Each year, the publication ranks its top 20 whiskeys of the year based on price, accessibility for buyers and, of course, taste, including scores from a blind panel of international judges.

Old Elk Distillery (253 Linden St., Fort Collins) made the list in 2023 with its Port Cask Finish straight bourbon. It ranked No. 15 out of 20 and received a score of 94 points (out of 100) from the tasting panel. Old Elk was the only local spirits maker on the list, which showcased liquors from a collection of whiskey heavyweights from Kentucky to Scotland and beyond.

“We are very proud to be recognized by Whisky Advocate for our Port Cask Finish Bourbon utilizing our high malt bourbon whiskey. The end product is the culmination of Old Elk’s desire to transcend the industry through innovation,” master distiller Greg Metze said by email. “The award is an honor and tribute to the passionate and skilled people that we have at Old Elk.”

What makes this recipe unique is the way it’s finished. Old Elk takes its straight bourbon and does a secondary aging for 10 months to one year in port wine barrels from Portugal, giving it ripe fruit notes against aromas of oak and sweet honey.

“The palate is redolent with spice and fruit, practically oozing with red berry compote, cinnamon, cocoa powder, and a bit of nuttiness,” Whisky Advocate noted. “Add water, and those chocolate and cinnamon notes become even more vibrant. On the finish, there’s candied sweetness and more spice, both also expanding delightfully with a dash of water.”

Old Elk Port Cask Finish bourbon retails for $90 per bottle. The distillery’s products are widely available at retail liquor stores across Colorado. Drinkers can also buy select bottles online at shop.oldelk.com.

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Fireworks are a quintessential New Year’s Eve event, whether your plans include a raucous party or a chill gathering of friends. Only a couple of cities on the Front Range will be hosting fireworks this year, so they are bound to be prime attractions.

Or you could head to the mountains where many towns will be shooting fireworks off early to accommodate kids (and the cold). Most include a torchlight parade, in which skiers carry flares for a spectacular visual effect as they come down the mountain.

Join us as we count down the 10 best places to see New Year’s Eve fireworks in Colorado.

Downtown Denver

The 16th Street Mall (1001 16th St., Denver) will be the epicenter of the Mile High City’s New Year’s Eve celebrations, with a free, outdoor block party featuring multiple fireworks shows. At 9 p.m. and midnight, fireworks will illuminate the skyline and DJs along the promenade will play a soundtrack to the 8-minute show. Live music will continue between displays, too, for NYE revelers in the area.

Find more information at denver.org/event/new-years-eve-fireworks/108069/.

Parker

Douglas County celebrates New Year’s Eve with a fireworks-inspired drone show at EchoPark Stadium (11901 Newlin Gulch Blvd., Parker) starting at 7 p.m. Attendees will be able to watch from the parking lot and because no food or drinks will be for sale, they can also bring their own.

Find more information at douglas.co.us/event/new-years-eve-drone-show/.

Keystone

The best spots for viewing Keystone Resort’s NYE fireworks display, which starts at 7 p.m., will be at the base of River Run Gondola and River Run Village (100 Dercum Square, Keystone). That is, unless you choose to go night skiing, in which case you can take in the spectacle from the slopes.

Find more information at keystoneresort.com/explore-the-resort/activities-and-events/events-calendar.aspx.

Copper Mountain

Skiers celebrating the end of the year with laps at Copper Mountain can join a party in the Center Village (206 Ten Mile Circle, Frisco) that kicks off with a torchlight parade at 6 p.m. and ends with fireworks at 10 p.m. A DJ will spin tunes as vendors sell food and drinks at this free, family-friendly event.

Find more information at coppercolorado.com/things-to-do/events/december-events/new-years-eve-2023.

Vail

The Vail Ski and Snowboard School kicks off the NYE fun with a torchlight parade down Golden Peak (75 S. Frontage Road, West Vail), followed by fireworks that will be visible throughout the mountain town. The parade starts at 6:15 p.m. and fireworks start at 6:25 p.m.

Find more information at discovervail.com/event/new-years-eve-torchlight-parade-fireworks/.

Beaver Creek

The Winter Circus comes to Beaver Creek Village (26 Avondale Lane, Avon) to add a little wonder to this New Year’s Eve. The party starts with a 6 p.m. “ski down” the mountain, during which 200 skiers equipped with glowsticks will traverse the slopes down to the base where aerialists, contortionists, jugglers, break dancers, and fire dancers will be performing. Enjoy food and drinks until fireworks go off over Beaver Creek Mountain at 10 p.m.

Find more information beavercreek.com/explore-the-resort/activities/beaver-creek-events.aspx.

Aspen

Fireworks will illuminate the sky over Aspen Mountain at 8 p.m. on New Year’s Eve. Before the show, stop by the outdoor pedestrian mall in downtown (at the intersection of Mill Street and Cooper Avenue, Aspen) to enjoy music, firepits, hot chocolate and entertainment such as winter fairies and stilt walkers (noon to 3 p.m.). Or head to the Aspen Ice Garden and go ice skating for free from 3 to 6 p.m. (233 W. Hyman Ave., Aspen).

