Sweet Tooth

Papabubble Ample 28 011-34-93-268-86-25 www.papabubble.com A 200-gram jar costs $6.50; lollipops $3-$7.25. "And if you want a giant lollipop the size of a tennis racquet," says Tang, "that's 50 euros [$60]. " Tuesday-Friday 10 a.m.-2 p.m. and 4-8:30, Saturday 10-8:30, Sunday 11-7:30. Patisseria Escribà Rambles, 83 (next to La Boqueria) 011-34-93-301-60-27 www.escriba.es Daily 8 a.m.-9 p.m. and at Gran Via, 456 011-34-93-454-75-35 Rings about $36. Weekdays 8 a.m.-2 p.m. and 5-9 p.m., weekends 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Fruits...

CLUBS & DANCE NIGHTS THE CANDY FACTORY Satisfy your sweet tooth at this Willa Wonka-themed party at the Greatest Bar, where DJ Breeazy and DJ Tao are in charge of keeping the music sweet. Dec. 31, 9 p.m. Tickets: $50-$125. 21+. The Greatest Bar. 262 Friend St., Boston. 617-335-5582, www.thegreatestbar.com. RESOLUTION BALL Get spiffed up and say "so long" to 2011 in style. The 14th annual Resolution Ball is black tie optional and includes hors d'oeuvres, cocktails, and music from DJ Samuel L and the Felix Brown Band.

LIVERPOOL - Most days folks flock to the Monro restaurant on Duke Street for its cozy atmosphere, regional specialties, and cask ales, custom brews delivered just shy of maturation and served only when the resident cellarman determines that they’ve reached peak flavor. There’s nothing finer than settling into a dark wood booth in this historic building, tucking into toad in the hole (sausages baked in the popoverlike Yorkshire pudding), and sipping a Filly Drift by the fire. But once a month this popular gastropub goes straight for the sweet tooth.

Ready or not, here they come. The holidays are nigh, and between shopping, cooking, and travel plans, amid the ribbons and bows, the latkes and candy canes, there are plenty of events to enjoy during this festive season. Gingerbread House Workshops, Concord Calling all architecture buffs with a sweet tooth: six Gingerbread House Workshops are being offered at Verrill Farm in December. Each participant will receive an assembled, undecorated gingerbread house, along with frosting and candy, including gumdrops, peppermints, and candy canes.

The publisher Scribner stirred debate in literary circles this summer when it published a new edition of Ernest Hemingway’s “A Moveable Feast.’’ Scribner called it “restored.’’ Among the matters under debate is whether a classic should be reworked. The story behind the new edition is tangled up in Hemingway’s personal life. When he committed suicide in 1961, he was working on a memoir of Paris in the 1920s. His fourth wife, Mary, prepared the “Moveable Feast’’ manuscript for publication.

CLUBS & DANCE NIGHTS THE CANDY FACTORY Satisfy your sweet tooth at this Willa Wonka-themed party at the Greatest Bar, where DJ Breeazy and DJ Tao are in charge of keeping the music sweet. Dec. 31, 9 p.m. Tickets: $50-$125. 21+. The Greatest Bar. 262 Friend St., Boston. 617-335-5582, www.thegreatestbar.com. RESOLUTION BALL Get spiffed up and say "so long" to 2011 in style. The 14th annual Resolution Ball is black tie optional and includes hors d'oeuvres, cocktails, and music from DJ Samuel L and the Felix Brown Band.

Ready or not, here they come. The holidays are nigh, and between shopping, cooking, and travel plans, amid the ribbons and bows, the latkes and candy canes, there are plenty of events to enjoy during this festive season. Gingerbread House Workshops, Concord Calling all architecture buffs with a sweet tooth: six Gingerbread House Workshops are being offered at Verrill Farm in December. Each participant will receive an assembled, undecorated gingerbread house, along with frosting and candy, including gumdrops, peppermints, and candy canes.

Tavern in the Square 189 Washington St., Salem 978-740-2337 taverninthesquare.com Open Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 1 a.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 10:30 a.m. to 1 a.m.; late night menu Thursday through Saturday, 11 p.m. to midnight Major credit cards accepted Accessible to the handicapped Reservations accepted before 6 p.m. for parties of eight or more Thursday through Saturday Bar favorites like nachos, wings,...

