ReportWire

Tag: network

  • How ‘Survivor 50’ got Benjamin ‘Coach’ Wade and Jenna Lewis-Dougherty back

    [ad_1]

    When Jenna Lewis-Dougherty stepped onto the beach in Fiji where the 50th season of “Survivor” was about to begin, it felt surreal, she says.

    And why wouldn’t it? Jenna, who was 22 when she appeared on the show’s first season, “Survivor: Borneo” in 2000, had no idea how much the game had changed over the years leading up to “Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans.”

    “There’s a picture of us all sitting on this big boat,” says Jenna, who also returned for “Survivor: All-Stars” in 2004.

    “The first thought I had was, ‘How were there so many people?’” she says on a recent video call from her home in Woodland, California, just west of Sacramento, in the region where she’s built a successful real estate practice.

1 of 16

Benjamin “Coach” Wade” seen here on location for “Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans,” which premieres on Feb. 25, 2026. He returned to the show after starring on three earlier seasons between 2009 and 2011 — “Survivor: Tocantins,” “Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains,” and “Survivor: South Pacific.” (Photo by Robert Voets/CBS ©2025 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved)

Expand

“I cannot tell you how small production was compared to what it is now. We would have maybe 25 people behind the cameras. Maybe a little more on ‘All-Stars.’ But like it’s a small city in back of those cameras now.”

Things have changed. It’s been 42 seasons – a record for the longest gap between appearances – since Jenna last appeared.

A few hours northeast of Jenna, Benjamin “Coach” Wade, another of the six Californians brought back for the all-star cast of “Survivor 50,” stood outside the bus where the drumline he leads as music director at Lassen High School was about to depart for a performance.

For Coach, who starred on “Survivor: Tocantins” in 2009, “Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains” in 2010, and “Survivor: South Pacific” in 2011, his felt his return started when he spotted “Survivor” host Jeff Probst waiting to greet the 24 returning players on the beach.

“I saw all the cameras, and I saw Jeff’s smiling face, and heard the way that he chews on the word ‘Coach’,” he says, smiling. “He says my name different than anybody else’s. It’s like, ‘Wow, this is so freaking cool when he says “Coach.”‘

“I don’t know whether I’m allowed to say this or not; it doesn’t matter, I’m saying it anyway,” Coach says. “Right before the game, I said to the producers, ‘Call on me first or call on me last that first day when we’re all on the beach. You won’t regret it.’

“And to have that come to fruition? It was like, ‘Yeah, baby, we’re back!’”

Coach and Jenna are among 751 contestants to appear on “Survivor” over its 50 seasons. Other Californians in the cast include Tiffany Irvin of Los Angeles from “Survivor 46,” Joe Hunter of West Sacramento and Kamilla Karthigesu of Foster City from “Survivor 48,” and Angelina Keeley of San Diego from “Survivor: David vs. Goliath.”

Actor and filmmaker Mike White, creator of “The White Lotus,” a different kind of TV series built around backstabbing on beaches, grew up in Pasadena, but as a returnee from “Survivor: David vs. Goliath,” cites his home on the island of Kauai as his official residence.

“Survivor 50” premieres on Wednesday, Feb. 25. In interviews edited for length and clarity, Jenna and Coach talked about deciding to return to “Survivor,” what it was like being among the old-school minority of players on the island, and how it felt to compete in another round.

Q: You’re coming back after many years since your last season. What made you decide to leave your life outside of “Survivor” and return?

JENNA LEWIS-DOUGHERTY: Oh, really? There’s life outside of “Survivor”? [She laughs] Not since I was 22. I had been contacted a couple of times by CBS. My name had been in the mix, but none of them worked out. I actually went and got my shots and everything for “Survivor 40” before I think they had the format for “Winners at War.”

BENJAMIN “COACH” WADE: I’ve told “Survivor” no. They called me for “Blood vs. Water.” They changed the date, and my wife and I changed our wedding. And then they changed the date again. I was so mad, and I was like, “I’m never going to go on ‘Survivor’ again.”

So I’ve had a hard line of saying no, now being older and a lot less selfish. My wife owns a big dance studio here in Susanville, and she’s got 270 dancers in our studio.

I’m the guy that cooks the meals [at home]. I’m the guy that packs the lunches. Sometimes I’m putting them to bed and reading to them. And it’s just me. Taking that [time from] my three children was something I didn’t really think I’d be able to do.

It was not a quick yes. I was actually on the fence.

Q: How or what then made it possible to go this time?

JENNA: I couldn’t have done it before because I had little ones. My son right now is 14. My daughter’s 13. My older girls – I was a single mom on the first one [“Survivor: Borneo”] – they’re turning 30 in a couple of months.

I probably would have done it in some gaps, but this just happened to be perfect timing. Teenagers are a little easier to leave than 3-year-olds, 4-year-olds, so it worked out perfectly.

COACH: I talked to one of the executive producers, Matt Van Wagenen, whom I trust. They’ve made me look like a fool, they’ve made me look like a hero. He’s done all the hero edits, so I’m like, “OK, I trust this guy,” and I called him.

He says, “Are you getting the itch?” I said, “No, I don’t think I’m going to go.” And he said, “You’re going to regret it for the rest of your life. The way we’re going to promote this season, you really owe it to yourself to do it.” That was kind of the tipping point, and it was maybe a month from filming. At the last minute, I decided to do it.

Q: Tell me about the moment you got the call.

JENNA: You know, the funny thing is, I know that Jeff said that I was the first call, but I always thought Jeff didn’t like me. Because I would banter with him, kind of mean, during “All-Stars.”

So we’ve had, I think, two or three on-camera interviews with production, not necessarily Jeff. I remember they said, “Oh, hold on, we have one more producer who wants to ask a question.” I was holding, and then all of a sudden Jeff’s face comes on. He’s like, “I’m not going to bury the lead here. I want you to come back.”

I just remember crying, like, “Oh my God, it’s such an epic thing to be on the very first one and then the 50th.” Like, I got goosebumps just saying it.

Q: That’s a great set of bookends, the first series and the 50th, and no one else can say that.

JENNA: Nobody else can, and wouldn’t it be just great if I won? From the first to 50? [Jenna finished 8ith on “Borneo” and third on “All-Stars.”]

Q: People would love that. Especially you.

JENNA: I would.

Q: Coach, you’d played before with Stephenie [LaGrossa Kendrick], Colby [Donaldson], Ozzie [Lusth] and Cirie [Fields]. The rest were new to you. What was it like as the game started?

COACH: Sleeping on the dirt at 53 is a heck of a lot different and more painful than sleeping on the dirt when you’re 38, right? And I was used to traveling around the world and being in the bush [during his first three seasons] and not so much anymore.

It was this kind of yin and yang. It was a balance that I had to find really quickly of being back on the beach, being with these new players. As you mentioned, having six people from seasons 1 to 30. That’s slim pickings. So I knew it was going to be a new era, but I was ready for that.

I’m the bottom of my family. I’m the guy that is making them shine in the drumline. I’m building them up, and it’s less about me. It’s about leading from the bottom. That’s something that’s going to help my gameplay. I don’t need to be “the guy” even though I think that they should put me as coach in challenges, because historically, when I’m coaching, those old mantras and decisions of leading seem to come back.

Q: Jenna, I think Colby Donaldson is the only one you’ve played with before.

JENNA: Yes, and we never even played together. He was on a different tribe on “All-Stars,” and he was voted out before we merged. So I never actually spoke to Colby on “All-Stars.”

Q: Was playing with mostly new people a disadvantage or an advantage?

JENNA: I think it could be really good or really bad. Everybody is always looking to fit into your tribe, right? But that means, especially when you have eight people [on each of three tribes], you could have different factions. You could be that person that they take in for the votes. So that’s definitely a bonus.

And I think you can slip under the radar a lot better if people don’t think that at a merge, you have a group of pre-made friends that are going to vote them out.

But there’s also some drawbacks going out there not knowing anybody. It’s kind of daunting. There are all these micro-niches. You’ve got the “David vs. Goliath” with Mike White and Angelina. And then fresh in everybody’s mind were Kamilla and Joe and Kyle [Fraser]. So seeing everybody out there, I was like, “Oh my goodness, they all have these built-in relationships.”

Q: Coach, you’re one of the best-known “Survivor” players ever, for good or bad reasons. How were you received?

COACH: It was just a night and day difference, you know, from the past. I think the fans, for the most part, have come to appreciate what I bring to the table. Not so much, like you said, in the beginning. It really rang true that sometimes out there, I rub people the wrong way. I don’t try to. Maybe they’re thinking about camera time, or just that I am a big personality.

So to have people [on season 50] speak so highly of me? I mean, I couldn’t believe it when I heard Kamilla saying, “I can’t wait to meet Coach; he’s my favorite player of all time.” I’m just not used to that.

Q: It must have felt good.

COACH: I had some real scars from “Survivor,” and I did not realize it until I went out there this time around. I thought before the game, and I wrote in my journal, “You’ve got to win.” To increase your legacy, you’ve got to win this time around. [Coach finished fifth on “Tocantins,” 12th on “Heroes vs. Villains,” and second on “South Pacific.”]