More information at aspenspecialevents.com/new-years-eve/.

Snowmass

So you’ve watched a torchlight parade, but have you ever participated in one? Snowmass invites intermediate skiers ages 8 and up to join its New Year’s Eve torchlight parade – no lift ticket required. The parade starts at 6 p.m. and cascades down Fanny Hill before a fireworks show at 10 p.m. To watch the festivities, head to the Snowmass Base Village (84 Carriage Way, Snowmass Village).

Find more information at gosnowmass.com/event/nye-torchlight-parade/.

Telluride

Dual torchlight parades will descend from the peak of Telluride Ski Resort down the mountains to the town center and to Mountain Village starting at 6:30 p.m. Fireworks follow the parades and visibility will be best from the Mountain Village core (670 Mountain Village Blvd., Mountain Village), which is also a public consumption area. That means you can grab a beer to-go from one of the bars to enjoy during the show.

Find more information at telluride.com/event/new-years-eve-torchlight-parade-fireworks/.

Steamboat Springs

Snowcats decorated with lights will help Steamboat Springs ring in 2024. The snowcat parade precedes a torchlight parade and fireworks to cap off the evening. The free event runs 5:30 to 6 p.m. at the base of the ski resort (2305 Mt. Werner Circle, Steamboat Springs).

Find more information at steamboat.com/things-to-do/events/new-years-eve-fireworks-and-light-up-snow-cat-parade.

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On Monday, the Denver City Council approved a contract that will allow an airport concessionaire to open a Fat Sully’s Pizza restaurant inside Concourse A.

Known for its ginormous New York-style pies, Fat Sully’s is owned by the Atomic Provisions group, which also owns Denver Biscuit Co. and Atomic Cowboy. Airport concessionaire FM Juice Company will operate the pizza shop under the Fat Sully’s name. (All of DIA’s branded concessions, from Tattered Cover to Great Divide Brewing, do business this way.)

The restaurant group declined a request for comment.

The city council also approved a second Chick-fil-A and a second Shake Shack in Concourse A. Both Chick-fil-A and Shake Shack opened their first DIA locations in Concourse B.

Atomic Provisions, owned by former CU Buffs football player Drew Shader, boasts seven Colorado locations with all three restaurant brands, including the newest, which opened this fall, in Golden, and two locations in Kansas City.

Other local businesses with their names at the airport include: Snooze, Heidi’s Brooklyn Deli, New Belgium Brewing, Smashburger, Elway’s, Etai’s, Steve’s Snappin’ Dogs, Boulder Beer Tap House, and Mercantile Dining & Provisions.

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I have my own home, family, and job in my hometown. I’ve lived here for my entire life.

My SO and I have no plans to marry or live together.

Should we try a long-distance relationship, or break up now because our future plans don’t seem to include the other?

— Perplexed in the Midwest

Dear Perplexed: I sense in the subtext of your question that you might feel quite stung by what you perceive as your significant other’s choice not only to leave town, but to leave you.

So yes, you could preempt this still far-off choice by preparing to break up, or you could at least attempt a long-distance relationship by trying to visit one another on a loose schedule. If he lands in a nice spot, you might see this as each of you having something of a second home: a second destination to travel to when you want to.

Most important, however, is the need for each of you to communicate, honestly and frankly, about your future plans — both as individuals and as a couple.

Dear Amy: My husband and I have been married for several years. We’re really happy, with successful careers, a house we enjoy, and two dogs we love.

We honestly love our lives and are not sure about having children. We’re not ruling it out, but we’re also not ruling it in.

Lately my mother has been starting to pressure us. This started out subtly, but then the pressure seemed to grow until over Thanksgiving, when she actually said, out loud, “You owe me grandchildren.”

I was upset and have become more upset over time.

Can she possibly believe that?

What is the best way to react?

— Childfree

Dear Childfree: I can well imagine how this statement might have struck you.

At this point, because you continue to ruminate on it, you should find a way to express your concern to your mother.

I suggest writing down your thoughts and either sending her a letter or email, or just using your written down thoughts as a blueprint for a conversation.

To clarify what you already know: You do not owe it to anyone to have children.

You could ask your mother, “Do you really believe that I owe you grandchildren?” She might respond that no – she just really wants grandchildren.

She might believe that because she gave everything to you as you were growing up, that now it’s time for her to collect. Or maybe a lot of her friends are now experiencing grandparenthood, and she wants that, too.

Basically, you should patiently query her, listen carefully to her responses, and then lower the velvet boom: “Mom, you want what you want. And I want what I want. Pressuring me to have children for your sake is out of bounds. We may have children. We might not. But fulfilling your needs can’t be part of our decision-making, and I’d appreciate it if you understood that and respected this boundary.”

Dear Amy: On that pesky subject of tipping, here’s a situation I am wondering about.

When in a bakery where the customer goes to a counter, points to an item they want, an employee behind the counter puts the item in a bag, hands it to the customer, and handles the credit card transaction, is a tip expected now?

The credit card software now asks what tip the customer wants to leave, even when there’s no service rendered other than handing an item to a customer.

