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From anise to zinnia, your summer dishes just got prettier

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:28 GMT

Nicole Hvidsten | Star Tribune (TNS)Pansies are among the most common edible flowers and can be found on everything from charcuterie boards to salad.We’ve long been tossing pansies in salads and sautéing squash blossoms. Roses, lavender and elderflower infuse water, syrups and oils; bergamot, bee balm and hibiscus add dimension to teas, tarts and tinctures.But there’s also room in the kitchen for geraniums, daylilies, marigolds and zinnias. Ditto daisies, orchids, snapdragons and lilacs. You’ll find that some of your garden favorites can pull double duty and turn your summer spreads into works of art.Use dahlias, impatiens and geraniums to decorate and flavor cakes. Press marigold petals into pasta, and fresh herbs into biscuits or savory scones. Don’t toss the blooms — those on chives, tarragon, basil, thyme, rosemary and more are edible and often mimic the herbal flavors.Before raiding flower beds and herb gardens, educate yourself and use common sense. Gently wash all parts of th...

5 things the Yankees need to do in the second half to become a World Series contender

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:28 GMT

The Yankees have their work cut out for them as they begin the second half of the season Friday night in Colorado. The Bombers’ many flaws were put on display throughout the first half of the season as they entered the All-Star break sitting one game outside the AL Wild Card picture.Granted, there have been some significant injuries — especially with superstar Aaron Judge (toe) being out since June 3 — that have changed the season for the worse.However, with a payroll just under $280 million (second in baseball behind the Mets) nobody is feeling bad for Aaron Boone’s Yankees as they go through a bit of adversity with their season hanging in the balance over the next handful of weeks.If the ship doesn’t get righted with the hopeful return of their captain, the Yanks could find themselves out of the playoffs for the first time since 2016.Here are five things the Yankees need to do in the second half of the season to get back on track:FIGURE OUT LEFT FIELD...

Recipes: Fruit salsas add pizzazz to virtually anything from the grill

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:28 GMT

Fruit-based salsas add pizzazz to so many off-the-grill dishes. Delectable spooned on grilled fish, poultry or pork, these tangy mixtures can often be made several hours (or days) in advance of serving and refrigerated. They are a summer blend of cool sweetness, sour citrus, and spicy heat.The cook has the option to make fruit salsa mild or spicy; it’s their choice. The desired amount of spicy heat varies from one palate to the next. And it is impossible to tell by looking at a fresh chili exactly how much capsaicin it contains. Capsaicin is that incendiary substance in chilies that produces the sensation of heat.When adding finely chopped fresh chilies to salsa, I like to start by omitting the seeds and adding half of the recommended amount. Over the years I’ve become more sensitive, more “chili delicate.”Then, after a taste of the salsa, I add more chili and/or seeds if needed. Easy. Summer calls out for fruit enjoyment. Fruit salsa is a seasonal must.Apricot-Pineapple Salsa is de...

Column: The MLB All-Star Game — with generic uniforms and a slew of new faces — has morphed from ‘Who’s who’ to ‘Who’s that?’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:28 GMT

Seattle Mariners star Julio Rodríguez was asked about his approach during his ninth-inning at-bat against Craig Kimbrel in Tuesday’s All-Star Game.“Oh, definitely trying to win it, honestly,” he said, according to the New York Times. “Once I saw the guy getting to first, my thought was just get a good pitch to drive and let’s try to win this game.”The “guy” Rodríguez referred to was his American League teammate Kyle Tucker, a Houston Astros outfielder, who had just walked.Hopefully Rodríguez momentarily forgot who batted in front of him and actually knew who Tucker was.But if he didn’t, he certainly was not alone. At an All-Star viewing party I attended Tuesday, most of the night was spent answering the same question: “Who’s that guy?”Commissioner Rob Manfred’s ignorant and widely reviled decision in 2021 to ditch the tradition of All-Stars wearing their own uniforms, combined with so many n...

5 lessons learned from 20 years of living with, through and beyond ovarian cancer

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:28 GMT

Cynthia Weiss | (TNS) Mayo Clinic News NetworkI was 33 when I first began experiencing aches and pains that led me to the doctor. It was 2003. I was never married, never pregnant, generally healthy and living life to the fullest. I didn’t expect a cancer diagnosis.The doctor told me I had stage 4 gynecologic cancer. Cervical or ovarian cancer? They couldn’t be 100% sure, as medical technology was not as advanced back then. Tests seemed to indicate cervical cancer, so I was given the choice of radiation therapy or a hysterectomy.After some soul-searching — and an appointment with a fertility specialist about freezing my eggs — I decided there were other ways to become a parent and opted for surgery.When I woke up after surgery, I was told cancer cells were “everywhere” — and doctors still couldn’t confirm where the cancer had started. My care team recommended radiation to target cervical cancer and chemotherapy for ovarian cancer. I accepted their recomm...