What I didn’t realize is that from the very first day [of the new season], there was great healing on these scars that I had just turned a blind eye to, of so many people talking [trash] about me. I don’t have that in my everyday life. I had buried those wounds deep under my soul.

And going out there and hearing these younger players say, “I can’t wait to play with Coach,” and, “This guy’s my hero,” it brought about such beautiful healing. There’s a very emotional victory lap for me this time. Colby said something to me, he was just like, “Coach, you might be the hero that you’ve always wanted to be.”

Q: Jenna, you said your strategy for the other players was “to [bleep] you over in every way, shape or form.” Was that your strategy previously, too?

JENNA: It was definitely the strategy in “All-Stars.” When I did it the first time, nobody had a strategy. It was the first [“Survivor” had] ever been done. So I learned, and then on “All-Stars,” I learned that you can’t have friends out there.

You have to have that mindset that you’re going to be willing to [bleep] anyone over. Just I like I did with Rupert [Boneham] in “All-Stars.” We went together the whole way, and I cut him at the final four.

Q: Coach, even with the healing out there, we’re still going to get some classic Coach, Dragon Slayer-style?

COACH: I’m thinking about a quote from Oscar Wilde. He said, “I’m so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a word coming out of my mouth.” And I’m not very smart, so before I go on these shows, I have to memorize dozens of quotes, just because I want to sound smart.

So I’ve got a bunch of quotes, a bunch of nicknames. It’s diving back into like Japanese mythology and Irish folklore, and I’m grabbing these random, esoteric nicknames. That’s a huge part of me, and you’re going to see that maybe even on another level.

I keep talking about Coach 4.0. You don’t forget what got you here. I’m going to be more fluid in my gameplay, but as far as the character, I woke up one day after “Heroes vs. Villains,” and it was a beautiful moment. I realized I don’t give two [bleeps] about what people thought about me.

I was talking with Jeff before the game. He said, “Well, if we ask you –.” I said, “Cut the crap, man. You’ve tried to replicate me. You’ve failed to do so. It’s not gonna be be if you ask me, it’s going to be when you ask me. And he chuckles. He gets a kick out of that.

I’m like, “Why should I care about what these people think about me?” I’m going to probably be a little bit more humble, a lot more joyful, but you’re still going to see the Dragon Slayer.

Q: So Jenna, what do your teens think about you going back on “Survivor”?

JENNA: They don’t give a flying [bleep]. Like at all. [Laughs] I thought this was this huge thing for my family. And I was like, “Oh my God!” There wasn’t a blip. It was like, “Sure, but put cream cheese on this bagel, [bleeper].

I try to show them things and be like, “Mommy was cool. I’m cool again.” They don’t care. They’ve never watched me play. They don’t want to watch me play.

Q: Well, I say they don’t get any of the million bucks if you win.

JENNA: No way. [She laughs] That’s in my pocket.

[ad_2]

Peter Larsen

Source link

  • iPhone feature saved skiers from deadly avalanche—how you can turn it on

    [ad_1]

    An iPhone safety feature is drawing renewed attention after six skiers were rescued during California’s deadliest recorded avalanche, with survivors using satellite messaging to stay in contact with emergency responders when traditional cell service failed.

    The avalanche struck near Lake Tahoe, killing eight people and leaving one missing, while six others were located and rescued after hours in severe winter conditions.

    The skiers were able to communicate with authorities using Apple’s Emergency SOS via satellite feature when they found themselves outside cellular and Wi-Fi coverage.

    Remote Areas

    Apple introduced Emergency SOS via satellite with the iPhone 14 lineup. The feature is available on supported models running iOS 16.1 or later and is designed for use in remote areas where cellular signals are not accessible.

    The satellite tool, available on newer iPhone models, allows users to text emergency services directly when traditional networks are unavailable. As interest in the feature grows, Apple users have been discussing how it works—and whether it should remain free.

    In the Lake Tahoe rescue, communication between the stranded group and emergency personnel proved critical.

    Rescuers ultimately found the group roughly 11 hours after the avalanche began, according to reports from Inc.

    Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon described the strength of the slide, saying: “A two would bury a person. A three would bury a house and it’s right in the middle of those two.”

    ‘Life saving’

    Reddit contributors reacting to the story said the feature justified the cost of newer iPhones.

    “This is probably the best feature the iPhone has ever added, possibly only behind fall detection in Apple Watches,” a fan declared on Reddit.

    Another agreed that, “This is the kind of feature that justifies the premium. Most people will never need it, but for the ones who do, it’s literally life-saving.”

    Some critics, however, raised concerns about reports that the feature may not remain free indefinitely.

    “The only worry is that it’s still planned to be a paid feature… which I think is completely wrong,” one remarked.

    Apple advises users to first attempt calling 911 or local emergency services, even if their regular carrier shows no service.

    If the call fails, iPhones will display an option to use Emergency Text via Satellite. Users can tap “Report Emergency” and follow on-screen prompts while keeping the phone held naturally with a clear line of sight to the sky.

    Once connected, the iPhone shares critical information with responders, including the user’s location, elevation, Medical ID (if set up), emergency contacts, responses to an emergency questionnaire and the device’s battery level.

    Risks Posed

    Apple also recommends trying the built-in demo under Settings > Emergency SOS before traveling to remote areas. The demo does not contact emergency services, but walks users through the satellite connection process.

    Emergency SOS via satellite is not available in all countries and regions and works only on supported models.

    As extreme weather and backcountry travel continue to pose risks, the Lake Tahoe rescue has prompted renewed attention on how smartphones can function as a lifeline when traditional networks fail.

    Newsweek has reached out to Apple for comment via email.

    To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, click here.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Recipes: Make these dishes for a delicious and healthy Ramadan

    [ad_1]

    For Ramadan, the monthlong Muslim holiday of fasting which begins this year on Tuesday evening, Feb. 17, families and friends gather for festive dinners to break the fast.

    Tahini, sesame seed paste, is a nutritional powerhouse that’s well suited for Ramadan dishes. Popular in Middle Eastern cooking, its flavor profile — nutty, slightly bitter and creamy —makes it versatile in the kitchen. Most tahini dishes are savory appetizers but tahini is also used in sweet specialties like halva. Thus it is useful for iftar, the sunset meal, and for suhoor, the pre-dawn meal eaten before the day’s fasting.

    While meat is a traditional staple for iftar, appetizers are often plant-based. Made with vegetables and grains, their fiber promotes satiety, enabling people to eat less meat.  Because tahini is rich in heart-healthy monounsaturated fats and protein, it provides an energy boost and helps people feel full for longer.

    Basic tahini sauce, made of tahini paste mixed with lemon juice, garlic and water, is a luscious-textured sauce often served with grilled vegetables, salads, fish and falafel, and can replace cream in dressings and dips. Like natural peanut butter, tahini should be stirred before being used.

    Tahini’s bitterness balances the intense sweetness of dates, the traditional Ramadan break-the-fast food; stuffing dates with tahini is a Ramadan treat. A popular breakfast spread is tahini mixed with date molasses; in Istanbul, some call such a spread “Turkish Nutella” or “liquid halva”.

    Quinoa patties are served with chanterelles and topped with tahini sauce. (Photo by Yakir Levy)

    Quinoa Patties with Chanterelles and Tahini Sauce

    Quinoa patties become an elegant dish when dressed up with tahini sauce and exotic mushrooms. You can substitute shiitakes or oyster mushrooms for the chanterelles.

    Yield: 3 or 4 servings

    INGREDIENTS

    Tahini sauce:

    • 1 small garlic clove, minced
    • 3 tablespoons tahini paste, stirred before measuring
    • 1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice
    • 1 to 2 tablespoons water
    • Salt to taste

    Quinoa patties and chanterelles:

    • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
    • One 1.1-pound (500-gram) roll of cooked quinoa, cut in 6 to 8 slices
    • Salt and freshly ground pepper
    • 1/2 pound fresh chanterelles
    • 1 garlic clove, minced
    • Red pepper flakes to taste

    DIRECTIONS

    1. Tahini sauce: In a mini food processor blend garlic, tahini paste, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 tablespoon water and salt. Add more lemon juice or water to adjust consistency and taste.

    2. Quinoa patties: Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. Season quinoa slices with salt and pepper; add to pan. Sear quinoa slices on both sides until golden brown. Remove from pan.

    3. Chanterelles: Add remaining tablespoon olive oil to pan and heat over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms; cook for 8 minutes or until browned. Add garlic, salt, pepper and pepper flakes and cook about 1 minute.

    4. Serve quinoa patties with chanterelles and tahini sauce.

    A platter of roasted vegetable is served with Pepper-Swirled Tahini. (Photo by Yakir Levy)
    A platter of roasted vegetable is served with Pepper-Swirled Tahini. (Photo by Yakir Levy)

    Pepper-Swirled Tahini with Roasted Vegetables

    Greek yogurt makes tahini creamier and a good counterpoint for the pepper sauce.