This can lead to embarrassment, as well as not wanting to frequent that bakery, any more — at least on my part.

Am I out of line? Have the tipping gods now decreed we must tip everyone?

What’s going on? It feels as though we are being shamed into tipping any time a credit card is used. What to do?

— Confused

Dear Confused: Back when we paid cash for most things, a bakery or coffee shop might have a tip cup on the counter where you could deposit the leftover change from your transaction if you chose to.

I agree that this automatic tip option does induce a feeling of pressure and I will run any responses from business owners explaining their reasoning.

You might start a “resist the tip!” movement.

(You can email Amy Dickinson at askamy@amydickinson.com or send a letter to Ask Amy, P.O. Box 194, Freeville, NY 13068. You can also follow her on Twitter @askingamy or Facebook.)

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Happy Birthday for Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023:

You are passionate, free-spirited and spontaneous. You love to travel. You want to do good. This has been a solid year of work for you. In 2024, expect exciting change. Stay flexible so that you can act fast. Expect to make new friends. Travel plans are likely!

ARIES

(March 21-April 19)
★★★★★
This is an excellent day to explore what further education or training you might get to improve your job and career. Likewise, what travel plans in the future might enrich your life or expand your world? Today’s New Moon is the perfect time to ponder these questions. Tonight: You’re idealistic.

TAURUS

(April 20-May 20)
★★★★
Give some thought to your debt and the arrangements you have with others regarding shared property, shared responsibilities, inheritances and such. What can you do to improve this picture? Legal advice about old issues could be helpful. Tonight: Don’t give away the farm.

GEMINI

(May 21-June 20)
★★★★
Today the only New Moon all year in your House of Partnerships is taking place. Ask yourself how you can improve your closest partnerships and friendships. (Professional or personal.) This is the best day of the year to think about this and explore this opportunity. Tonight: Listen.

CANCER

(June 21-July 22)
★★★★
What can you do to improve your health? Likewise, what can you do to improve your job or how you do important tasks? Today’s New Moon is the perfect day for you to think about this and explore remedies or new ideas. Tonight: Work.

LEO

(July 23-Aug. 22)
★★★★★
It’s important to have the right balance of work and play in your life. Some societies focus on play; some societies focus on work, especially North America. The perfect balance is ideal to promote productivity, health and happiness. Tonight: Creative play.

VIRGO

(Aug. 23-Sept. 22)
★★★★
This is the best day of the year to think about what you can do to improve your family relationships. Likewise, what can you do to improve where you live so that you are happier to come home every day? It’s important to have a secure, pleasant refuge from the world. Tonight: Be sympathetic.

LIBRA

(Sept. 23-Oct. 22)
★★★★
Today the New Moon is in your House of Communications. This is the only time all year this occurs. This means it’s your perfect opportunity to think about how you communicate with others. Do you listen, or are you just waiting for your turn to speak? Actually, good communication is rare. Tonight: Daydreams.

SCORPIO

(Oct. 23-Nov. 21)
★★★★

This is an excellent week to buy wardrobe items. It’s an excellent day to think about how you handle your money. You might ponder ideas about how to boost your earnings or earn more money. Furthermore, think about how you take care of what you own. Tonight: Caution with money.

SAGITTARIUS

(Nov. 22-Dec. 21)
★★★★★
Today is the only day all year when the New Moon is in your sign, making this the perfect opportunity to take a realistic look in the mirror to check out your image. What kind of impression are you making? It’s also a good time to think about how you relate to others. Tonight: Sympathetic feelings.

CAPRICORN

(Dec. 22-Jan. 19)
★★★★
With Mercury retrograde in your sign now, you are likely to encounter ex-partners, ex-spouses and old friends from your past. Nevertheless, you have a strong desire to “hide” or protect your privacy. Today is the day to think about how to do this. Tonight: Solitude.

AQUARIUS

(Jan. 20-Feb. 18)
★★★★
Your friends influence your thinking. Meanwhile, your mind makes decisions about your future. This is why it’s important to hang out with people who benefit you. Life is too short to do otherwise. Do you hang out with quality people? Tonight: Be helpful.

PISCES

(Feb. 19-March 20)
★★★★
Today’s New Moon is the best day of the year to think about your life direction in general. Are you headed in the direction you want to go? Do you know where you want to be in five years? Think about what you want and where you want to go. Tonight: Clarity.

BORN TODAY

Actress Jennifer Connelly (1970), actress Regina Hall (1970), actor Bill Nighy (1949)

The couple announced the birth of their daughter, Amora Princess Wilson, on Monday, a day after the Denver Broncos defeated the Los Angeles Chargers.

“2 wins in less than 24 hours!” Russell Wilson posted on Twitter, adding the baby made her debut at 9 pounds and 1 ounce.

AMORA PRINCESS WILSON
9lbs 1oz
We Love You so much! @Ciara

2 wins in less than 24 hours! pic.twitter.com/UbhZJMIA3T

— Russell Wilson (@DangeRussWilson) December 11, 2023

Amora is the fourth kiddo to join the bunch. The Wilsons share a daughter Sienna, 6, and a son Win, 3. Ciara’s first child, 9-year-old Future Zhair, is with her ex, Future.

