there will also be refreshments and a surprise short film.

The “Contemporary Muslim Fashions” exhibition has been open at the de Young Museum for about a month now, so if you haven’t seen it yet, check it out Saturday. The collection features everything from sportswear to high fashion in a setup that includes personal narratives, runway footage and news stories. Tickets are $19 for students, including access to the rest of the museum.

Once you’re done, explore the rest of Golden Gate Park. Meander the three miles from the museum to Ocean Beach, passing by Stow Lake, the bison paddock and the windmills. For dinner, head to the Beach Chalet for a meal with a view or the Park Chalet downstairs for a more casual experience. The menus at both restaurants have a fair amount of overlap, but no matter which you choose, I’d save room for dessert, which can include options such as a chocolate pot de creme or a pumpkin mousse.

Personally, this week marks the midpoint of my midterm season — four down, three to go. So to relax on Sunday, I might take a picnic down to the Berkeley Marina and check out the Shorebird Park Nature Center, which has multiple fish tanks and a variety of displays on marine life.

As far as the picnic goes, I could whip up a quick batch of blue cheese pasta. Cook and drain your pasta, then toss in some butter, milk and a hefty chunk of Original Blue, made by the Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company, and stir until you get a cohesive sauce. I’d eat this as is, but you can also throw in any toppings you want — I’d recommend roasted cauliflower, sauteed leeks and/or crumbled sausage.

And recently I’ve been watching “The Great British Baking Show” nonstop, so for dessert, I might try my hand at a Victoria sandwich cake. If anything goes wrong during your bake, former host Mary Berry has some tips for how to make your Victoria sandwich cake shine.

While you’re waiting for your pasta water to boil or your sandwich cake to bake, read theater beat reporter Nikki Munoz’s interview with Alexandra Grabow, a student set designer for “70 Scenes of Halloween,” the most recent production by the campus department of theater, dance, and performance studies. Grabow describes the process of falling in love with theater, as well as her tips for being the only student on a professional design team — as she says, “I just ask a lot of questions.”

And if you have any pumpkin-related crafts or pasta concerns, let me know: [email protected]. I love emails as much as kayakers love hitchhiking seals.

Until next time.

Contact Ketki Samel at [email protected]. Tweet her at @ketkisamel.
LAST UPDATED

OCTOBER 15, 2018


Related Articles

featured article
Maybe the events of last week — Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court, UC Berkeley’s abysmal equity index score and the disappearance of Washington Post columnist and Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, for a start — have made you feel a sense of deep dissatisfaction in governments, both local and global.
Maybe the events of last week — Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court, UC Berkeley’s abysmal equity index score and the disappearance of Washington Post columnist and Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, for a start — have made you feel a sense of deep dissatisfaction in governments, both local and global.
featured article
featured article
And happy October! Halloween season is upon us, and so is your chance to celebrate National Pickled Peppers Month or American Cheese Month. On a more serious note, though, October is also a time to try to make the world a better place — it’s National Domestic Violence Awareness Month and Bullying Prevention Month, among many other things.
And happy October! Halloween season is upon us, and so is your chance to celebrate National Pickled Peppers Month or American Cheese Month. On a more serious note, though, October is also a time to try to make the world a better place — it’s National Domestic Violence Awareness Month and Bullying Prevention Month, among many other things.
featured article
featured article
Monday’s a full moon — the harvest moon, to be precise — and it’ll be quite the show. You could sit outside in a lawn chair and enjoy the last warm weather of the season while you stargaze.
Monday’s a full moon — the harvest moon, to be precise — and it’ll be quite the show. You could sit outside in a lawn chair and enjoy the last warm weather of the season while you stargaze.
featured article