    Yield: 4 servings

    INGREDIENTS

    Tahini yogurt sauce:

    • 1 small garlic clove, minced
    • 3 tablespoons tahini paste, stirred before measuring
    • 1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice
    • 1 to 2 tablespoons water
    • 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
    • Salt to taste
    • 2 pounds vegetables, such as whole Anaheim or jalapeño peppers, medium-wide strips of sweet peppers, sliced Chinese eggplants, sliced zucchini, half slices sweet onions, halved cremini mushrooms
    • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, or to taste
    • Salt, freshly ground pepper and Aleppo or other semi-hot red pepper to taste
    • 1/2 cup thick salsa such as taqueria-style salsa

    DIRECTIONS

    1. Tahini yogurt sauce: In a mini food processor blend garlic, tahini paste, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 tablespoon water and salt. Transfer to a bowl. Stir in yogurt. Add more lemon juice or water to adjust consistency and taste.

    2. Heat oven or air fryer toaster oven to 400 degrees. In a bowl toss vegetables with enough olive oil to moisten them. Sprinkle with salt, black and red pepper; toss to combine.

    3. Spread vegetables on a baking sheet (lined with parchment paper or foil if desired). Roast for 10 minutes. Turn over; drizzle with more olive oil if needed. Roast for 10 to 15 more minutes or until tender. (They roast faster in an air fryer toaster oven or convection oven than in a standard oven.)

    4. Put whole peppers in a bowl, cover and let stand for 10 minutes. Peel when cool enough to handle. Remove caps;  scrape out pepper seeds.

    5. Arrange vegetables on a plate. Set a bowl of salsa in center of plate. Spoon tahini yogurt sauce onto salsa’s center. With a knife, swirl tahini sauce gently into salsa.

    Red Pepper Baba Ghanoush is made with roasted Chinese eggplant, tahini sauce, roasted peppers and labneh. (Photo by Yakir Levy)
    Red Pepper Baba Ghanoush is made with roasted Chinese eggplant, tahini sauce, roasted peppers and labneh. (Photo by Yakir Levy)

    Red Pepper Baba Ghanoush

    Chinese eggplants roast quickly and are easy to turn into a creamy red pepper dip. Just add tahini sauce, roasted peppers from a jar, and labneh — strained yogurt that is almost as thick as cheese.

    Yield: 3 or 4 servings

    INGREDIENTS

    • 1 1/2 pounds Chinese eggplants
    • 2 large garlic cloves, minced
    • 3 to 4 tablespoons tahini paste (stirred before measuring)
    • 1 to 2 tablespoons strained fresh lemon juice
    • 1 to 2 tablespoons water
    • 2 fire-roasted peppers (from a jar)
    • 2 to 4 tablespoons labneh (or Greek yogurt)
    • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
    • Extra virgin olive oil (for drizzling)
    • 2 teaspoons chopped Italian parsley (garnish)

    DIRECTIONS

    1. Preheat broiler or Roast function of air fryer toaster oven (convection oven). Prick each eggplant 3 or 4 times with a sharp knife.

    2. Broil or roast eggplants, turning a few times, until very tender when pressed on neck end, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove eggplants; let stand until cool enough to handle.

    3. Cut off eggplant caps. Halve eggplants lengthwise. Scoop out eggplant pulp. Chop pulp with a knife.

    4. Make red pepper tahini sauce by blending minced garlic, tahini paste, 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 1 tablespoon water in a food processor. Add roasted peppers and blend until smooth.

    5. Add labneh and pulse until blended. Add chopped eggplant pulp; pulse just until mixture is blended. Gradually add more water or lemon juice if needed. Season with salt and pepper.

    6. Spread on a serving plate or on bread. Serve drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with parsley.

    Persimmon Cake is topped with a halva glaze made with powdered sugar and lemon juice as well as chopped pistachios. (Photo by Yakir Levy)
    Persimmon Cake is topped with a halva glaze made with powdered sugar and lemon juice as well as chopped pistachios. (Photo by Yakir Levy)

    Persimmon Cake with Halva Glaze

    In this cake’s glaze a touch of tahini balances the sweetness of the powdered sugar. Use soft persimmons for the puree; slice firm persimmons for garnish.

    Yield: 2 small cakes (32 small portions)

    INGREDIENTS

    Persimmon cake:

    • 2 cups all purpose flour (260 grams)
    • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    • 3 teaspoons baking soda
    • 1/4 teaspoon salt
    • 1/2 cup unsalted butter (4 ounces or 110 grams), room temperature
    • 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar (240 grams)
    • 2 large eggs, beaten
    • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 2 1/2 cups persimmon puree (4 or 5 persimmons)
    • 1 cup dried cranberries
    • 2/3 cup red walnuts, chopped

    Persimmon halva glaze:

    • 2 cups powdered sugar
    • 4 teaspoons lemon juice
    • 4 tablespoons persimmon puree
    • 2 teaspoons tahini paste (stirred before measuring), or to taste

    Garnish:

    • About 1/3 cup chopped pistachios
    • Slices of small firm persimmons

    DIRECTIONS

    1. Cake: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 7 1/2-inch square pans with foil. Butter foil.

    2. Mix flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.

    3. With a stand mixer, beat butter until smooth; add sugar and beat until smooth. Add eggs; beat until well blended. Add vanilla; beat until blended.

    4. Add half of dry ingredient mixture to butter mixture; stir until blended. Stir in persimmon puree, followed by remaining dry ingredient mixture. Stir until blended. Stir in dried cranberries and walnuts.

    5. Spoon batter into pans. Smooth tops. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of each cake comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes.

    6. Cool cake in pans on racks for 10 minutes. Turn out onto cake racks. Let cool completely.

    7. Glaze: Whisk half of powdered sugar with the lemon juice until blended. Whisk in remaining powdered sugar. Add persimmon puree and whisk until blended. Whisk in tahini.

    8. Spread glaze in thin layer over cakes. Sprinkle with pistachios. Let stand several hours or refrigerate overnight until glaze sets.

    9. Cut cake in pieces and put on a serving plate. Surround with persimmon slices.

    This Mushroom Tahini Toast is inspired by a recipe in Dr. Michael Crupain's latest book, "The Power Five: Essential Foods for Optimum Health." (Photo by Yakir Levy)
    This Mushroom Tahini Toast is inspired by a recipe in Dr. Michael Crupain’s latest book, “The Power Five: Essential Foods for Optimum Health.” (Photo by Yakir Levy)

    Mushroom Tahini Toast

    For this appetizer inspired by a recipe from Dr. Michael Crupain’s latest book, “The Power Five: Essential Foods for Optimum Health,” you spread toast with pure tahini paste, then top it with sauteed mushrooms.

    Yield: 4 or 5 servings

    INGREDIENTS

    • 1 pound exotic mushrooms, such as shiitake, oyster or maitake
    • 1/2 teaspoon Turkish pepper flakes, Aleppo pepper or other pepper flakes
    • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
    • 3 garlic cloves, minced
    • 1 shallot, finely chopped
    • 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped
    • Salt to taste
    • 1 cup dry white wine
    • 3 tablespoons tahini paste
    • 4 or 5 slices whole wheat or sourdough bread, toasted and rubbed with a raw garlic clove

    DIRECTIONS

    1. Coarsely chop mushrooms; add to a bowl with pepper flakes and oil. Toss to coat mushrooms.

    2. Cook mushrooms in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until browned. Add garlic, shallot, thyme and salt. Sauté for 4 minutes or until shallot is soft. Stir in wine; cook until evaporated. If mixture is too dry, add 1 to 2 tablespoons water.

    3. Spread tahini on toast. Spoon mushrooms over toast, sprinkle with salt, and serve.

    Roasted Eggplant Salad with Tangerine Tahini balances sweet tangerine juice with lemon juice, minced garlic, salt and red pepper powder. (Photo by Yakir Levy)
    Roasted Eggplant Salad with Tangerine Tahini balances sweet tangerine juice with lemon juice, minced garlic, salt and red pepper powder. (Photo by Yakir Levy)

    Roasted Eggplant Salad with Tangerine Tahini

    Adding sweet tangerine juice to tahini sauce might seem surprising but tahini eggplant drizzled with silan (date syrup) is popular in Israeli restaurants. Our dish isn’t sweet. Tangerine zest, lemon juice, minced garlic, salt and red pepper powder balance the flavor.

    Yield: 2 or 3 servings

    INGREDIENTS

    Tangerine tahini sauce:

    • 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
    • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, or to taste
    • 2 to 3 tablespoons tangerine juice
    • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons tahini, stirred before measuring
    • Pinch of salt, or to taste
    • 1 tablespoon cold water (optional), more if needed
    • 1/2 teaspoon grated tangerine zest, or more to taste

    Roasted Eggplant and Salad:

    • 1 Chinese eggplant (about 9-10 ounces), sliced diagonally 3/8 to 1/2 inch thick
    • 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
    • Salt, freshly ground pepper and hot red pepper powder to taste
    • 5 romaine or other lettuce leaves, cut in bite size pieces
    • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
    • 1 tangerine, cut in rounds, then in half slices
    • Walnuts, preferably red (garnish)

    DIRECTIONS

    1. Tangerine tahini sauce: In a medium bowl mix garlic, lemon juice and tangerine juice. Stir in tahini paste. Keep stirring until sauce is smooth and thick but still pourable. Add more tangerine juice or water, 1 teaspoon at a time, to adjust consistency and taste. Stir in tangerine zest. (You will have extra sauce to enjoy for 2 days.)

