Good Friday morning. Just when you thought you might have escaped winter’s icy grasp, BOOM! It’s back – and with a vengeance.
In case you’re wondering, we’re 23 days away from the first day of Spring.
I’m genuinely afraid to go outside and look at what the night has brought. Sooner or later I’m going to have to try to coax the puppies out to get them to go to the bathroom, and they will look at me like I’m out of my mind.
You want me to do pee in the freezing cold where I can’t smell a thing? No thanks, lady. I’ll stay here and use the carpet.
Who can blame them?
It’s a good time to stay inside and snuggle up near the fire with a nice book and something hot to drink or eat. And that brings us to National Clam Chowder Day, which apparently falls on a Friday due to the tradition of providing a seafood option for those who abstained from eating meat on this day, as per requirements for Catholics prior to the liturgical changes of Vatican II.
New England, specifically Maine and Massachusetts, are known for their cream-based clam chowder, which is my preferred version of the soup, though I have had some that was closer to library paste than soup. There is such a thing as TOO thick and creamy, as hard as it is to believe.
A lot of different states have their own take on this dish – reportedly, there are eight different versions, but three main types – some opt for a clear clam broth, (I’m looking at you, Rhode Island), while others go Manhattan-style with a tomato base.
New Jersey sort of splits the baby with a version that includes both tomatoes AND light cream, and also cream of asparagus. (This one I’ve never tried, but it sounds delicious).
They’re all good in their own way, but thick and creamy, while avoiding library paste territory, I argue, is truly the rib-sticking best. And yes to extra oyster crackers, but no to bread bowls (who invented these, and WHY?) is my vote, FWIW.
Technically speaking, a chowder is any sort of soup made with fish and/or seafood – usually with potatoes, onions, salt pork (for flavor) and other veggies. Clam chowder just happens to be the best known version.
It is believed that settlers from France, Nova Scotia, or Britain introduced creamy clam chowder to New England in the 1700s. It was served in Boston at a place called Ye Olde Union Oyster House, which is the nation’s oldest continuously operating restaurant, in the 1800s.
Clam chowder even made a cameo in Herman Melville’s classic, “Moby Dick,” where it was described as “as American as the Stars and Stripes, as patriotic as the national Anthem. It is ‘Yankee Doodle in a kettle.'” Hard to argue with that.
Whatever your preference, today might be a very good day indeed to indulge in some nice warm chowder. And if you don’t have any seafood or clams handy, well, there’s always chicken noodle as a fallback.
The winter storm warning is in effect through 10 p.m. tonight. Avoid traveling if you can, and if you can’t, be careful out there.
In the headlines…
President Joe Biden unveiled a new raft of economic sanctions against Moscow as part of an international rallying cry to respond to Russia’s ongoing assault on Ukraine.
“(Vladimir) Putin is the aggressor. Putin chose this war. And now he and his country will bear the consequences,” Biden said in remarks at the White House.
Ukraine’s military has stopped Russian invasion troops “in most directions” despite renewed missile strikes that began at 4 a.m. local time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this morning.
Putin’s cruel choice to stage the multifront assault on his country’s democratic neighbor met international condemnation and large demonstrations in New York City, London and Moscow.
Biden met with his counterparts from the Group of Seven allies to map out more severe measures against Russia after Putin launched what Biden called “a premeditated war” against Ukraine.
The U.N. Security Council will vote today on a resolution that would condemn Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine “in the strongest terms.” It also would demand an immediate halt to Russia’s invasion and the withdrawal of all Russian troops.
The European Union will formally sign off on sanctions today that will cut 70% of Russia’s banking system off from international financial markets and place limits on the amount of money Russian elites can hold in the EU.
While many of her GOP colleagues were heavily ridiculing Putin for his invasion of Ukraine, North Country Rep. Elise Stefanik took a different tack, focusing her criticism on Biden and laying Russian aggression at his feet.
U.S. businesses operating in Russia and Ukraine are putting in place contingency plans as they are reviewing the economic impact of Moscow’s attack on its neighbor, which triggered new sanctions from the U.S., U.K. and European Union.
