Spend your holidays with the Minnesota Historical Society's tours, performances and music of the season.

Mill City Museum
Star Tribune Holiday Cookie Contest Winners, Dec. 2
Sample holiday treats as the six finalists in the Star Tribune's annual Taste Holiday Cookie Contest create their winning recipes in the museum's Baking Lab.

Holiday Baking Demonstrations, Thursdays in December
Get baking tips and take home a copy of the recipe as staff members demonstrate favorite holiday foods from around the world.

James J. Hill House
Hill House Holidays, Weekends from Dec. 2-23
Join the bustle and excitement of a Gilded Age Christmas, brought to life as the servants of the home prepare for the holidays.

Victorian Christmas Carols, Dec. 16, 17, 19 and 21
The a cappella ensemble Notesmyth, joined by guest harpist Catherine Victorsen, will perform an evening of 19th-century Christmas carols and renaissance madrigals in the home's restored art gallery.

Victorian Christmas Stories, Dec. 26-27
Costumed actors will bring 19th century Christmas traditions to life, performing works by Mark Twain, Willa Cather, O. Henry's "Gift of the Magi" and selections from Dickens' "A Christmas Carol."

North West Company Fur Post
Candlelight Tours, Dec. 9
Warm up by the fireplace and tour the site, witnessing costumed voyageurs as they revel in the season with song and dance.

Alexander Ramsey House
The Homecoming - Christmas at the Alexander Ramsey House, Wednesdays-Sundays from Nov. 24 to Dec. 30
Take a tour of the Victorian home, decorated for the holidays, with 19th-century costumed guides.

The Christmas Toy - Dresdens and Kugels, Dec. 7
Join antiques expert Jim Marrinan to learn about blown glass and paper ornaments found in the Ramsey collection, including Kugels, Dresdens ornaments and much more.

Forest History Center
Christmas in the Logging Camp, Dec. 2
Celebrate Christmas with the lumberjacks in the 1900-era logging camp as they share stories and sing carols, see the draft horses in action, and warm up with cider and cookies.

Charles A. Lindbergh House
A 1917 Christmas with the Lindberghs, Nov. 25 and Dec. 2
Visit Charles Lindbergh’s boyhood home as living history characters portray family members and workers readying the house for the holidays, circa 1917.

Oliver Kelley Farm
Winter on the Farm, Nov. 26 and Dec. 17
Discover what happens on this 1860's working farm during the winter on a guided tour, followed by warm refreshments.

Cornhusk Crafts, Dec. 9
Make a cornhusk doll – favorite toys of children 150 years ago – along with other decorative items for winter holidays.

Historic Fort Snelling
Gift Shop Clearance Sale, Mondays-Saturdays in Dec.
Save at least 25 percent on all merchandise and books.

Minnesota History Center
Kwanzaa Celebration, Dec. 30
Join in art activities, hear folktales, and see West African dance and drumming during this holiday celebration, patterned after harvest festivals that still occur in several parts of Africa at the beginning of the New Year.

Do you have guests visiting from out of town for the holidays? Bring them to the History Center this upcoming weekend (Nov. 24-26) for a lively festival commemorating the opening of “Baseball as America,” a traveling exhibit from the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

• Make your own bobblehead doll
• Get a chair massage from Sister Rosalind Gefre, known for sharing her comforting touch at St. Paul Saints games
• Watch a performance of “Jackie Robinson: Cross the Line” by actor Gregory Gibson Kenney
• Visit with the St. Croix Vintage Baseball Club about the origins of “America’s game”
• Hear from emcee Jim Cunningham, the Twins’ “Minister of Fun” (Saturday and Sunday only)
• See the collections of Minnesota Twins memorabilia collector extraordinaire Clyde Doepner (Saturday only)
• Meet Steve Hoffbeck and Peter Gorton, editor and contributor of “Swinging for the Fences,” and Stew Thornley, author of “Baseball in Minnesota”
• Listen to baseball standards from Twins organist Sue Nelson
• Show your spirit with face painting by Maund Entertainment

From the Doubleday Ball – the first item displayed at the Hall of Fame Museum – to Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire’s record setting bats of 1998, the exhibition (running through March 4, 2007) features artifacts from every aspect of baseball’s past. The Museum Adventure Pass will not be accepted for this special exhibit.

The national tour of "Baseball As America" is sponsored by Ernst & Young.