    2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. If you like, line a roasting pan with foil. Set eggplant slices in pan. Brush them with about 1 tablespoon olive oil; sprinkle with salt and black and red pepper. Turn them over; repeat brushing with olive oil and sprinkling seasonings. Roast for 17 to 25 minutes (or 15 minutes using the Roast function of an air fryer toaster oven), turning them once, or until tender to your taste.

    3. Make a bed of chopped lettuce; drizzle with light dressing made by whisking 1 teaspoon olive oil with 1 teaspoon lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Set eggplant slices on lettuce and spoon tangerine tahini sauce over them. Garnish with tangerine pieces and walnuts.

    Faye Levy is the author of “Feast from the Mideast.”

    [ad_2]

    Faye Levy, Yakir Levy

    Source link

  • Recipes: Make these dishes for a delicious and healthy Ramadan

    [ad_1]

    For Ramadan, the monthlong Muslim holiday of fasting which begins this year on Tuesday evening, Feb. 17, families and friends gather for festive dinners to break the fast.

    Tahini, sesame seed paste, is a nutritional powerhouse that’s well suited for Ramadan dishes. Popular in Middle Eastern cooking, its flavor profile — nutty, slightly bitter and creamy —makes it versatile in the kitchen. Most tahini dishes are savory appetizers but tahini is also used in sweet specialties like halva. Thus it is useful for iftar, the sunset meal, and for suhoor, the pre-dawn meal eaten before the day’s fasting.

    While meat is a traditional staple for iftar, appetizers are often plant-based. Made with vegetables and grains, their fiber promotes satiety, enabling people to eat less meat.  Because tahini is rich in heart-healthy monounsaturated fats and protein, it provides an energy boost and helps people feel full for longer.

    Basic tahini sauce, made of tahini paste mixed with lemon juice, garlic and water, is a luscious-textured sauce often served with grilled vegetables, salads, fish and falafel, and can replace cream in dressings and dips. Like natural peanut butter, tahini should be stirred before being used.

    Tahini’s bitterness balances the intense sweetness of dates, the traditional Ramadan break-the-fast food; stuffing dates with tahini is a Ramadan treat. A popular breakfast spread is tahini mixed with date molasses; in Istanbul, some call such a spread “Turkish Nutella” or “liquid halva”.

    Quinoa patties are served with chanterelles and topped with tahini sauce. (Photo by Yakir Levy)

    Quinoa Patties with Chanterelles and Tahini Sauce

    Quinoa patties become an elegant dish when dressed up with tahini sauce and exotic mushrooms. You can substitute shiitakes or oyster mushrooms for the chanterelles.

    Yield: 3 or 4 servings

    INGREDIENTS

    Tahini sauce:

    • 1 small garlic clove, minced
    • 3 tablespoons tahini paste, stirred before measuring
    • 1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice
    • 1 to 2 tablespoons water
    • Salt to taste

    Quinoa patties and chanterelles:

    • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
    • One 1.1-pound (500-gram) roll of cooked quinoa, cut in 6 to 8 slices
    • Salt and freshly ground pepper
    • 1/2 pound fresh chanterelles
    • 1 garlic clove, minced
    • Red pepper flakes to taste

    DIRECTIONS

    1. Tahini sauce: In a mini food processor blend garlic, tahini paste, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 tablespoon water and salt. Add more lemon juice or water to adjust consistency and taste.

    2. Quinoa patties: Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. Season quinoa slices with salt and pepper; add to pan. Sear quinoa slices on both sides until golden brown. Remove from pan.

    3. Chanterelles: Add remaining tablespoon olive oil to pan and heat over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms; cook for 8 minutes or until browned. Add garlic, salt, pepper and pepper flakes and cook about 1 minute.

    4. Serve quinoa patties with chanterelles and tahini sauce.

    A platter of roasted vegetable is served with Pepper-Swirled Tahini. (Photo by Yakir Levy)
    A platter of roasted vegetable is served with Pepper-Swirled Tahini. (Photo by Yakir Levy)

    Pepper-Swirled Tahini with Roasted Vegetables

    Greek yogurt makes tahini creamier and a good counterpoint for the pepper sauce.

    Yield: 4 servings

    INGREDIENTS

    Tahini yogurt sauce:

    • 1 small garlic clove, minced
    • 3 tablespoons tahini paste, stirred before measuring
    • 1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice
    • 1 to 2 tablespoons water
    • 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
    • Salt to taste
    • 2 pounds vegetables, such as whole Anaheim or jalapeño peppers, medium-wide strips of sweet peppers, sliced Chinese eggplants, sliced zucchini, half slices sweet onions, halved cremini mushrooms
    • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, or to taste
    • Salt, freshly ground pepper and Aleppo or other semi-hot red pepper to taste
    • 1/2 cup thick salsa such as taqueria-style salsa

    DIRECTIONS

    1. Tahini yogurt sauce: In a mini food processor blend garlic, tahini paste, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 tablespoon water and salt. Transfer to a bowl. Stir in yogurt. Add more lemon juice or water to adjust consistency and taste.

    2. Heat oven or air fryer toaster oven to 400 degrees. In a bowl toss vegetables with enough olive oil to moisten them. Sprinkle with salt, black and red pepper; toss to combine.

    3. Spread vegetables on a baking sheet (lined with parchment paper or foil if desired). Roast for 10 minutes. Turn over; drizzle with more olive oil if needed. Roast for 10 to 15 more minutes or until tender. (They roast faster in an air fryer toaster oven or convection oven than in a standard oven.)

    4. Put whole peppers in a bowl, cover and let stand for 10 minutes. Peel when cool enough to handle. Remove caps;  scrape out pepper seeds.

    5. Arrange vegetables on a plate. Set a bowl of salsa in center of plate. Spoon tahini yogurt sauce onto salsa’s center. With a knife, swirl tahini sauce gently into salsa.

    Red Pepper Baba Ghanoush is made with roasted Chinese eggplant, tahini sauce, roasted peppers and labneh. (Photo by Yakir Levy)
    Red Pepper Baba Ghanoush is made with roasted Chinese eggplant, tahini sauce, roasted peppers and labneh. (Photo by Yakir Levy)

    Red Pepper Baba Ghanoush

    Chinese eggplants roast quickly and are easy to turn into a creamy red pepper dip. Just add tahini sauce, roasted peppers from a jar, and labneh — strained yogurt that is almost as thick as cheese.

    Yield: 3 or 4 servings

    INGREDIENTS

    • 1 1/2 pounds Chinese eggplants
    • 2 large garlic cloves, minced
    • 3 to 4 tablespoons tahini paste (stirred before measuring)
    • 1 to 2 tablespoons strained fresh lemon juice
    • 1 to 2 tablespoons water
    • 2 fire-roasted peppers (from a jar)
    • 2 to 4 tablespoons labneh (or Greek yogurt)
    • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
    • Extra virgin olive oil (for drizzling)
    • 2 teaspoons chopped Italian parsley (garnish)

    DIRECTIONS

    1. Preheat broiler or Roast function of air fryer toaster oven (convection oven). Prick each eggplant 3 or 4 times with a sharp knife.

    2. Broil or roast eggplants, turning a few times, until very tender when pressed on neck end, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove eggplants; let stand until cool enough to handle.

    3. Cut off eggplant caps. Halve eggplants lengthwise. Scoop out eggplant pulp. Chop pulp with a knife.

    4. Make red pepper tahini sauce by blending minced garlic, tahini paste, 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 1 tablespoon water in a food processor. Add roasted peppers and blend until smooth.

    5. Add labneh and pulse until blended. Add chopped eggplant pulp; pulse just until mixture is blended. Gradually add more water or lemon juice if needed. Season with salt and pepper.

    6. Spread on a serving plate or on bread. Serve drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with parsley.

    Persimmon Cake is topped with a halva glaze made with powdered sugar and lemon juice as well as chopped pistachios. (Photo by Yakir Levy)
    Persimmon Cake is topped with a halva glaze made with powdered sugar and lemon juice as well as chopped pistachios. (Photo by Yakir Levy)

    Persimmon Cake with Halva Glaze

    In this cake’s glaze a touch of tahini balances the sweetness of the powdered sugar. Use soft persimmons for the puree; slice firm persimmons for garnish.