BARCELONA -- Toothpaste sales must be up in this town. Either that, or the city's dentists are doing brisk business. Or both. Fueled by a mix of funkiness, glamour, and, well, bugs, Barcelona is becoming a hard candy hot spot. Nowhere is the mania as evident as it is at Papabubble when they are making candy. To find the shop, stroll to the bottom of La Rambla -- Barcelona's best-known street -- hang a left and walk until you hit the line of gawkers spilling out the door. Inside, you'll find partners Christopher King and Tommy Tang bending sugar to their wills, 165 pounds a day. ...

The Arab Table: Recipes and Culinary Traditions , By May S. Bsisu, William Morrow, 372 pp., $34.95 It's a curious thing about Middle Eastern cooking. Like Southern French, Italian, Greek, Turkish, Israeli, and North African cooking, it's one of the Mediterranean cuisines. But even after decades of enthusiasm over these sunny dishes, somehow the region has mainly come to signify French and Italian. In "The Arab Table," May S. Bsisu has set out to change that, pull Mediterranean attention to the east, and stake a claim to an underserved cuisine.

Tavern in the Square 189 Washington St., Salem 978-740-2337 taverninthesquare.com Open Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 1 a.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 10:30 a.m. to 1 a.m.; late night menu Thursday through Saturday, 11 p.m. to midnight Major credit cards accepted Accessible to the handicapped Reservations accepted before 6 p.m. for parties of eight or more Thursday through Saturday Bar favorites like nachos, wings,...

LIVERPOOL - Most days folks flock to the Monro restaurant on Duke Street for its cozy atmosphere, regional specialties, and cask ales, custom brews delivered just shy of maturation and served only when the resident cellarman determines that they’ve reached peak flavor. There’s nothing finer than settling into a dark wood booth in this historic building, tucking into toad in the hole (sausages baked in the popoverlike Yorkshire pudding), and sipping a Filly Drift by the fire. But once a month this popular gastropub goes straight for the sweet tooth.

The publisher Scribner stirred debate in literary circles this summer when it published a new edition of Ernest Hemingway’s “A Moveable Feast.’’ Scribner called it “restored.’’ Among the matters under debate is whether a classic should be reworked. The story behind the new edition is tangled up in Hemingway’s personal life. When he committed suicide in 1961, he was working on a memoir of Paris in the 1920s. His fourth wife, Mary, prepared the “Moveable Feast’’ manuscript for publication.

Papabubble Ample 28 011-34-93-268-86-25 www.papabubble.com A 200-gram jar costs $6.50; lollipops $3-$7.25. "And if you want a giant lollipop the size of a tennis racquet," says Tang, "that's 50 euros [$60]. " Tuesday-Friday 10 a.m.-2 p.m. and 4-8:30, Saturday 10-8:30, Sunday 11-7:30. Patisseria Escribà Rambles, 83 (next to La Boqueria) 011-34-93-301-60-27 www.escriba.es Daily 8 a.m.-9 p.m. and at Gran Via, 456 011-34-93-454-75-35 Rings about $36. Weekdays 8 a.m.-2 p.m. and 5-9...

BARCELONA -- Toothpaste sales must be up in this town. Either that, or the city's dentists are doing brisk business. Or both. Fueled by a mix of funkiness, glamour, and, well, bugs, Barcelona is becoming a hard candy hot spot. Nowhere is the mania as evident as it is at Papabubble when they are making candy. To find the shop, stroll to the bottom of La Rambla -- Barcelona's best-known street -- hang a left and walk until you hit the line of gawkers spilling out the door. Inside, you'll find partners Christopher King and Tommy Tang bending sugar to their wills, 165 pounds a day. ...

 To see a whole lot of waterfront — and waterfront attractions — meander along Boston's HarborWalk, which right now includes almost 40 miles of pedestrian- and bike-friendly public access at the water's edge. (Remember, it's not all continuous.)  617-482-1722, bostonharborwalk.com The Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway runs from Chinatown to the North End — about a 30-minute walk if you don't stop to play in Rings Fountain or ride the carousel (which, by the way, has an opening party on May 17 from 6 to 8 p.m.)