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It’s Cookie Week, haven’t you heard? We just published seven new cookie recipes with videos on New York Times Cooking, and there are many more from years past on our YouTube channel, in case you want to revisit Eric Kim’s frosted sugar cookies or Vaughn Vreeland’s eggnog snickerdoodles.

It’s also the moment for potato latkes and the other delicacies of Hanukkah. I personally feel that latkes can make an excellent dinner themselves if they’re properly adorned; I top mine with a schmear of sour cream and a piece of smoked salmon, though no one would be mad about a little caviar or a poached egg. If you’re looking for a meatier main course, Melissa Clark’s paprika chicken below would do nicely.

1. Sheet-Pan Paprika Chicken With Tomatoes and Parmesan

This deeply savory, weeknight-friendly sheet-pan chicken is worth buying a new jar of sweet paprika for, especially if you can’t remember when you got the one in your spice drawer (for those Fourth of July deviled eggs several summers ago?).The fresher the spices, the more intensely flavorful the dish. This one is as pretty as it is complex, with a mix of colorful cherry tomatoes and peppers that soften and absorb all the chicken juices as they roast. Serve it with something to catch the saucy tomatoes: Crusty bread, polenta or couscous all work well.

By Melissa Clark

Yield: 4 servings

Total time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken parts (breasts, drumsticks, thighs or a mix)
• Kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
• 1 1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, plus more for serving
• 2 garlic cloves, finely grated
• 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
• 1 teaspoon Espelette pepper or smoked hot paprika (pimentón)
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes (preferably different colors), halved
• 1 poblano chile or 1 small green bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 cup thinly sliced sweet bell peppers (red, yellow or orange)
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, for serving
• Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Season chicken all over with salt, and place it on a rimmed baking sheet.

2. In a small bowl, stir together olive oil, vinegar, garlic, paprika, Espelette and oregano. Pour over chicken, tossing to coat.

3. Add tomatoes, poblano and sweet peppers to baking sheet, spread vegetables around the chicken. Season vegetables lightly with salt and drizzle with a little more olive oil. Sprinkle Parmesan all over chicken and vegetables.

4. Roast until chicken is golden, crisp and cooked through, 25 to 35 minutes. Stir the vegetables halfway through cooking but don’t disturb the chicken. If white meat is done before dark meat, remove it as it finishes cooking.

5. Transfer chicken to plates. Stir vegetables around in pan, scraping up all the delicious browned bits from the bottom and sides of pan, and stir in the parsley and black pepper to taste. Taste and add salt if needed, and a drizzle of vinegar if you like. Spoon vegetables over the chicken to serve.

2. Baked Salmon and Dill Rice

Fragrant dill rice is a natural accompaniment to salmon, and a complete meal of the two is made easy here by baking them together in one dish. Add fresh or dried dill to basmati rice, which is eventually topped with salmon covered in a tangy, sweet and spicy paste of mayo, lemon zest, honey and dried chile flakes. To ensure the rice is perfectly fluffy without overcooking the fish, the grains are baked until most of the water is absorbed before the salmon is added over the top.

By Naz Deravian

Yield: 4 servings

Total time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups white basmati rice, rinsed and drained
• Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal) and black pepper
• 4 ounces fresh dill, tough stems removed and finely chopped (about 1 cup), or 1/3 cup dried, plus more for serving
• 2 large garlic cloves, finely grated
• 1 large lemon, zested (about 1 teaspoon)
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes, plus more for serving
• 4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets (1 inch thick at their thickest parts), skin on or off

Preparation

1. Place an oven rack in the center position and heat the oven to 400 degrees. In a kettle or a small saucepan, bring 2 3/4 cups water to a boil.

2. To a 9-by-13-inch baking pan, add the olive oil and spread it around the pan. Add the rice, 1 teaspoon salt and the dill, and stir to combine. Spread the rice evenly across the pan. Add the boiling water, stir and cover tightly with foil. Place in the oven and bake until most of the water has been absorbed, 12 to 15 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the garlic, lemon zest, mayonnaise, honey, turmeric and red-pepper flakes. Season both sides of the salmon fillets well with salt (about 1 1/2 teaspoons total) and pepper. Spread the mayonnaise paste on top (or flesh side) of the salmon fillets.

4. Remove the pan from the oven and very carefully lift the foil. Place the salmon fillets on top of the rice, paste side up, reseal and place back in the oven. Bake until the rice is fluffy and the salmon is tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Garnish with more fresh dill and red-pepper flakes.

3. Sesame-Brown Butter Udon Noodles

This weeknight meal is silky, slurpable and so quick to pull off. It follows the tradition of wafu or Japanese-style pasta, and combines brown butter, udon and spinach, but the classic combination of savory sauce, chewy noodle and green vegetable allows plenty of room for improvisation. Instead of soy sauce, you can add umami with Parmesan, miso, seaweed or mushrooms. Instead of black pepper for heat, grab ginger or chile flakes, oil or paste. For more protein, boil eggs or shelled edamame in the water before the udon, or add tinned mackerel or fresh yuba along with the sesame seeds. Udon noodles, found fresh, frozen or shelf-stable, are singularly bouncy and thick; if you can’t find them, use the thinner, dried style that resembles linguine.