    Yield: 2 small cakes (32 small portions)

    INGREDIENTS

    Persimmon cake:

    • 2 cups all purpose flour (260 grams)
    • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    • 3 teaspoons baking soda
    • 1/4 teaspoon salt
    • 1/2 cup unsalted butter (4 ounces or 110 grams), room temperature
    • 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar (240 grams)
    • 2 large eggs, beaten
    • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 2 1/2 cups persimmon puree (4 or 5 persimmons)
    • 1 cup dried cranberries
    • 2/3 cup red walnuts, chopped

    Persimmon halva glaze:

    • 2 cups powdered sugar
    • 4 teaspoons lemon juice
    • 4 tablespoons persimmon puree
    • 2 teaspoons tahini paste (stirred before measuring), or to taste

    Garnish:

    • About 1/3 cup chopped pistachios
    • Slices of small firm persimmons

    DIRECTIONS

    1. Cake: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 7 1/2-inch square pans with foil. Butter foil.

    2. Mix flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.

    3. With a stand mixer, beat butter until smooth; add sugar and beat until smooth. Add eggs; beat until well blended. Add vanilla; beat until blended.

    4. Add half of dry ingredient mixture to butter mixture; stir until blended. Stir in persimmon puree, followed by remaining dry ingredient mixture. Stir until blended. Stir in dried cranberries and walnuts.

    5. Spoon batter into pans. Smooth tops. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of each cake comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes.

    6. Cool cake in pans on racks for 10 minutes. Turn out onto cake racks. Let cool completely.

    7. Glaze: Whisk half of powdered sugar with the lemon juice until blended. Whisk in remaining powdered sugar. Add persimmon puree and whisk until blended. Whisk in tahini.

    8. Spread glaze in thin layer over cakes. Sprinkle with pistachios. Let stand several hours or refrigerate overnight until glaze sets.

    9. Cut cake in pieces and put on a serving plate. Surround with persimmon slices.

    This Mushroom Tahini Toast is inspired by a recipe in Dr. Michael Crupain's latest book, "The Power Five: Essential Foods for Optimum Health." (Photo by Yakir Levy)
    This Mushroom Tahini Toast is inspired by a recipe in Dr. Michael Crupain’s latest book, “The Power Five: Essential Foods for Optimum Health.” (Photo by Yakir Levy)

    Mushroom Tahini Toast

    For this appetizer inspired by a recipe from Dr. Michael Crupain’s latest book, “The Power Five: Essential Foods for Optimum Health,” you spread toast with pure tahini paste, then top it with sauteed mushrooms.

    Yield: 4 or 5 servings

    INGREDIENTS

    • 1 pound exotic mushrooms, such as shiitake, oyster or maitake
    • 1/2 teaspoon Turkish pepper flakes, Aleppo pepper or other pepper flakes
    • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
    • 3 garlic cloves, minced
    • 1 shallot, finely chopped
    • 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped
    • Salt to taste
    • 1 cup dry white wine
    • 3 tablespoons tahini paste
    • 4 or 5 slices whole wheat or sourdough bread, toasted and rubbed with a raw garlic clove

    DIRECTIONS

    1. Coarsely chop mushrooms; add to a bowl with pepper flakes and oil. Toss to coat mushrooms.

    2. Cook mushrooms in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until browned. Add garlic, shallot, thyme and salt. Sauté for 4 minutes or until shallot is soft. Stir in wine; cook until evaporated. If mixture is too dry, add 1 to 2 tablespoons water.

    3. Spread tahini on toast. Spoon mushrooms over toast, sprinkle with salt, and serve.

    Roasted Eggplant Salad with Tangerine Tahini balances sweet tangerine juice with lemon juice, minced garlic, salt and red pepper powder. (Photo by Yakir Levy)
    Roasted Eggplant Salad with Tangerine Tahini balances sweet tangerine juice with lemon juice, minced garlic, salt and red pepper powder. (Photo by Yakir Levy)

    Roasted Eggplant Salad with Tangerine Tahini

    Adding sweet tangerine juice to tahini sauce might seem surprising but tahini eggplant drizzled with silan (date syrup) is popular in Israeli restaurants. Our dish isn’t sweet. Tangerine zest, lemon juice, minced garlic, salt and red pepper powder balance the flavor.

    Yield: 2 or 3 servings

    INGREDIENTS

    Tangerine tahini sauce:

    • 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
    • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, or to taste
    • 2 to 3 tablespoons tangerine juice
    • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons tahini, stirred before measuring
    • Pinch of salt, or to taste
    • 1 tablespoon cold water (optional), more if needed
    • 1/2 teaspoon grated tangerine zest, or more to taste

    Roasted Eggplant and Salad:

    • 1 Chinese eggplant (about 9-10 ounces), sliced diagonally 3/8 to 1/2 inch thick
    • 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
    • Salt, freshly ground pepper and hot red pepper powder to taste
    • 5 romaine or other lettuce leaves, cut in bite size pieces
    • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
    • 1 tangerine, cut in rounds, then in half slices
    • Walnuts, preferably red (garnish)

    DIRECTIONS

    1. Tangerine tahini sauce: In a medium bowl mix garlic, lemon juice and tangerine juice. Stir in tahini paste. Keep stirring until sauce is smooth and thick but still pourable. Add more tangerine juice or water, 1 teaspoon at a time, to adjust consistency and taste. Stir in tangerine zest. (You will have extra sauce to enjoy for 2 days.)

    2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. If you like, line a roasting pan with foil. Set eggplant slices in pan. Brush them with about 1 tablespoon olive oil; sprinkle with salt and black and red pepper. Turn them over; repeat brushing with olive oil and sprinkling seasonings. Roast for 17 to 25 minutes (or 15 minutes using the Roast function of an air fryer toaster oven), turning them once, or until tender to your taste.

    3. Make a bed of chopped lettuce; drizzle with light dressing made by whisking 1 teaspoon olive oil with 1 teaspoon lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Set eggplant slices on lettuce and spoon tangerine tahini sauce over them. Garnish with tangerine pieces and walnuts.

    Faye Levy is the author of “Feast from the Mideast.”

    [ad_2]

    Faye Levy, Yakir Levy

    Source link

  • Cheerios, Pringles, Nutella among thousand of products recalled over rodent, bird waste

    [ad_1]

    Thousands of products, including Cheerios, Pringles, Heinz Ketchup and Nutella, have been recalled in multiple states over possible contamination from rat and bird waste.

    The recall originated from an unsanitary Gold Star Distribution facility, where “rodent excreta, rodent urine and bird droppings” were found, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

    “These conditions create a significant risk that products held at the facility may have been contaminated with filth and harmful microorganisms,” reads a recall notice issued by the agency

    The affected products also include over-the-counter medication like Advil, Tylenol and Excedrin; beverages such as Gatorade and Arizona Iced Tea; and food items from instant ramen to sauces and seasonings, in addition to several cosmetics, skin care items and pet food products. The full recall list can be found on the FDA’s website.

    Anyone exposed to the potentially contaminated products could contract salmonella or leptospirosis, a bacterial disease caused by contact with animal waste. However, no illnesses related to the recall have been reported so far.

    According to the FDA, Gold Star distributed the products to stores in three states: Indiana, North Dakota and Minnesota.

    Gold Star is asking anyone in those states who purchased any of the products on the list to destroy them immediately. Refunds would be given upon request.

    [ad_2]

    David Matthews

    Source link

  • ‘Queer Eye’ star Karamo Brown abruptly backs out of interviews with co-stars

    [ad_1]

    Karamo Brown abruptly backed out of multiple live morning shows, just an hour before air time on Tuesday.

    Brown was expected to join his “Queer Eye” castmates Jeremiah Brent, Tan France, Antoni Porowski and Jonathan van Ness for a round of live interviews, including appearances on “Today with Jenna & Sheinelle” and “CBS Mornings.”

    Instead, CBS anchor Gayle King read a letter from Brown apologizing for being absent but explaining his decision to sit out.

    “I hope everyone remembers the main theme I have tried to teach them over the past decade, which is to focus on and to protect their mental health/peace from people or a world who seek to destroy it; which is why I can’t be there today,” the statement read.

    King also said she received a message from Brown’s assistant claiming the reality star was “worried about being bullied.”

    When asked about Brown’s remarks, his co-stars said they were surprised.

    “Surprised is a fair understatement,” Porowski said. “I will say, our ‘Queer Eye’ family — we’ve been doing this for almost a decade, which is pretty wild to believe — and families are complicated and we’re definitely not excluded from that. But I think two things can exist at the same time, and while that is definitely true, we’re also here to showcase these incredible heroes we have and really honor the legacy of this past decade of our lives and all these wonderful heroes that we’ve had the blessing of getting to meet and have conversations with.”

    Brent, who replaced Bobby Berk on season 9 of the show, echoed a similar sentiment praising his castmates.

    “My experience in this group has been transformative,” he told King. “To see the way that they move through the world, the way that they have taught me so much about life and friendship and love. I have felt safe and supported by the people up here.”

    Shortly after, the cast addressed Brown’s absence again on “Today with Jenna & Sheinelle,” where Brown sent a video message saying, “Just like the themes of this season, I’m modeling what I believe is most important, which I want to remind you all, love yourselves and protect yourselves. That’s why I’m here at home and not there.”

    The reality star also sent the NBC show a statement saying that he “has felt mentally and emotionally abused for years,” and was advised by his therapist not to attend the interview.

    Brown was one of the original members of the show, which has aired since 2003.