Roadway bombs planted by drug cartel in Mexico kill 4 police officers, 2 civilians

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:28 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A drug cartel set off a coordinated series of seven roadway bombs in western Mexico that killed four police officers and two civilians, officials said Wednesday, with a governor describing the violence as “a trap” for law enforcement personnel escorting volunteers to a supposed mass grave. Luis Méndez, the chief prosecutor of Jalisco state, said the blasts late Tuesday in the township of Tlajomulco were so powerful they left craters in the road, destroyed at least four vehicles and wounded 14 other people. It appeared to be the first time that a Mexican cartel killed law enforcement personnel with improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, and was the latest example of the increasingly open, military-style challenge posed by the country’s drug cartels.Méndez said the two dead civilians were in a vehicle that happened to be passing the spot when the IEDs detonated in Tlajomulco, near the state capital of Guadalajara. He suggested the bombs may have been remotely detona...

Rodriguez leaves door open to regulating Meta’s new social media platform Threads

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:28 GMT

OTTAWA — Canada’s Heritage Minister is leaving the door open to regulating new social media platform Threads under a bill forcing Google and Meta to pay publishers for content they link to or repurpose.Asked Wednesday whether he had given any thought to capturing Meta’s new social network in the Online News Act known as Bill C-18, Pablo Rodriguez said, “that’s going to be eventually included in the regulation.”“It could be captured by the bill. We’re looking at that,” he said.“We don’t know yet, but it’s going to be more precise as we go into regulations.”The text and images platform has garnered at least 100 million users since it sprang up last Wednesday, after the act targeting Meta properties Facebook and Instagram along with Google’s search engine and news products received royal assent on June 22.The act has since sparked a tit-for-tat relationship between the digital giants and the federal governmen...

With escaped inmate still on the loose, Pennsylvania officials vow to upgrade security at jail

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:28 GMT

WARREN, Pa. (AP) — As authorities continued their search for a homicide suspect who used bedsheets to escape from a northwestern Pennsylvania jail, county commissioners on Wednesday vowed to make security upgrades and reevaluate procedures.Michael Burham, 34, fled the Warren County Prison late Thursday by climbing on exercise equipment to gain access to the roof and then used a rope fashioned from jail bedding to get down, authorities said. Prior to his escape, Burham had been held on $1 million bail and was facing numerous charges, including kidnapping and burglary.Commissioners say the law requires inmates to be provided with time in the jail yard, a room with a cage on the top floor, and inmates are taken there in shifts. While there, they are on camera monitored by staff, but “the amount of time that he got out of that roof was quicker than anybody could respond to to get inside the room,” Commissioner Jeff Eggleston said Wednesday. Whether such monitoring was effective security...

Raptors officially sign Dennis Schröder to multi-year contract

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:28 GMT

The Toronto Raptors officially signed point guard Dennis Schröder to a multi-year contract on Wednesday.While financial terms were not made available, it was reported on June 30 that Schröder had agreed to a two-year, $26-million contract with the Raptors.Welcome to Toronto, Dennis Schröder!#WeTheNorth pic.twitter.com/XukKOn6Ccn— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) July 12, 2023Toronto pivoted to sign Schröder after long-time Raptors guard Fred VanVleet joined the Houston Rockets on a reported three-year, $128.5 million deal, which includes a team option for the 2025-26 season.Raptors President Masai Ujiri called Schröder, who turns 30 in September, “fierce, creative, and above all, competitive.”“We’re excited to welcome Dennis to Toronto and are looking forward to seeing him on the Scotiabank Arena court,” Ujiri said.Schröder, a German native entering his 11th season in the NBA, most recently played for the Los Angeles Lakers, appearing in 66 games (50 st...

Election officials sue conservative voting group over refusal to produce ballot-harvesting evidence

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:28 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — The Georgia State Election Board is asking a judge to order a conservative voting organization to produce information to help investigate its claims of ballot trafficking in the state.The Texas-based True the Vote group filed complaints with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in November 2021, including one saying it had received “a detailed account of coordinated efforts to collect and deposit ballots in drop boxes across metro Atlanta” during the 2020 general election and in a runoff election in January 2021. True the Vote’s assertions were relied upon heavily for the film “2000 Mules,” a widely debunked film by conservative pundit and filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza. The film featured surveillance video from drop boxes in Atlanta’s suburbs showing people depositing multiple ballots. A State Election Board investigation found that those people were submitting ballots for themselves and family members who lived with them, which is allowed under Georgia law.In the...