13th Annual Great Fruitcake Toss
Is it the 13th annual already? On Jan. 5, gather up your uneaten fruitcakes and put them to perhaps their best use at this yearly fare-thee-well to the Christmas season in Memorial Park in Manitou Springs. Separate categories for kids and adults, and for hurl, toss and pneumatic-tossing techniques. Who knew there were so many ways to launch a fruitcake? and click on “Events” for details. Tucker Shaw
Learn new words and feed the hungry
Set aside a couple of minutes to click on freerice.com and test your vocabulary while fighting global hunger. For every correct click, Free Rice donates the cash equivalent of 20 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program. The site has two goals: Provide English vocabulary to everyone for free and providing free rice to hungry people. The rice is paid for by the site’s advertisers, which already had contributed $100,000 toward food rations for 26,000 Burmese refugees in Bangladesh.
Ali Baba Grill
Already a solid local favorite in Golden, Ali Baba Grill has extended its empire into Highlands Ranch. Excellent Middle East favorites, from fattoush to falafel, anchor this informal eatery’s menu, tailor-made for once-a-week family visits. Bonus: extensive catering services, so you don’t have to face another steam-table grape jelly meatball at your next office shindig. 8800 S. Colorado Blvd., Highlands Ranch, 720-344-2650. Tucker Shaw
Icebox Bakery
Tired of making cookies yet? You can cut way back on the labor, but still get delicious, home-baked cookies using all-natural, slice-and-bake cookies. Ice Box Bakery, a Net-based business started by a couple of Boulder-based pastry chefs, offers flavors of sugar, peanut butter, “cherry pie” and more. Order at
Douglas Brown