    Fans noticed last week that Brown had unfollowed France, Porowski and van Ness, a move that raised eyebrows as Season 10’s premiere approached.

    Brown hasn’t revealed who, specifically, is behind the tension.

    Season 10 of “Queer Eye,” set in Washington, D.C., drops on Netflix on Wednesday.

    [ad_2]

    Vivian Kwarmn

    Source link

  • States go their own way as RFK Jr. shifts federal vaccine policy

    [ad_1]

    By Tim Henderson, Stateline.org

    New federal guidance to reduce the number of vaccines recommended for all children from 17 vaccines down to 11 comes as states already are charting their own courses on vaccine policy.

    [ad_2]

    Tribune News Service

    Source link

  • 10 travel gems to visit in 2026 that are off the beaten path

    [ad_1]

    If you’re tired of visiting places trod by millions of tourists previously, perhaps you should consider looking in less likely spots this year.

    [ad_2]

    John Metcalfe

    Source link

  • Average US long-term mortgage rate hits the lowest point in more than 3 years

    [ad_1]

    By ALEX VEIGA, AP Business Writer

    MCLEAN, Va. (AP) — The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate is now down to its lowest level in more than three years.

    [ad_2]

    The Associated Press

    Source link

  • After Minnesota shooting, Democrats call for Kristi Noem’s impeachment

    [ad_1]

    By David Lightman, McClatchy Washington Bureau

    WASHINGTON — Reps. Doris Matsui and Mike Thompson want to impeach Homeland Secretary Kristin Noem. So do dozens of other Democrats.

    [ad_2]

    Tribune News Service

    Source link

  • Jon Hamm to host NFL Honors during Super Bowl week

    [ad_1]

    (Photo credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY)

    Award-winning actor Jon Hamm will host the 15th annual NFL Honors, which will include a new award for offensive lineman on Feb. 5 as well as announcing the Most Valuable Player and Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026.

    The program, at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, takes place three days before Super Bowl 60 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. The awards show will air live at 9 p.m. ET on NBC and NFL Network, and streamed on Peacock and NFL+.

    ‘Week after week, the NFL delivers performances that remind you why this game means so much to so many people,’ Hamm said in a news release on Sunday. ‘I’m honored to host an evening that celebrates the players, their immense talents and the unforgettable moments that defined this season.’

    Hamm, 54, starred on television in ‘Mad Men’ and earned the Emmy Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series in 2015 as well as Golden Globe awards in 2008 and 2016 and other nominations and accolades. He has numerous credits in television and film as an actor and executive producer.

    ‘His impressive acting career, passionate football fandom and overall charisma will create an unforgettable night that celebrates the very best of the league, from the performances on the field to the people and stories that define the season,’ said Angela Ellis, NFL vice president of original content and entertainment.

    NFL Honors, which began in 2012, will include the Protector of the Year to recognize the league’s best offensive lineman (tackles, guards, centers) in the 2025 season. The winner will be selected by a panel of former offensive linemen, including LeCharles Bentley, Jason Kelce, Shaun O’Hara, Orlando Pace, Will Shields and Andrew Whitworth.

    Criteria for the new award includes skills metrics, impact, leadership, durability and strength of the opponent, according to the league’s announcement.

    The program also will announce the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year, the Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award and NFL Fan of the Year. Associated Press awards will recognize the MVP, coach, comeback player, offensive player, defensive player, offensive rookie, defensive rookie and assistant coach of the year.

    The NFL Honors Red Carpet Show is slated for 8 p.m. ET on NFL Network on Feb. 5.

    –Field Level Media

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Deep cuts made 2025 a difficult year for National Park Service

    [ad_1]

    By Mike Magner, CQ-Roll Call

    WASHINGTON — The acting director of the National Park Service believes 2025 was a “kick-ass year.” Advocates for what polls say is the most popular federal agency might use the same term, but with a far different meaning than Jessica Bowron intended in a year-end email to Park Service managers.

    [ad_2]

    Tribune News Service

    Source link

  • 46 best books of 2025: Our top fiction and nonfiction book recommendations

    [ad_1]

    It was the best-of times (you know, that period in December when we do the best-of lists).

    But it could feel like the worst of times: There’s so much to read before the year finishes!

    Well, there’s good news. You can read these books whenever you want — this year, next year, Leap Day, anytime. This best-of thing isn’t really a competition — it’s a collaboration between writers, editors, designers, publicists, booksellers, journalists and readers like you.

    [ad_2]

    Erik Pedersen

    Source link

  • ‘Super flu’ variant is circulating and raising concern. Here’s what to know about it

    [ad_1]

    By Maria Salette Ontiveros, The Dallas Morning News

    DALLAS — A new version of the common flu is spreading globally, and health officials are monitoring this evolving strain of influenza A(H3N3) Subclade K, which has been increasingly detected worldwide.

    [ad_2]

    Tribune News Service

    Source link

  • How delays and bankruptcy let a nursing home chain avoid paying settlements for injuries and deaths

    [ad_1]

    By Jordan Rau, KFF Health News, KFF Health News

    Nancy Hunt arrived at an emergency room from a Genesis HealthCare nursing home in Pennsylvania in such dreadful shape, including maggots infesting her gangrened foot, that the hospital called an elder abuse hotline and then the police, her son alleged in a lawsuit.

    Hunt died five days later. Her death certificate said the foot injury was a “significant” factor. Genesis denied wrongdoing but agreed to pay $3.5 million in a settlement Hunt’s son signed in August 2024.

    Yet Genesis hasn’t paid most of that debt, court records show. It may never have to.

    Once the nation’s largest nursing home chain, Genesis says it was spending $8 million a month defending and settling lawsuits over resident injuries and deaths in recent years. But the company is now poised to wipe the liability slate clean by seeking refuge in the most protective corner of the legal system for the nursing home industry: bankruptcy court.

    The Genesis case, one of 11 large senior care bankruptcies this year, illustrates how health care companies can dodge public and financial accountability for alleged negligence through delays, confidentiality clauses, and bankruptcy maneuvers, a KFF Health News investigation found.

    When it filed for bankruptcy in Dallas in July, Genesis estimated its total liability for nearly a thousand settled and pending lawsuits at $259 million. A KFF Health News review of the terms of 155 settlement agreements and corporate financial statements shows Genesis officials knew insolvency was possible yet included provisions in its settlement agreements allowing it to defer payment, often for a year or more.

    As a result, Genesis paid nothing in 85 cases and only a portion in the other 70, according to civil court records and bankruptcy claims made available through people with access to them. It still owes $41 million of the $58 million it had agreed to pay in those cases, the records show.

    “It just feels like they killed my mom and got away with it,” said Vanessa Betancourt, whose mother, Nellie Betancourt, a retired nurse, fractured her hip at a Genesis home in Albuquerque, New Mexico — an injury the medical examiner’s report said led to her death. Genesis agreed to a $650,000 settlement with Betancourt’s family in April under the condition it would not need to pay the first of seven installments for another year, according to the settlement document.

    1 of 7

    Gabe Betancourt holds an old photograph of his wife, Nellie, that he keeps in his wallet. (Adria Malcolm/KFF Health News/TNS)

    Expand

    Genesis denied wrongdoing in all lawsuits and settlements. In a written statement, the company did not answer questions about individual personal injury cases. The statement said Genesis remained “focused on delivering high-quality, compassionate care to our patients and residents without disruption” during bankruptcy.

    One lawsuit Genesis settled for nearly $1 million alleged nursing home managers ignored repeated warnings about a male resident’s behavior before he sexually assaulted a female Alzheimer’s patient, according to court records. In a case the company resolved for $500,000, a Genesis nursing home was accused of delaying the hospitalization of a resident who had vomited brown mucus. He died of a bowel obstruction. Genesis has paid nothing for either settlement, according to bankruptcy claims.

    Creditors, including families of the deceased, are expected to salvage a fraction of what they were promised, if anything. On Dec. 10, the company’s owners were scheduled to seek approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas to sell its nursing homes and other assets to its largest investor, a private equity firm. In court papers, lawyers for residents and other creditors say the complex plan will prevent them from pursuing Genesis’ new ownership and other companies they blame for the company’s collapse.

    John Anthony, a bankruptcy attorney representing 340 personal injury claims against Genesis, said, “They never had any intention to honor these deals.”

    Low Ratings and Fines

    During years of financial turmoil, Genesis has frequently struggled to provide top-notch care, federal records show. Using its five-star system, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services rated 58% of homes affiliated with Genesis as below average or much below average. CMS has fined Genesis homes $10 million for violating federal health standards over the past three years.

    In 2022, Connecticut health regulators shuttered a Genesis home after two deaths and multiple violations. The company closed another Connecticut nursing home this year after residents twice were evacuated over safety concerns.

    In its Chapter 11 filing, Genesis said it cared for about 15,000 residents in 165 nursing homes and 10 assisted living facilities in 18 states. They are centered in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New Mexico, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Maine, Alabama, Maryland, and North Carolina, according to the bankruptcy filing.

