COOKING CLASS, TARGET FREE FAMILY SATURDAY HIGHLIGHT DECEMBER PROGRAMS

Two popular programs wrap up the year at the Japanese American National Museum in December with the family-oriented Kidding Around the Kitchen offering a special "Winter Family Breakfast Feast" cooking class on Saturday, Dec. 5, and the continuing series, Target Free Family Saturdays, winding up 2009 with a theme of "Let’s Celebrate!" on Saturday, Dec. 12, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Beginning at 11 a.m. on Dec. 5, Kidding Around the Kitchen will lead participants through a series of recipes appropriate for chilly winter months. Among the dishes useful for hearty breakfasts or brunches that will be taught will be a tofu custard with a ginger/maple sauce and homemade applesauce which could be eaten with potato pancakes. Fees for this class are $25 for members (includes participation for one adult and one child plus supplies) and $35 for non-members. To make reservations, call (213) 625-0414.

Kidding Around the Kitchen’s goal is to bring families together by teaching them how to eat smarter, both health-wise and economically, while letting all members participate. Their approach includes a "how to" get everyone involved in the family meal. Kidding Around The Kitchen is for families that have full plates in life as well as wanting a full plate of food to enjoy together. For more information on Kidding Around The Kitchen visit: www.kiddingaroundthekitchen.com.

For the December Target Free Family Saturday event, "Let’s Celebrate!", visitors will be able to make their own Christmas ornaments, see a great improv show and create their own edible menorah or Christmas tree on Saturday, Dec. 12. At 1 p.m., the improvisation group, Cold Tofu, will deliver a holiday show appropriate for the whole family. Cold Tofu is the nation’s premier Asian American comedy improv and sketch group. It is dedicated to promoting diverse images of Asian Pacific Americans through comedy and to developing multiethnic talent through education and performance and has almost 30 active members today.

Kidding Around the Kitchen returns to run a workshop from 1 to 4 p.m. to enable participants to create a menorah or Christmas literally good enough to eat. From 2 to 3 p.m., a Japanese American Santa Claus will be available and at 3 p.m., Alice’s Jive Bomber’s concert will take place. This concert will feature songs and scenes from the holiday classic, "A Jive Bomber’s Christmas", which first premiered at the National Museum in the 1990s.

Among the hands-on activities available all day are creating a decorative snowflake using beaded pipe cleaners; designing and creating your own wrapping paper for gifts; making an ornament using a sampling of materials used in previous arts and crafts projects; and folding an origami ornament. This day continues the National Museum toy drive to benefit Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. Visitors are encouraged to bring an unwrapped new toy that will be given to the young patients at the hospital during the holidays.

Generously sponsored by Target, these special free Saturdays are filled with fun activities giving families unique ways to learn, play, and grow together. The National Museum will continue this series in 2010 with free events scheduled for eight different second Saturdays. For more information on these programs, call the Japanese American National Museum at (213) 625-0414, or go to www.janm.org.