Knott’s Spooky Farm Celebrates the Halloween Season

Knott’s Spooky Farm Celebrates the Halloween Season

By Erin
*We were given media tickets to go and enjoy Knott’s Spooky Farm for purposes of this post. All thoughts and opinions reman my own*
Knott's Spooky Farm at Knott's

Knott’s Spooky Farm is here and it’s time to enjoy the spooktacular Halloween season! This family-friendly Halloween celebration is geared for kids ages 3-11. Families can join in on the ghoulish fun as the park is transformed with themed décor and wicked fun around every corner. The fall Season of Fun offers Halloween-themed activities that celebrate the season, including trick-or-treating, a line-up of original shows, pumpkin decorating and the brand-new Calico Carnival Costume Cavalcade. In Ghost Town, little ghouls can trick-or-treat around the town’s shops and buildings to collect sweet treats from the friendly townsfolk. Knott’s Spooky Farm takes place on weekends through October 31st.

We took my niece to Spooky Farm for the first time and she had a blast! She has never gotten to go on rides yet since all the parks were closed the past year and change. Needless to say she LOVED it and now wants to go on ALL the rides.

You can find Charlie Brown, his best friend Snoopy and the beloved PEANUTS Gang celebrating the spooky holiday with their own Halloween costumes at special meet & greets and fun photo encounters throughout Camp Snoopy. Kids ages 3 -11 can participate in a memorable trick-or- treating experience available along Ghost Town’s Main Street and Schoolhouse Road. During trick-or-treating, kids will interact with an array of spooky but friendly shopkeepers as little ones have the opportunity to show off their festive Halloween costumes. In Ghost Town, Stanley Scarecrow has opened the Livery Stable for guests of all ages to get close and personal with the Creepy Critters of Calico.

It was my niece’s first time trick-or-treating, she caught on fast. She wanted to go up to everyone afterwards for more trick-or-treating. At the schoolhouse she was so sweet, she wanted to share her candy with the teacher! But of course… NO EATING is allowed in class! lol *She had a super cute Super Woman costume, but it was very hot out that day, so she didn’t want to wear it.*

Whimsical jack-o-lanterns surround Calico Park as it changes into an enchanting Pumpkin Patch location for families to enjoy the atmosphere of the season with photo ops and crafters. Miniature pumpkins or Halloween cookies can be decorated for a nominal fee. Linus can be spotted at the pumpkin patch, helping little ones pick out their very own perfect pumpkin. Gals and ghouls are in for a treat as new fun Halloween-themed shows are in store with the Bob Baker Marionette Theatre Show at Birdcage Theatre. These peculiar puppeteers will amaze all with a spooky puppet show.

At Camp Snoopy, families can hop aboard the Grand Sierra Railroad, joining Linus in the Pumpkin Patch as he and Sally await the arrival of The Great Pumpkin because Halloween isn’t complete without this timeless tale from the Peanuts Gang. Additionally, The Camp Snoopy Theater is debuting the Great Pumpkin Palooza show, where you’ll get more than a rock as you join Snoopy and the Peanuts Gang for a high-energy music tribute to the best holiday ever, Halloween.

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Salt Creek Grille Celebrates National Dessert Month & Fundraiser for Bracken’s Kitchen

Salt Creek Grille Celebrates National Dessert Month & Fundraiser for Bracken’s Kitchen

By Erin

Salt Creek Grille is one of my favorite restaurants to dine at in Southern California (you can check out more of the food I’ve tried before here). For the month of October they are celebrating National Dessert Month with a Fundraiser for Bracken’s Kitchen. If you love all things pumpkin then you will want to have this dessert everyday. It’s the perfect fall treat and it’s for a great cause!

Salt Creek Grille, a bi-coastal, premium casual dining concept with five iconic restaurants in California and New Jersey, is having a fundraiser in October to benefit Bracken’s Kitchen, an much-admired and innovative non-profit organization that recovers, re-purposes and restores food to provide healthy meals to those experiencing hunger and food insecurity in Orange County. During October, which is celebrated across the country as National Dessert Month, proceeds from every dessert sold at Salt Creek Grille in Dana Point will be donated to the non-profit.

Salt Creek Grille’s Corporate Executive Chef has created a special, limited-edition dessert for the month — the Pumpkin Fireball, a delectable mélange of Japanese pumpkin cake, pumpkin cheesecake bites, cinnamon ice cream, crisp graham cracker and pumpkin seed crumble, and topped with a “fireball” toasted marshmallow puff and salted caramel. Guests can also choose among several other perennial dessert favorites on the menu, such as Tres Leche Bread Pudding, Butterscotch Custard, Flourless Chocolate Cake, The Creek S’mores, Butter Cake, Seasonal Fruit Sorbet, and a Chocolate Ganache Soufflé that is made-to-order and finished tableside.

“Here at Salt Creek Grille, we long have admired the amazing and truly valuable work of Chef Bill Bracken and so respect his mission to end hunger in our community,” said Sri Divel, partner, Salt Creek Grille. “We couldn’t’ think of a more fun and delicious way to support his work at Bracken’s Kitchen than with a fundraiser built around everyone’s favorite part of a meal – dessert!”