    The company said it owed $709 million in secured debt to lenders and the IRS. Under bankruptcy rules, those debts, backed by Genesis collateral, take precedence over the $1.6 billion in unsecured debt Genesis said it owes. Unsecured creditors include a pension fund; contractors that provided health services and equipment; Pennsylvania, New Mexico, and West Virginia for unpaid provider taxes; and former residents and their families who sued.

    Dangers in Memory Care

    Sandia Ridge Center, a Genesis home in Albuquerque, was repeatedly faulted by health regulators for not preventing sexual misbehavior in its memory care unit. In November 2021, CMS cited the home for lacking enough nurses to prevent sexual abuse among residents. An inspection report the following August identified more inappropriate sexual contact. Police were called to investigate sexual assault allegations in February and March of 2023, police reports show; neither resulted in criminal charges.

    Then in April 2023, a 61-year-old male resident with alcohol-related dementia sexually assaulted a female resident with Alzheimer’s in the dining room, according to a police report and an inspection report. When the resident screamed for him to stop and that he was hurting her, he responded “shut up bitch I know you like this,” according to a lawsuit brought on behalf of the woman, identified in court papers as R.S.

    Sandia Ridge management had been aware of the male resident’s behavioral issues for months, according to employee depositions in the case. Police had investigated a prior sexual assault allegation against him the previous year without bringing charges. In one deposition, a former activities assistant testified he hit her and twice pushed her into a bathroom while announcing, “I want to have sex with you.” When she reported him to a senior Genesis manager, she said in the deposition, the manager put his finger over his lips and said, “Shhh.”

    The activities worker testified that R.S. used to happily sing along with Elvis Presley songs. After the assault, the worker said, R.S. “don’t sing anymore.”

    Inspectors cited the home for failing to protect R.S. The same report said the home didn’t provide a therapist for another female resident who was being sexually harassed. Medicare fined Sandia Ridge Center $91,247. Genesis denied liability but settled R.S.’ lawsuit for $925,000 in May, according to the bankruptcy claim.

    “We just felt we have to hold them accountable,” R.S.’ daughter said in an interview, speaking on the condition that she and her mother not be identified, because of the nature of the assault. “Maybe I’m wrong, maybe I’m naive, but the only way to do that is to sue someone, right?”

    Genesis has not paid any of the settlement, according to the family’s claim filing.

    Growth and Debt

    Genesis’ downfall can be traced to 2007, when affiliates of two private equity firms acquired the company in a $1.5 billion leveraged buyout, taking on substantial debt, according to its bankruptcy filing. Private equity also has been involved in other health care bankruptcies, including those of the HCR ManorCare nursing home chain, the prison health care contractor Corizon Health, and two for-profit hospital systems, Steward Health Care and Prospect Medical Holdings.

    In 2011, Genesis raised $2.4 billion by transferring substantially all its nursing home buildings and other real estate to Welltower, a publicly traded real estate investment trust, according to Genesis’ bankruptcy filing. Genesis then rented the buildings back from Welltower, which made leasing costs a significant expense.

    Genesis went on a nationwide buying spree. At its peak in 2016, it had grown to more than 500 nursing homes. In a court declaration, Louis Robichaux IV, a consultant overseeing Genesis’ bankruptcy restructuring, wrote that as the company expanded, it became harder to manage and “mired in corporate inefficiencies.” Robichaux wrote that Genesis’ financial woes were exacerbated by rapidly increasing labor costs and lawsuits, including some predating the covid pandemic.

    Starting in 2021, Genesis avoided bankruptcy after receiving $100 million in loans from a private equity firm founded by Joel Landau, the owner of a Brooklyn-based nursing home chain, according to Robichaux’s filing.

    But Genesis continued to teeter on the edge of insolvency. In audited financial statements for 2022 and 2023 submitted to a California oversight agency, management and auditors said rent and debt obligations raised “substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.”

    In a court filing, a committee appointed by the U.S. Trustee’s Office to represent the unsecured creditors in the bankruptcy accused Landau and Welltower of orchestrating a covert plan that allowed Welltower to keep getting its rents while Landau could run the company and “siphon value to himself.” The committee alleged their efforts forced the company into insolvency while “staffing levels and patient care declined precipitously.” Landau and Welltower did not respond to requests for comment.

    Staff at a Genesis HealthCare nursing home delayed hospitalizing James Sanderson, seen here with daughter Erin Pearson, for a week after he showed symptoms of a bowel obstruction, according to a lawsuit. (Courtesy Erin S. Pearson/KFF Health News/TNS)
    Staff at a Genesis HealthCare nursing home delayed hospitalizing James Sanderson, seen here with daughter Erin Pearson, for a week after he showed symptoms of a bowel obstruction, according to a lawsuit. (Courtesy Erin S. Pearson/KFF Health News/TNS)

    Drawn-Out Lawsuits

    Erin Pearson sued Genesis over the death of her father, James Sanderson, a retired mining company executive who died in 2018 after spending less than a month at Bear Canyon Rehabilitation Center in Albuquerque. In the memory care unit, Sanderson fell repeatedly, suffered medication errors made by nursing home staff, and developed a bowel obstruction and sepsis, according to the lawsuit, filed in 2019. Pearson’s lawyers said he was not hospitalized until eight days after nurses noticed he was vomiting brown mucus.

    After the judge rejected Genesis’ request to force Pearson into arbitration, Genesis appealed. It took 2½ years before an appeals court affirmed the original decision to let the case go forward in court, records show.

    This past May, more than five years after suing, Pearson reached a $500,000 settlement, with the first payment required by November, according to a copy of the agreement. Nothing was paid, according to the bankruptcy claim.

    “It was so drawn out and for so long,” Pearson said in an interview, calling Genesis’ bankruptcy “despicable.”

    Genesis HealthCare settlements included periodic payment plans, like this one from a $600,000 settlement in February 2025, included in a court record, that allowed the company to delay paying for a year or more. (Jordan Rau/KFF Health News/TNS)
    Genesis HealthCare settlements included periodic payment plans, like this one from a $600,000 settlement in February 2025, included in a court record, that allowed the company to delay paying for a year or more. (Jordan Rau/KFF Health News/TNS)

    Payouts Postponed

    Jennifer Foote, an Albuquerque attorney who represents clients in multiple lawsuits against Genesis, including Pearson’s, said the company frequently filed appeals. “They did not usually win them on these issues,” she said, “and our sense was that they were doing it as a delay tactic.”

    Genesis started using installment payments around 2018, said Dusti Harvey, Foote’s law partner. “The payments wouldn’t start for several months out,” Harvey said. Foote said Genesis’ lawyers often wanted to time the payments to start the month the trial in the case was scheduled to occur.

    Families had to wait even when comparatively small amounts of money were involved, settlement agreements show. Genesis’ settlement agreements also included a confidentiality clause prohibiting discussion of the incidents.

    Genesis agreed to pay $42,000 in a November 2024 settlement, but the first payment was not due until nine months later. It was not paid, according to the bankruptcy claim.

    A $250,000 settlement signed in October 2023 did not start paying out until the following September. When Genesis declared bankruptcy — 21 months after the case was resolved — it still owed $100,000, according to the family’s claim.

    Genesis HealthCare still owes $112,500 from a $950,000 settlement over the death of Margarett Johnson after an accident in a Maryland nursing home, according to a bankruptcy claim. (Angela Swann/KFF Health News/TNS)
    Genesis HealthCare still owes $112,500 from a $950,000 settlement over the death of Margarett Johnson after an accident in a Maryland nursing home, according to a bankruptcy claim. (Angela Swann/KFF Health News/TNS)

    ‘We Never Found Out the Truth’

    Settling cases allowed Genesis to avoid the expense and publicity of a trial, at which details of how its nursing homes functioned might have been revealed. In October 2020, Margarett Johnson, a retired school bus driver, fell out of her wheelchair at a Genesis nursing home in Waldorf, Maryland, fracturing her jawbone, nose, and neck, according to a lawsuit brought by her family. Johnson was sent to a trauma center and placed on a ventilator. She died three months later, at age 76, from ventilator-associated pneumonia, the lawsuit said.

    “It looked like she was hit by a truck,” Angelina Harley, one of her daughters, said in an interview. “I knew my mom was not going to come home. I knew the Lord was not going to punish her more.”

    The company denied negligence and blamed the accident on Johnson’s jacket getting tangled in the wheel of her wheelchair, according to the lawsuit. Harley and her sister Angela Swann were dubious.

    “We never found out the truth,” Harley said. “They wanted to settle out of court.”

    The company denied liability but agreed to a $950,000 settlement in October 2024. It never paid the final $112,500 installment, according to a letter Johnson’s five children sent to the bankruptcy judge.

    “If you settle out of court, you know doggone well you did something wrong,” Harley said.

    Maddening Judges

    By summer 2025, judges in some civil cases had run out of patience.

    Alma Brown, a retired day care manager and accordion teacher living in a Genesis nursing home in Clovis, New Mexico, suffered falls, infections, bedsores, and other neglect that hastened her death in 2023, according to her estate’s lawsuit. In Santa Fe District Court, Judge Kathleen McGarry Ellenwood castigated Genesis after it failed to pay $2 million of the $3 million settlement to Brown’s estate or explain the delay.

