NEW & NOTEWORTHY.

WEDGE DAY: Cold Stone Creamery is hosting free wedge day from 4 to 7 p.m. today at its stores and offering sample tastes of its newest product, the wedge, a prepackaged, individual slice of ice cream pie.

The wedge, priced between $3.49 and $3.99 each, is available in three flavors - mudslide pie (chocolate ice cream layered with sweet cream ice cream in an Oreo cookie pie crust with imported chocolate), cafe latte (Oreo cookie crust with coffee ice cream, nougat, chocolate chips, almonds and cinnamon) and white chocolate raspberry (white chocolate ice cream layered with raspberry ice cream, imported chocolate, white chocolate chips and raspberries in an Oreo crust).

For a sample (while supplies last), stop by Cold Stone Creamery locations in Calabasas (4799 Commons Way), Glendale (132 S. Brand Blvd.), Sherman Oaks (14622 Ventura Blvd.), Northridge (19500 Plummer St.), Camarillo (4986 Verdugo Way) or others stores throughout Southern California.

- Natalie Haughton

ORANGE MINTS FOR GOBLINS: Tic Tac, the breath mint, is getting dressed up for Halloween. Small packages of seven orange mints each featuring ghosts, bats or pumpkins on the label are packed 30 together in a Halloween box with a suggested retail price of $2.49. You'll find them at Vons and Ralphs. They'll give trick or treaters or partiers a big burst of orange flavor.

- N.H.

CHINESE LANTERN FESTIVAL

To celebrate its 18th anniversary, Chinois on Main is hosting special harvest moon celebration dinners in Chinese Lantern Festival tradition Tuesday and Oct. 10. The feast ($75 per person, menu only) includes shark fin soup with vegetables and glass noodles; stir-fried duck in lettuce cups; steamed red king fish with broccoli; Chinois-style lobster with miso pad-thai noodles in a green curry; braised leg of lamb hot pot; and assorted delights for dessert. There will be entertainment and party favors. The restaurant is located at 2709 Main St., Santa Monica. For reservations or information, call [phone]. FREEBIE LEAFLET

Reddi-wip whipped cream is offering a free leaflet, Shake Up Your Recipes, featuring a bunch of tempting-sounding goodies such as Chocolate Grasshopper, Apple Praline Pie, Old-Fashioned Pumpkin Pie, Pecan Belgian Waffles and more. For a free copy, send a stamped, self-addressed business-size envelope to Shake Up Your Recipes Cookbook Offer, PO Box 5524, Department I, Riverton, NJ 08077-0806 or visit www.reddi-wip.com.

- N.H.

DINING OUT: Oktoberfest time is here, which means brewery restaurants like Karl Strauss and Gordon Biersch are pouring their annual Oktoberfest brews and have scheduled celebration days (Biersch on Oct. 13 and Strauss on Oct. 14) when oom-pah-pah bands will perform.

Look for special German-accented menu items, already in place at Strauss and starting Oct. 13 at Biersch.

Independent restaurants such as the Matterhorn Chef, 13726 Oxnard St., Valley Glen, [phone], and the German Place, 23115 Lyons Ave., Newhall [phone], are also worth consideration. They are usually packed with revelers, especially on October weekends.

There's a Gordon Biersch Brewing Co. at 145 S. San Fernando Blvd., Burbank, [phone], and the local Karl Strauss is at Universal CityWalk, 1000 Universal Center Drive, Universal City, [phone].

Incidentally, octogenarian founder-brewer Karl Strauss will make a personal appearance at the restaurant from 2 to 3 p.m. Oct. 14. He'll undoubtedly be toasting customers with many ``prosits'' during his short stay.

- Larry Lipson

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(1) no caption (Cold Stone Creamery ice cream pie)

(2) no caption (Tic Tac Halloween Mints)

(3) no caption (Reddi-wip)