10 unique holiday date ideas on the Peninsula

From lion dances to calligraphy lessons, here’s how you can mark the Year of the Rabbit. Lunar New Year has arrived and Peninsula cities, libraries and local groups are hosting a variety of events marking the advent of Year of the Rabbit. From music and dance performances to hands-on crafts, here’s a sampling of a variety of ways to celebrate the new year.

Dave Sands’ podcast delves into how restaurateurs got their start. Dave Sands has tried a number of career paths since becoming a professional chef after graduating from the City College of San Francisco’s Hotel and Restaurant Program. The San Francisco native and Redwood City resident spent five years...

Take advantage of San Mateo County’s new free college program and learn about the history of video games, interior design or magic and witchcraft. For the first time, the San Mateo Community College District has waived the tuition and enrollment costs for all of its classes this spring as part of a new pilot program for county residents. The district includes three community colleges: Cañada College in Redwood City, College of San Mateo and Skyline College in San Bruno. Classes start Jan. 17.

Friends of the Palo Alto Library hosts its High Value Sale this weekend. A week before the Friends of the Palo Alto Library (FOPAL) are due to hold their next book sale, volunteers at the group’s headquarters at Cubberley Community Center are sorting and arranging the contents of banker’s boxes and library carts, stocking neatly labeled shelves with books on travel, art, cooking, graphic novels, tomes on religion, politics, history and a large selection of fiction.

Naiel Chaudry is starring on the latest season of ‘Kids Baking Championship’ and sharing Asian American fusion desserts through their venture Lá Jawab. Two years ago, Los Altos siblings Naiel and Punhal Chaudry started their culinary adventure with great intentions and some help from YouTube. During the COVID-19 lockdown, they wanted to do something nice for their mom, a front-line doctor, and dad, an entrepreneur and engineer. They had been watching some cooking shows and wanted to try it themselves, so they took on the challenge of becoming the chefs behind a date night for their parents.

Gulab jamun and salted guava are among the unique flavors that can be found at Ketki Dandekar and Arshiya Shaikh’s ice cream shop. Sunnyvale residents Ketki Dandekar and Arshiya Shaikh had built a friendship around their shared backgrounds long before the pandemic hit. Both women worked in the finance technology industry, their kids had gone to the same preschools and elementary schools, and they shared a nostalgia for the Indian desserts they grew up with.

Putting together puzzles is more than a pandemic pastime for Emma Taylor, founder of the Peninsula Puzzlers. On a rainy Saturday in January, 25 teams of two gather in Redwood City for a competition testing their patience, strategy and speed. The rules: no pauses, no teammate substitutions, no spatulas and no magnifying glasses.

We compiled a list of the organizations and businesses raising funds for the victims of the Jan. 23 shootings, as well as memorial events and local mental health resources. The Coastside community and the wider Bay Area are stepping up to support families of victims of the Jan. 23 shootings that killed seven farmworkers and wounded another in Half Moon Bay, as well as the farmworker community as a whole. At the same time, many are still trying to process the horrific events of that day. Below you’ll find a running list of fundraisers as well as other useful resources. Please send additional recommendations to [email protected]

Wray discusses her book, which is framed around her decision about whether to have a child in a climate crisis, and advice for navigating the stormy seas of climate change. Britt Wray, a Stanford postdoc who lives in the Santa Cruz Mountains, talked to The Six Fifty about her book “Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an Age of Climate Crisis,” which debuted last year. In its pages, she discusses the mental health impacts of the climate crisis, especially on young people who are increasingly agitated that the planet is facing unprecedented threats due to the actions of previous and current generations.