    [ad_2]

    Kff Health News

    Source link

  • Recipe: This soup is the best way to use leftover Thanksgiving turkey

    [ad_1]

    If you are looking for a quick and easy way to use leftover turkey, this may well be the ticket. The original recipe was nabbed from cookbook author Mark Bittman’s book, “Eat Vegan Before 6:00.” A couple of years ago I started adding leftover Thanksgiving turkey to the mix. Of course, that changes the vegan status, but it is a darn tasty soup.

    When I first saw the recipe I questioned the addition of a quarter-cup tomato paste. It seemed like it was too much. But guess what? I made it and loved it. The soup is as delicious as it is simple to prepare.

    [ad_2]

    Cathy Thomas

    Source link

  • How to spend a million dollars on a $400K home: 50-year mortgage math

    [ad_1]

    Mortgage rates moved modestly lower this week, but interest rates were not the big news for anyone following home loans. President Donald Trump’s social media post about a 50-year mortgage stole the show, as economists and pundits critiqued the ins and outs of such a proposal.

    [ad_2]

    Nerdwallet

    Source link

  • The ‘hard, slow work’ of reducing overdose deaths is having an effect

    [ad_1]

    By Tim Henderson, Stateline.org

    Illicit drug overdoses and the deaths they cause are trending down this year, despite spikes in a handful of states, according to a Stateline analysis of data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    A handful of places with rising overdoses are responding to the problem with cooperation, they say, by sharing information about overdose surges and distributing emergency medication.

    “The national conversation is just about warships in the Caribbean and drones and borders,” said Nabarun Dasgupta, who studies overdose trends at the University of North Carolina. “It discounts this huge groundswell of Americans taking care of Americans. There’s a huge amount of caregiving and tending to the needs of local communities that is being done in a non-flashy way because this is hard, slow work.”

    Overdose deaths have been dropping steadily since 2023. As of April, the latest date available, deaths were at 76,500 for the previous 12 months — their lowest level since March 2020. A pandemic spike in overdose deaths drove the number as high as almost 113,000 in the summer of 2023, according to federal statistics.

    President Donald Trump has ordered more than a dozen military strikes against boats in the open waters of the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean since Sept. 2, claiming without publicized evidence that their occupants were drug runners bringing narcotics to the United States. Nearly 60 people have been killed.

    The bulk of deadly fentanyl is smuggled over the border with Mexico in passenger cars, according to a September report by the federal Government Accountability Office. Chemicals and equipment, mostly from China, are smuggled in via cargo trucks, commercial ships, airplanes and the mail, according to the report.

    A more timely indicator of overdoses — nonfatal suspected overdose patients in hospital emergency departments — was down 7% this year through August compared with 2024, according to Stateline’s analysis of CDC statistics.

    The nonfatal overdoses were up for the year in only a few states and the District of Columbia. The largest spikes were 17% in the district, 16% in Rhode Island, 15% in Delaware, 11% in Connecticut and 10% in New Mexico, with smaller increases in Colorado, Pennsylvania, Wyoming, South Dakota, Utah, New Jersey and Minnesota.

    Other states saw drops in nonfatal overdoses: Maryland had the largest decrease through August, about 17%.

    But Baltimore had an attention-grabbing cluster of 42 overdoses between July and October, all within the same neighborhood. No fatalities were reported. The cluster led the city to set aside$2 million in October for more mobile services, harm reduction and social supports to fight overdoses.

    New Mexico is seeing more overdoses and more deaths than the previous year in three counties on the Colorado border. In response, New Mexico is distributing both warnings and naloxone, an opioid-overdose antidote.

    Officials are giving naloxone to storekeepers near overdose sites and alerting those seeking services about the deadly threat in the local supply.

    “We started planning naloxone saturation and different types of outreaches so we can hopefully stem this from getting even worse,” said David Daniels, harm reduction section manager in the New Mexico health department.

    “Putting messaging directly into clients’ hands is extremely valuable. That might be, ‘If you’re choosing to use, don’t use the regular amount. Maybe you should use a quarter of it. Test it out first,’” Daniels said.

    The three counties in New Mexico — which include the capital city Santa Fe, ski resort Taos and Española, the setting of the 2023 TV black comedy series “The Curse” — saw about 438 more deaths from July through September than they did during the third quarter of 2024, according to Stateline calculations. That’s more than double the 383 overdose deaths for the area during the same time period last year.

    Roger Montoya, a former Democratic state representative who runs an arts nonprofit in Rio Arriba County, said most of the deaths there have been among homeless substance users.

    A local hospital has responded with programs to get treatment for more people, and his own Moving Arts Española group concentrates on helping children and young people break a cycle of economic despair that often leads to addiction and homelessness, he said.

    “We try to redirect and strengthen the resiliency of young people who largely are being raised by grandparents and kin because mom and dad are either dead, on the street or incarcerated,” Montoya said.

    [ad_2]

    Tribune News Service

    Source link

  • Gayle King, CBS News address reports of her ‘CBS Mornings’ departure

    [ad_1]

    Both Gayle King and CBS News brass on Friday addressed the widely-circulated report that she would depart the anchor desk at “CBS Mornings” next spring.

    On Thursday, Variety reported that the Emmy Award winner and Oprah Winfrey bestie is expected to leave her position next year. King, who joined the morning show in 2011, “may shift to a different role at the news division,” potentially with “a deal to produce her own programming for the network,” reporters Matt Donnelly and Brian Steinberg wrote.

    Paparazzi approached King outside of the CBS Broadcasting Center in Midtown, Manhattan on Friday and probed the broadcast journalist about her future at the Tiffany Network.

    “All I can say is this: From what I’m being told inside this building … all I’ve been told by everybody in this building is that they want me here, they like the job I’m doing, I like the job I’m doing!” King told TMZ.

    The night before, as buzz began to build about the pending high-profile exit, CBS issued a statement in response to the Variety report: “There have been no discussions with Gayle about her contract that runs through May 2026. She’s a truly valued part of CBS and we look forward to engaging with her about the future.”

    King, a former news anchor in Hartford, Conn.  who is the voice of her own weekly Sirius XM radio show, currently hosts “CBS Mornings” with Tony Dokoupil and Nate Burleson. She would be the latest high-profile person to change roles or leave the network entirely as CBS’s parent company Paramount finalizes its 8 billion dollar merger with Skydance Media.

    The media conglomerate on Wednesday began slashing 2,000 employees ahead of next year’s official takeover. Variety also reported that drastic changes to CBS’ Saturday morning programming are underway.

    [ad_2]

    Karu F. Daniels

    Source link

  • 7 Networking Mistakes That Undermine Your Professional Success

    [ad_1]

    In business and in life, your network is an asset. According to a study of University of Chicago alumni, “Entrepreneurs and investors found their professional networks to be most effective in helping them do due diligence on a market or opportunity, get management advice, learn about a new industry, find professional service providers, and identify best practices.” So why do so many businesspeople ignore their network or let it wither away? Here are seven habits that kill your network—and how to avoid them. 

    1. Meeting only when you need something 

    A huge networking faux pas is to contact someone for help only when you need a job or a favor. It sends a clear message that, “I only remember you when I want something.” You know how people say that your network is your net worth? Guess what? The only net worth you have is the people you’re helping. Genuine networking is not transactional. It’s a two-way street. 

    2. Rejecting virtual substitutes 

    While I’m sure you’ll agree that face-to-face interactions are best, there are a wide variety of virtual ways to meet that are almost as good. If you’re “too busy” to meet, message, or email anyone, you’re essentially telling the world, “I’m self-important, unavailable, and out of touch.” If you must skip social meetups, at least check in from time to time. 

    3. Treating networking as peripheral to your work 

    In my experience, successful networking is neither a hobby nor a sideline. It’s part of your career, pure and simple. It’s the activity that most differentiates the “making it” from the “trying to.” Think of your network as the oxygen tank that keeps your personal brand alive. 

    4. Using your network for gossip 

    It’s never a good idea to use any relationship as a platform for idle chitchat or to badmouth anyone. Word will get around about your own lack of trustworthiness and loyalty. Your network may be powerful, but silence about others’ reputations is golden. 

    5. Ignoring people you deem “unimportant”

    You may feel you have to interact with the “right” people to get the right opportunities—but how do you know who’s right for you? The person who ends up hiring you or giving you an opportunity might be the person you just met or the person you least expect. Ignore someone in a meeting, and everyone will notice. Treat everyone with respect, and no one will. 

    6. Trying to impress instead of being yourself 

    Think credibility instead of flash. Authenticity, respect, warmth, and good listening skills will bring you 100 times more mileage than your shiny résumé or self-promotion ever will. Put your network at the center of your interactions by making their lives better. Then, your life will get better, too. 

    7. Assuming you don’t have a large enough network 

    Chances are you know between 500 and 1,000 people in your personal and professional networks from all walks of life. They include former classmates, acquaintances, business and community contacts, and friends and family. But don’t forget that it’s not the size of your network that matters. Instead, it’s the quality. 

    The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

    [ad_2]

    Peter Economy

    Source link