By Ali Slagle

Yield: 4 servings

Total time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

• Salt
• 14 to 16 ounces udon, preferably thick fresh, frozen or shelf-stable noodles
• 1 pound baby spinach or coarsely chopped or torn mature spinach
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper, plus more for serving
• 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce, plus more as needed
• Pinch of sugar
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds, plus more for serving

Preparation

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the noodles and cook according to package directions until just tender. Reserve 1 cup cooking water, then add the spinach and press to submerge. (It will continue cooking later.) Drain the noodles and spinach, shaking to get rid of any excess water.

2. Set the pot over medium heat. Add 5 tablespoons butter and cook, stirring occasionally, until the foam subsides, the milk solids turn golden-brown and it smells nutty and toasty, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the black pepper and stir until fragrant. Add 1/4 cup pasta water, plus the noodles and spinach, soy sauce and sugar, and toss until the sauce is thickened and silky. Add pasta water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the sauce clings to the noodles.

3. Remove from heat, add the sesame seeds and stir in the remaining 1 tablespoon butter until melted. Season to taste with more soy sauce and black pepper (if mild) and sugar (if too salty). Serve with more sesame seeds on top.

4. Winter Squash and Wild Mushroom Curry

This is comfort food, Indian-style, adapted from a recipe by Madhur Jaffrey. It’s also vegan, and perfect for a fall evening. Use a mixture of cultivated mushrooms; they come in all shapes and sizes. Look for royal trumpets, a large, meaty type of oyster mushroom; shiitakes, and small portobellos. Use some wild mushrooms too, if you can, like golden chanterelles, lobster or hen of the woods. You can make this as spicy as you wish, but be sure to include some cayenne and green chile, to complement and play off the creamy coconut milk sauce. Serve with basmati rice, rice noodles or mashed potatoes.

Recipe from Madhur Jaffrey

Adapted by David Tanis

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Total time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 10 ounces butternut or other winter squash, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• Kosher salt and black pepper
• 1 or 2 small green chiles, such as jalapeño or serrano
• 3 medium shallots or 1 small onion, finely diced
• 1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
• Handful of fresh or frozen curry leaves (optional)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• Pinch of ground cayenne
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 pound mushrooms, preferably a mix of cultivated and wild, trimmed and sliced 1/8-inch thick
• 3/4 cup coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• Cilantro sprigs, for garnish

Preparation

1. In a wide skillet, heat oil over medium-high. When hot, add squash cubes in one layer. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 2 minutes, letting cubes brown slightly, then flip and cook for 2 minutes more. Use a slotted spoon to lift squash out, and set aside.

2. Cut a lengthwise slit in each chile to open it, but leave whole. (This helps the chiles heat the sauce without making it too spicy.)

3. Add shallots, salt lightly and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and curry leaves, if using, and let sizzle for 30 seconds, then add garlic, coriander, cayenne, turmeric and chiles. Stir well and cook for 30 seconds more.

4. Add mushrooms, season with salt and toss to coat. Cook, stirring, until mushrooms begin to soften, about 5 minutes.

5. Return squash cubes to skillet, stir in coconut milk and bring to a simmer. Lower heat to medium and simmer for another 5 minutes. If mixture looks dry, thin with a little water. Taste and season with salt.

6. Before serving, stir in lime juice. Transfer to a warm serving dish and garnish with cilantro.

5. Chickpea Stew With Orzo and Mustard Greens

A complex and colorful chickpea stew, this is rich with vegetables, olive oil and Parmesan cheese. You can vary the vegetables to use what you’ve got. Here, I keep to the basics, adding carrots for sweetness, fennel or celery for depth, cherry tomatoes for looks. Tender greens, wilted into the bubbling mixture at the end, are optional, but they do add a bright, almost herbal note. I particularly love using baby mustard greens, which are pleasantly peppery. But spinach, arugula and kale work well, too.

By Melissa Clark

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Total time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, more for drizzling
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 small fennel bulb or 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• Pinch of red-pepper flakes
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary (optional)
• 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth (or water)
• 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 3/4 cup roughly chopped cherry or grape tomatoes
• 1/2 cup whole-wheat or regular orzo
• 1 quart loosely packed baby mustard greens or spinach (about 5 ounces)
• Salt and black pepper
• Chopped scallions, for garnish (optional)
• 1/4 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more as needed

Preparation

1. In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high. Add the carrots, fennel or celery, and onion. Cook until tender, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic, red-pepper flakes and rosemary, if using, and cook for another 2 minutes. Pour in the broth, if using, or water, along with another 2 cups water, and bring to a boil.

2. Once the mixture is boiling, add the chickpeas, tomatoes and orzo. Reduce to a simmer and cover with a lid. Simmer 10 minutes, or until the orzo is tender. Uncover and stir in the greens, letting them simmer until soft, about 2 minutes.

