Logan Square pastry market offers one-day window into home baking

Chicago

Sweet home Chicago

Remember bakeries and the scent of freshly baked bread, cookies and treats? Grocery chains may have taken the place of the corner bakery, but you can get your fill at the Logan Square Kitchen Pastry Market, a delicious one-day-only event that offers a taste of small batch, sustainable pastry, cake, ice cream and handmade confections. Local food artisans, dedicated to pastries and confections, create and sell treats you can take home for your Valentine or yourself. Some featured vendors will be baking in the Logan Square Kitchen so you can see a sustainable kitchen in action, ask questions and learn more about the craft.

10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 13, at Logan Square Kitchen, 2333 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. Visit logansquarekitchen.com.

Blues clues to a winter getaway

No matter what the temperature, some authentic Windy City blues will warm you especially when you book the Chicago Mart Plaza's Winter Blues package. For $109 per night, enjoy deluxe accommodations for two and parking at the newly renovated downtown hotel. The redesigned guest rooms are equipped with a 32-inch LCD flat-screen television, full bath amenities and complimentary high-speed wireless Internet. You'll also snag two-for-one admission to the Back Porch Stage at the House of Blues for the "Late Night Blues" show and receive a CD featuring Blues legends like B.B. King, Muddy Waters and Taj Mahal.

Through April 4 at Chicago Mart Plaza, 350 W. Mart Center. Make a reservation at (312) 836-5000 or martplaza.com and use the booking code IKOTHBLU.

Jam masters

Kids climbing the walls with cabin fever? Inject a little sensory overload at the monster truck show Monster Jam. Expect freestyle and racing competition among custom-designed machines that average 12 feet tall by 12 feet wide and sit atop 66-inch-tall tires and weigh a minimum of 10,000 pounds. The trucks are built for short, high-powered bursts of speed, generate 1,500 to 2,000 horsepower and are capable of speeds of up to 100 miles per hour. These behemoths can fly a distance greater than 14 cars side by side and up to 35 feet in the air. Kids will adore vehicle names like Grave Digger, Monster Mutt, Taz, Nitro Circus and Instigator.

7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 12; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 13; and 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 14, at the Allstate Arena, 6920 N. Mannheim Road in Rosemont. Tickets start at $20 for adults and $10 for children 12 and younger and are available at the Allstate Arena box office, all Ticketmaster outlets, online at ticketmaster.com and at (800) 745-3000. All opening-night tickets, with the exception of Gold Circle and front row, cost $10. Visit MonsterJam.com.

Midwest

To Dye for golf

Golfing at one of America's new public courses is just a drive away at Indiana's French Lick Resort, the site of the 2010 PGA Professional National Championship. Experience the new Pete Dye course with one of the resort's early-season golf packages. Accommodations are at either of the resort's French Lick Springs Hotel or the West Baden Springs Hotel.

All packages begin on Monday, March 15, and end dates vary. Package rates start at $259. Call (888) 936-9360 or visit frenchlick.com.

Hone technique at Shanty Creek

Michigan's Shanty Creek celebrates the 40th birthday of Schuss Mountain by offering an avalanche of skiing and lodging specials including a $10 lift ticket. The deal is available at Shanty's Summit Mountain ski area for the entire ski season. It comes with an optional $15 rental package. A family of four could rent equipment and ski all day on Summit Mountain for $100 or only $40 if they have their own skis. Shanty Creek is a 4,500-acre recreational complex of three separate villages just northeast of Traverse City, Mich.

Now through Sunday, March 21, at Shanty Creek in Bellaire, Mich. Call (800) 678-4111 or visit shantycreek.com.

Romancing the snow

Sneak your sweetie to the 36th Annual Winter Festival, "Romancing the Snow," in Cedarburg, Wis., over Valentine's Day weekend. Just 20 minutes north of Milwaukee, enjoy hay wagon rides to view the Ice of Hearts ice-carving contest; an eat-your-heart-out chili contest; a Winter Festival parade; Fools Rush In costume bed-racing competition; All's Fair in Love and War Co-ed Sno-Ball Tournament; Puppy Love Alaskan Malamute Dog Weight Pull Competition; family skating; grown-up fun at Cool Brews & Blues, which offers a sampling of assorted specialty beers and appetizers from area restaurants; and live blues music in the evening. All events are open to the public and most are free.

8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 13, and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb 14, in Cedarburg, Wis. All events are open to the public and most are free. Call (888) 894-4001 or visit cedarburgfestivals.org.

Worth the trip

If you want to get out of the cold and into the sun this spring, mosey down to Tumbleweed Park in Chandler, Ariz., for the 2010 Ostrich Festival. You can celebrate the largest bird in the world with lots of activities for the whole family. Two stages host a variety of music including some national headline acts and a midway for kids and adults. Ostrich races (complete with human jockeys) may be the highlight and there will be all kinds of food available from traditional fair favorites to ostrich burgers. Explore exhibits, games and shows, and the Kids Zone is loaded with all kinds of toys, bounces, animals and games. Expect plenty of rides, a live ostrich display, pig races, a stunt and thrill show, medieval jousting and an archery show.

2 p.m. to midnight, Friday, March 12; 10 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, March 13; and 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday, March 14. Tickets cost $9 for adults; $8 for seniors; $7 for kids 5 to 12 and free for children 4 and younger. Call the Chandler Chamber of Commerce at (480) 963-4571 or visit ostrichfestival.com.