Thursday,  January 16 , 2025

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Photo of Monika Spykerman

Stories by Monika Spykerman

Columbian staff writer

Rabbi Shmulik Greenberg leads the crowd at Esther Short Park as they celebrate the beginning of Hanukkah with the lighting of the menorah Thursday evening, Dec. 7, 2023.
This creamy hot cocoa with marshmallows and Ovaltine will warm your tummy and your spirit.

Make your own glow as 2024 comes to an end with homemade hot chocolate

This creamy hot cocoa with marshmallows and Ovaltine will warm your tummy and your spirit.

December 18, 2024, 6:05am Clark County Life

It hasn’t been a good year in Monika’s kitchen. Recipe after recipe went terribly wrong (see last week’s “madeleine madness,” for example). I flubbed so many attempts I began to suspect I was under some evil cookery hex. I started to call it The Curse of 2024. Read story

A Kwanzaa celebration will be from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at the Clark County Event Center at the Fairgrounds, 17402 N.E. Delfel Road, Ridgefield.
“I’m Done!” by Gretchen McLellan, illustrated by Catherine Lazar Odell, and “No Party Poopers!” by Gretchen McLellan, illustrated by Lucy Semple.

Snuggle up for storytime with these Clark County children’s authors and their new books

“I’m Done!” by Gretchen McLellan, illustrated by Catherine Lazar Odell, and “No Party Poopers!” by Gretchen McLellan, illustrated by Lucy Semple.

December 12, 2024, 6:05am Clark County Life

Do your children or grandchildren need more mice? How about kites, birds, beavers or fairies? Read story

These Chocolate Orange Madeleines could have been delicious. Read how I went horribly wrong.

Madeleine madness or how to make chocolate madeleines taste terrible

These Chocolate Orange Madeleines could have been delicious. Read how I went horribly wrong.

December 11, 2024, 6:04am Clark County Life

Among chocolate’s many merits are its ability to play well with other flavors. I love chocolate and mint, chocolate and raspberry, chocolate and cherry, chocolate and ginger and especially chocolate and citrus. When I was in college, I used to make myself a hot chocolate by brewing orange or lemon… Read story

The Christmas Ships parade will ply the Columbia and Willamette rivers this month.

All that glitters: From Christmas Ships to ZooLights, illuminating displays abound throughout the holiday season

The Christmas Ships parade will ply the Columbia and Willamette rivers this month.

December 10, 2024, 6:10am Clark County Life

’Tis the season when twinkling lights illuminate our nights, making the darkness merry and bright. One light show is making a debut — Winter Gleam at Oaks Amusement Park in Portland — but several light shows have been going strong for decades, including the Christmas Ships parade, which is celebrating… Read story

(Taylor Balkom/The Columbian)

Five Clark County dance groups offer ‘Nutcracker’ tales for the holidays

(Taylor Balkom/The Columbian)

December 5, 2024, 6:08am Clark County Life

Clark County is flush with Nutcrackers this year. Five dance companies are undertaking either full-length productions of Tchaikovsky’s original 1892 ballet or adaptations with nods to local history or modern times. Read story

Choose your tree and visit with Santa when you ride the Chelatchie Prairie Railroad's popular Christmas Tree Train, with excursions every Saturday and Sunday through Dec. 22. Family pack prices include four tickets and a tree.

Roadwork will cause delays on Highway 503 near Battle Ground

December 2, 2024, 2:09pm Clark County News

Roadwork will cause delays of up to 20 minutes north of Battle Ground on state Highway 503 at the roundabout near Rock Creek Road, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation. Read story

The 12 Days of Christmas, Clark County style

November 30, 2024, 6:13am Clark County Life

The instantly recognizable “The Twelve Days of Christmas” is a late 18th-century English carol. It’s been associated with many different tunes but the melody we know and love is English composer Frederic Austin’s 1909 version. The lyrics mention a number of gifts — partridges, leaping lords and so on —… Read story