3. Add more water if you want the mixture to be more souplike, and season with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls and top with chopped scallions (if desired), grated cheese and a drizzle of olive oil.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” dominated the Golden Globe Awards nominations with nine nods for the blockbuster film, including best picture musical or comedy as well as acting nominations for Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling and three of its original songs.

It was closely followed by its release date and meme companion “Oppenheimer,” which scored eight nominations, including best picture drama and for actors Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr. and Emily Blunt.

The revamped group, now a for-profit endeavor with a larger and more diverse voting body, announced nominations Monday for its January awards show, after scandal and several troubled years, including one without a broadcast. Cedric the Entertainer and Wilmer Valderrama presided over the announcements from the Beverly Hilton Hotel, where the show will also take place on Jan. 7.

Films nominated for best motion picture drama included “Oppenheimer,” Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Bradley Cooper’s “Maestro,” Celine Song’s “Past Lives,” Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall” and Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest.”

In the best motion picture musical or comedy category, “Barbie” was joined by “Air,” “American Fiction” “The Holdovers,” “May December” and “Poor Things.”

Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things” and Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” both received seven nominations each. “Poor Things” saw nominations for Lanthimos, its actors Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Tony McNamara for screenplay and Jerskin Fendrix for score. “Killers of the Flower Moon” got nods for Scorsese, for direction and co-writing the screenplay with Eric Roth, and stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone and Robert De Niro.

“Barbie” tied for second-most nominations in Globes history with “Cabaret,” from 1972. Robert Altman’s “Nashville” remains the record-holder with 11 nominations. It went into the morning as a favorite top, and got a big boost from its three original song nominations, including “I’m Just Ken,” and one of the year’s new categories, recognizing cinematic and box office achievement. One person who was not nominated was America Ferrera, who delivered the movie’s most memorable monologue.

“Succession” was the top-nominated television program, with nine nods including for series stars Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong, Sarah Snook and Kieran Culkin.

The box office achievement category nominated eight films, including “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” “Oppenheimer,” “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” “Mission: Impossible -Dead Reckoning,” “John Wick: Chapter 4” and “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.” Several years ago the Oscars attempted to add a similar “popular film” category, but it proved to be an immensely unpopular decision and was scuttled amid backlash.

As always there were some big surprises, like Jennifer Lawrence getting nominated for her bawdy R-rated comedy “No Hard Feelings” for best performance by a female actor in a musical or comedy. She was nominated alongside Robbie, Stone and Fantasia Barrino (“The Color Purple”), Natalie Portman (“May December”) and Alma Pöysti (“Fallen Leaves”).

“The Color Purple” was expected to do better with the Golden Globes. The adaption of the stage musical got only two nominations total for Barrino and Danielle Brooks for her supporting performance.

Cord Jefferson’s comedy “American Fiction” also came up with only two nods, best musical or comedy and for lead actor Jeffrey Wright.

Sofia Coppola’s widely acclaimed “Priscilla” got only one nomination, for actor Cailee Spaeny’s portrayal of Priscilla Presley. Her category mates in best female performance in a drama include Gladstone, Annette Bening for “Nyad,” Sandra Hüller for “Anatomy of a Fall,” Greta Lee for “Past Lives” and Carey Mulligan for “Maestro.”

The Globes won’t have to worry about anyone criticizing its “all male” directors this year, however. Gerwig was nominated as was Celine Song, for her romantic debut “Past Lives,” alongside Nolan, Scorsese, Cooper and Lanthimos.

Netflix got the most nominations overall, with 13 total for a slate which included “Maestro,” “May December” and “Rustin,” followed by Warner Bros., which made “Barbie,” “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” and “The Color Purple” with 12.

Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon” was not nominated at all. Instead, its star Joaquin Phoenix was recognized for “Beau is Afraid” in the lead actor comedy/musical category, with Wright, Matt Damon (“Air”), Nicolas Cage “Dream Scenario,” Timothée Chalamet (“Wonka”) and Paul Giamatti (“The Holdovers”). Michael Mann’s “Ferrari,” with Adam Driver, also got zero nominations.

Here are a selection of other nominees:

Animated film: “The Boy and the Heron”; “Elemental”; “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”; “The Super Mario Bros. Movie”; “Suzume”; “Wish.”

Non-English language film: “Anatomy of a Fall”; “Fallen Leaves”; “Io Capitano”; “Past Lives”; “Society of the Snow”; “The Zone of Interest.”

Best actor in a television drama: Brian Cox, “Succession”; Kieran Culkin, “Succession”; Gary Oldman, “Slow Horses”; Pedro Pascal, “The Last of Us”; Jeremy Strong, “Succession”; Dominic West, “The Crown.”

Female actor in a television comedy: Rachel Brosnahan, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”; Quinta Brunson, “Abbott Elementary”; Ayo Edebiri, “The Bear”; Elle Fanning, “The Great”; Selena Gomez, “Only Murders in the Building”; Natasha Lyonne, “Poker Face.”

Male actor in a television comedy: Bill Hader, “Barry”; Steve Martin, “Only Murders in the Building”; Jason Segel, “Shrinking”; Martin Short, “Only Murders in the Building”; Jason Sudeikis, “Ted Lasso”; Jeremy Allen White, “The Bear.”

