Eat Out. Ben & Jerry's free cone day.

Today's the day! Get your free scoop of Ben & Jerry's ice cream today from noon to 8pm at your local participating scoop shop. Stick to the old faves like Chocolate Macadamia, Chunky Monkey or Cherry Garcia, or check out some of the new faves, like the inspired-by-late-night-talk-shows Late Night Snack or Americone Dream.

Sadly, you will only get to choose one. But you're bound to be happy either way -- it's free, after all! Check out the Ben & Jerry's site for more info and locations. Happy free cone day!

-- Chau Tu

Eat Out. Free Starbucks pastry and Ben & Jerry's ice cream.

Christmas came a little early today, with two major chains giving away their goodies for free.

Today marks Starbucks' annual free pastry day. Print off a coupon, and present it with the purchase of any "handcrafted" coffee at a participating Starbucks and get a pastry gratis.

As Starbucks happily points out, their goodies are now sans artificial flavors, dyes, transfats, and high-fructose corn syrup, so you can enjoy a treat guilt free (pretty much).

Free pastry day ends at 10:30 a.m., so go get your free breakfast/brunch ASAP.

Also serving up free treats is the hormone-free ice cream of Ben & Jerry's. Between the hours of 12-8 p.m. people can visit any Ben & Jerry's to get a free scoop of ice cream, but lines get pretty long for this one, so maybe bring a magazine. Their new flavors of Maple Blondie, Peanut Brittle, and Milk & Cookies sound pretty enticing.

A free scoop of ice cream? Yes, please.

-- Lauren Williams