Bulletin Board:Knead Answers?: If you’re having trouble...

Bulletin Board:

Knead Answers?: If you’re having trouble with bread machine recipes, have a question about baking with yeast or just have a general baking question, call Fleischmann’s Yeast Hotline at (800) 777-4959.

Tips and Strategies: Nancy Mueller, president of Nancy’s Specialty Foods, offers helpful hints for happy hosting in a free booklet. Send requests to Entertaining Ideas, Nancy’s Specialty Foods, 6500 Overlake Place, Newark, CA 94560. Free.

Not Just a House: Be transported to the Bavarian Alps when you view a giant Alpine village sculpted entirely of gingerbread. Chef Patrick Lowe’s edible creation includes houses and buildings, trees, street lamps with twinkling lights, Santa and his reindeer and a traditional Alpine tramway. Through Dec. 31. Main building lobby, Miramar Sheraton, 101 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica. Free.

Today:

class icon/Classic Christmas: Learn to prepare an English Christmas feast of prime rib and Yorkshire pudding, along with all the sides and sauces. Also offered Dec. 11. Reservations required. 6:30 p.m. Home Economics, 6499 E. Pacific Coast Highway, Long Beach. (562) 430-3967. $45.

Saturday:

class icon/Three Hot Tamales: The traditional Mexican Christmas meal is all about tamales. Learn to make tamales de chile rojo, tamales de jalapen~o y queso, sweet tamales and Mexican rice. Reservations required. 10 a.m. to noon. Crafty Kitchen, 15667 Brookhurst St., Westminster. (714) 531-9504. $25.

Nutcracker Sweets: Bring your 5- to 10-year-old sugar plums to a storytelling and cookie-making class. Reservations required. 1 to 3 p.m. Cook-Lit, 7839 Henefer Ave., Westchester. (805) 525-0465 or (310) 645-9820. $17.

Sunday:

booksigning icon/Delicious Deli: Merle Horowitz, author of “The Great Deli Cookbook: A Voluptuous Adventure,” will sign and discuss his book. 1:30 to 4 p.m. Williams-Sonoma, 339 N. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills. (310) 274-9127. Free.

booksigning icon/Traditions Transformed: Recipes from residents of the Jewish Home for the Aging and their family and friends are collected in “Mama Cooks California Style: New Twists on Jewish Classics.” Proceeds from a book signing and food tasting will benefit the Home for the Aging. 2:30 p.m. Barnes & Noble, 8800 Tampa Ave., Northridge. Free. (do food samples and signatures cost money? Is there a surcharge on the book? Where else do the proceeds come from? kg)

booksigning icon/Wine Country Tour: Join Dennis Schaefer for an afternoon of wine, hors d’oeuvres and conversation when he signs his book, “Touring the California Wine Country.” 3 to 5 p.m. Intermezzo Cafe at Wine Cask, 813 Anacapa St., Santa Barbara. (800) 436-9463. Free.

Tuesday

Molds and Presses: Make your own cookie and shortbread molds with oven-proof clay. 7 to 10 p.m. Farrin O’Connor Design Studios, 146 W. Bellevue Drive, Pasadena. (626) 796-1837. $45.

Food-related event information should be submitted at least two weeks before publication date. Mail to Food Section Datebook, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053 or fax to (213) 237-7355. No phone calls, please. Submissions are subject to editing and condensation and are printed on a space-available basis.