Screenplay: “Anatomy of a Fall”; “Barbie”; “Poor Things”; “Killers of the Flower Moon”; “Oppenheimer”; “Past Lives.”

Best stand-up comedy television special: Ricky Gervais, “Armageddon”; Trevor Noah, “Where Was I”; Chris Rock, “Selective Outrage”; Amy Schumer, “Emergency Contact”; Sarah Silverman, “Someone You Love”; Wanda Sykes, “I’m an Entertainer.”

The 81st Golden Globe Awards will be the first major broadcast of awards season, with a new home on CBS. And while to audiences it might look similar on the surface, it’s been tumultuous few years behind the scenes following a bombshell report in the Los Angeles Times. The 2021 report found that there were no Black members in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which votes on the awards.

Stars and studios boycotted the Globes and NBC refused to air it in 2022 as a result. After the group added journalists of color to its ranks and instituted other reforms to address ethical concerns, the show came back in January 2023 in a one-year probationary agreement with NBC. The network did not opt to renew.

In June, billionaire Todd Boehly was granted approval to dissolve the HFPA and reinvent the Golden Globes as a for-profit organization. Its assets were acquired by Boehly’s Eldridge Industries, along with Dick Clark Productions, a group that is owned by Penske Media whose assets also include Variety, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, Rolling Stone and Billboard. In mid-November, CBS announced that it would air the ceremony on the network on Jan. 7. It will also stream on Paramount+.

The Golden Globe Awards had long been one of the highest-profile awards season broadcasts, second only to the Oscars.

The show was touted as a boozy, A-list party, whose hosts often took a more irreverent tone than their academy counterparts. It also only honored the flashiest filmmaking categories — picture, director, actors among them — meaning no long speeches from visual effects supervisors or directors of shorts no one has heard of.

But the voting body was a small group of around 87 members who wielded incredible influence in the industry and often accepted lavish gifts and travel from studios and awards publicists eager to court favor and win votes.

Some years, the HFPA were pilloried for nominating poorly reviewed films with big name talent with hopes of getting them to the show, the most infamous being “The Tourist,” with Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp. In the past decade, they’ve more often overlapped with the Oscars. The show also recognizes television.

Before the expose and public relations crisis though, no one in the industry took much umbrage with who was voting on the awards. The show had become an important part of the Hollywood awards ecosystem, a platform for Oscar hopefuls and was, until recently, a reliable ratings draw. As of 2019, it was still pulling in nearly 19 million viewers to the broadcast. This year, NBC’s Tuesday night broadcast got its smallest audience ever for a traditional broadcast, with 6.3 million viewers.

The group nominating and voting for the awards is now made up of a more diverse group of over 300 people from around the world.

No one was injured, and they hope it stays that way for the rest of the winter season.

CAIC has recorded more than two dozen avalanches in Vail and Summit County in the last week.

“Over the next couple of days, we’re going to see probably very few natural avalanches, but there’s still going to be a pretty good chance for human-triggered avalanches,” Ethan Greene, the director of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, said.

One concern isn’t just backcountry skiers on avalanche terrain, but also hikers or snowshoers triggering avalanches from below.

Read the full story from our partner at denver7.com.

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Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran and Denver DJ-producer Illenium likely set records at Empower Field at Mile High, from the most tickets sold for a weekend run (Swift), to the biggest, venue-based concert in Denver history (Sheeran) and the biggest-ever show from a Colorado artist (Illenium).

As state and federal legislators again failed to pass meaningful legislation protecting consumers from outrageous ticketing fees, prices soared. A nosebleed seat to one of Swift’s shows at Empower Field may have cost less than $50 if you were lucky enough to get one during the disastrous Ticketmaster pre-sale. But thousands were forced to buy them on the secondary market for prices ranging from $500 to $10,000 per seat.

The Wall Street Journal found that the average price of a concert had doubled in the past five years, increasing from $125 in 2019 to $252 in 2023. The story was the same with re-sellers such as SeatGeek, whose resale averages doubled from the previous year to roughly the same price.

Those secondary-market tickets were also sold on sites like StubHub which, it should be noted, was forced to refund $3 million to more than 8,500 Colorado consumers in 2021 after the Colorado Attorney General’s Office found it wasn’t honoring its refund guarantees. Senate Bill 60 — a.k.a. Consumer Protection in Event Ticketing Sales Act — easily passed the state legislature, but was vetoed by Gov. Jared Polis in June because it could upset “the successful entertainment ecosystem in Colorado,” he said after killing it. Supporters vowed to revive it.

Local notes, some off-key

Denver strengthened its hold on electronic dance music, with artists, fans and promoters reinforcing the Mile High City as the global capital of the bass subgenre. Transplants such as French producer and DJ CloZee notched crucial headlining spots on the way to bigger, better appearances at venues such as Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Provided you were willing to align yourself with mega-promoter AEG Presents Rocky Mountains, the path from support act to Red Rocks headliner had never looked clearer.