“With over 299,000 people struggling to put a meal on their table every day here in Orange County it truly takes a village to conquer this monumental problem,” said Bill Bracken, Founder and Culinary Director, Bracken’s Kitchen. “I have always felt that if the culinary and hospitality industry can’t help solve the issues of hunger in America than who can? As a long time fan of the Salt Creek Grill concept, I am truly honored to have them in our corner and helping us to combat food insecurity one tasty meal at a time.”

About Bracken’s Kitchen

Bracken’s Kitchen is a 501(c)(3) organization based in Orange County California.  Founded in 2013 their mission is simple: Through food recovery, culinary training and their community feeding program they are committed to recovering, re-purposing and restoring both food and lives. What that means in practical terms is that the days are spent in the kitchen doing what they do best, cooking tasty and nutritious meals for those who struggle to feed themselves and their families.  Through their food truck Betsy and network of partners, they are able to distribute thousands of complete, hot, tasty and nutritious meals every week.

We all share the two most basic human needs for survival, the need to breath and the need to eat.  The problem is that air is free, and food is not.  It is that simple fact that gives food such enormous power over a person’s life. There is no better way to intimately get to know a person than sitting down and breaking bread with them.  They deliver hope, one tasty meal at a time.  The heart of who they are can be found in a statement first uttered in 1957 by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr;  “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others?”

At the core of their mission is a deep commitment to their nonprofit charity partners, business and professional supporters, volunteers, donors and employees.

About Salt Creek Grille

Now with five restaurants in Southern California and New Jersey, award-winning Salt Creek Grille opened its first restaurant in Dana Point, California, in 1996. The upscale yet casual and affordable American-theme grill has since expanded to El Segundo and Valencia in California, and Princeton and Rumson in New Jersey.  Salt Creek Grille’s longevity can be attributed to its legendary hospitality and innovative cuisine from its “scratch kitchen.” Fresh, hand-cut, line-caught seafood, thick, center-cut and aged steaks, slow-cooked ribs, the best-in-town burgers cooked atop a hardwood grille, and the freshest produce available are at the heart of this now iconic restaurant company. Absolutely nothing is pre-made including its delectable desserts and flavorful sauces and stocks such as its famous homemade jus, which is cooked for more than 72 hours. Wines from boutique vineyards and well-known cellars are paired with impeccable service and a friendly and comfortable ambiance. Along with innovative food, Salt Creek Grille has a long history of supporting non-profit organizations in the communities it serves. www.saltcreekgrille.com.

Knott’s Scary Farm 2019

Knott’s Scary Farm 2019

By Kirstin

Boo! It is that time of year again when all of the ghosts, ghouls and every un-dead creature roams our favorite Southern California theme park! I am of course talking about Knott’s Scary Farm 2019!  Back for it’s 47th year, the preview that we went to last week spoke of new horrors we could never have imagined in the wildest fog of our nightmares!

Scary Farm 2019 will be 26 frightful nights from September 19- November 2nd, 2019.

Every inch of Knott’s Scary Farm is filled with the un-dead, bloodcurling beasts, spine-chilling scares, and un-earthly surprises.  14 haunted attractions await those who dare to enter the parks other-worldly domain.  There will be 4 spine tingling scare zones, 9 menacing mazes, and the spooky overhaul of Timber Mountain Log ride!

This year, 2 new mazes will join the time tested favorites.

Imagine hearing strange noises and eerie lights coming from the old abandoned wax museum!  Spooky enough in the day time, the prominent plastic surgeon, Dr. Augustus Scratch, welcomes you to stay… forever. Those wax figures look awfully familiar, don’t they? Ignore the rumors of bloodcurdling screams that filled the nights before.  What was that noise?! It must be the new WAXWORKS Maze!

All fans of Knott’s Berry Farm are familiar with the history of Calico Ghost Town, aren’t they? Why do you feel strange ghostly presence as you stumble through the fog walking through Calico? Discover how Sarah Marshall is put on trial for suspected crimes of witchcraft and discover who is behind all of the curses through the town, the Green Witch! What are all those horrific creatures with the eternal thirst for the living? Oh those are just the Calico townsfolk whom she cursed! Find ORIGINS: The Curse of Calico, if you dare.

Need a break from being scared out of your minds?  Knott’s Scary Farm has teamed up with the Jim Henson Company to make a show that will have you peeing in your pants for a different reason! You might actually only die laughing though. PUPPET UP!-Uncensored will have your sides splitting as you the audience control this outrageous, off-the-cuff live show featuring a combination of improvisional comedy and the magic of puppetry performed by world class comedian puppeteers. Think, Whose Line is it Anyway but a little more raunchy and brazen. With Brian Henson(son of Jim Henson) and  Patrick Bristow(director of Ellen, Seinfeld and Whose Line is it Anyway), this show is a win-win. However, I do NOT recommend this show for younger audiences due to its adult content.

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