Even as massive concerts continued at the 18,000-seat Fiddlers Green Amphitheatre, and heritage acts played their final Colorado shows (see Eagles, Dead & Company, Foreigner), festivals in metro Denver took a dip. The pause of this year’s Westword Music Showcase left a local music hole in June as the multi-venue event took the year off. Fortunately, South Broadway’s Underground Music Showcase got more equitable and community-oriented as it increasingly catered to all-ages, sober and BIPOC performers, such as the fast-ascending, R&B/hip-hop sensation N3PTUNE, amid a hundred-plus other acts.

The jazz world wobbled as Vail Jazz shut down after nearly than three decades, Denver Post jazz columnist Bret Saunders wrote. The free City Park Jazz series was also clipped by a series of June rainouts, denting its much-needed donations and attendance. The dearly departed El Chapultepec made a comeback of sorts with a legacy/archive project. The former owners sponsored shows at the nationally acclaimed Denver jazz club Dazzle — which itself reopened in a slick, more affordable space in downtown’s Performing Arts Complex. There, blockbuster Broadway musicals such as the jukebox-hit “Tina: The Tina Turner Musical” wowed audiences at the nearby Buell Theatre, drawing people to an urban core that’s still hollowed out from the pandemic.

Icons such as the historic Denver Folklore Center changed hands to an equally capable owner in Ian Dehmel, while nearby folk-music hub Swallow Hill welcomed a new concert director in music veteran David Dugan, just days after executive director Aengus Finnan finished out his first full year at the nonprofit.

Immersive entertainment company Meow Wolf, meanwhile, continued making good on its promise to support local artists with diverse, thoughtfully booked shows at the 488-person capacity Perplexiplex venue, from drag showcases to up-and-coming queer singer-songwriters.

Meow Wolf also brought back a slightly reworked Vortex music and art festival to Live Nation’s new-ish JunkYard outdoor venue. Smaller festivals and block parties mingled craft brews and local music favorites. The Colorado Music Hall of Fame inducted progressive bluegrass legend Yonder Mountain String Band, which celebrated the achievement at Telluride’s 50th anniversary bluegrass fest. Hazel Miller, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, and jazz pioneer George Morrison Sr. also got overdue spots in the state’s music hall. Alongside, jamgrass veteran The String Cheese Incident (already in the music hall as of 2022) celebrated its 30th anniversary of helping create and lead the genre.

Colorado Symphony dipped further into its pop collaborations with its Imagination Artist Series, which included not only local platinum-seller Nathaniel Rateliff but also a world premiere from Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA. (More were just announced with the same artists for 2024.)

But as venues and performers struggled to sustain comebacks in the face of cost-of-living and rent increases, every little bit of support made a difference. That included potentially career-changing shows at Levitt Pavilion Denver, which presented 50 free, quality concerts over the summer, and programs from the nonprofit Youth on Record and the state’s Take Note Colorado music education drive.

A garden of faceplants

In terms of national acts, Drake came up with perhaps the most lame excuse for a concert postponement in the history of Colorado music, blaming a last-minute ghosting on “the distance the road crew has to travel along with the magnitude of the production,” which made it “logistically impossible to bring the full experience of the show to Denver … .” The show was rescheduled for January at Ball Arena, with another date added, but one would’ve thought they figured out production details before putting tickets on sale and prompting more than 10,000 people to schedule their lives around it.

We also mourned the latest tour-dissing by Beyoncé, and wondered why current tours from Janet Jackson, Pearl Jam and Metallica snubbed Denver.

Bizarrely, and sadly, Royal Trux leader and indie rock veteran Neil Hagerty was charged with a trio of felonies in an alleged assault on a Denver police officer. The gloom also hung over some indie venues as HQ (formerly 3 Kings Tavern) flooded and closed after a devastating water break (it has since reopened), and workers at the Mercury Cafe — which hosts jazz, experimental music, poetry and comedy — pushed for a union after complaining of unsafe work conditions. Punk rock mainstay Carioca Cafe (a.k.a. Bar Bar) and Wax Trax Records grappled with the city over noise complaints and permits, while jam band Lotus and other acts lost crucial members to untimely deaths.

Broomfield’s troubled FirstBank Center shut down, and Loveland’s Budweiser Events Center announced a name change to Blue Arena. In Colorado Springs, the $55 million Sunset Amphitheater complex broke ground on its way to a planned June 2024 opening. And at a Louis Tomlinson show at Red Rocks in June, nearly 100 fans got cuts, bruises and broken bones after intense hail. Some concession stand workers reportedly laughed at them from their shelters, prompting calls for earlier storm warnings and more safety coverage at the city-owned venue. With climate change worsening, it seems to be just the tip of the extreme-weather risks for future outdoor concerts.

On the brighter side, salsa destination La Rumba marked its quarter-century milestone as Spanish-language concerts at venues ranging from Ball Arena to Levitt Pavilion and Aurora’s Stampede proliferated. That, along with supportive, sober and all-ages options, are a pair of trends we’d like to see continue into 2024.

Looking for a preview of the musical year ahead? Check out our updated list of 2024 Red Rocks concerts, plus music news, profiles and more at denverpost.com/tag/music.