U.S. financial institutions are largely prepared to handle a new round of Russia-related sanctions, given the steady ratcheting up of pressure against Russia over the past eight years and recent warnings of such measures from the Biden administration.
While Ukraine is under attack by Russia, Ukraine’s civilian population is also under siege from the coronavirus, a situation only likely to worsen.
“Just as the Statue of Liberty stands tall in our harbor, New York stands ready to welcome Ukrainian refugees,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said. “We remain engaged with the Biden administration and we will be prepared to accept and support those who seek shelter in our state.”
The potential resettlement of Ukrainian refugees in New York, home to the largest Ukraine population in the country, may be months away, according to state officials.
Biden has decided on his choice for the U.S. Supreme Court, a person familiar with the process said, and an announcement could come as soon as today.
With only a few days left in February, court watchers are trying to read tea leaves as to the identity of Biden’s pick for the Supreme Court before his end-of-the-month deadline, and a federal court increased buzz around DC Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Lawmakers in three states are pushing bills that would ban abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, as politicians across the U.S. prepare for possible changes to the abortion rights landscape.
More than half of recent abortions in the United States were carried out with abortion pills, according to preliminary data released yesterday, a sign medication abortion has become the most accessible and preferred method for terminating pregnancy.
Weekly jobless claims came in slightly less than expected last week and economic growth to end 2021 was slightly better than originally reported, according to government data released yesterday.
The number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits fell to a 52-year low after another decline in jobless aid applications last week, reflecting a tight labor market as Covid-19 cases continued to decline.
Jobless claims have remained largely near or below pre-pandemic levels since November with U.S. businesses still desperate to fill millions of open jobs.
The Biden administration outlined dozens of measures the federal government can take to strengthen freight transportation and infrastructure following almost two years of supply-chain turmoil that has frustrated American businesses and helped fuel inflation.
Wayfair is grappling not only with inflation denting consumers’ spending power, but also people shifting their purchases to physical stores as Covid-19 pandemic restrictions ease.
Rising prices and snarled supply chains are poised to blunt the impact of the $1 trillion infrastructure law Congress passed with bipartisan support last year.
Federal officials plan to release new Covid-19 guidelines today that lay out a new approach for preventing spread of the disease over the longer term, an official said.
The CDC will announce a change to the metrics it uses to determine whether to recommend face coverings, shifting from looking at COVID-19 case counts to a more holistic view of risk from the coronavirus to a community.
The White House is evaluating a blueprint for handling COVID going forward by experts whose recommendations include stronger air filtration systems in public buildings, billions of dollars in research and a major upgrade to the nation’s public health system.
All government-mandated coronavirus restrictions in England were lifted yesterday, including the legal requirement for people who test positive for COVID-19 to isolate at home.
Queen Elizabeth II postponed her daily virtual engagements yesterday, Buckingham Palace said, the second time she has taken such a step since she tested positive for the coronavirus on Sunday.
“The Talk” co-host Amanda Kloots has tested positive for COVID. Kloots, 39, will miss several episodes of the CBS daytime talk show while she quarantines.
A California couple and a relative who fled the country after being caught operating a multi-million dollar COVID-19 relief scam have been captured and are expected to be extradited back to the U.S.
Plummeting Covid-19 case counts across the United States are leading to lifted mask mandates and more conversations about steps toward normalcy – but more people are dying of the coronavirus now than during most points of the pandemic.
All New York hospitals can continue nonessential procedures, Hochul said, almost three months after she signed an executive order to free up beds in the face of the omicron COVID threat.
In an effort to give small business entrepreneurs in underbanked communities more access to capital, Hochul announced that she plans to ask the federal government to approve a $150 million shift to community development financial institutions.
Hochul wants to pass a constitutional amendment to overturn New York’s century-old ban on private employment of incarcerated people.
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned in disgrace last summer, will begin an attempt at a political comeback with an ad claiming he’s been exonerated from charges he sexually harassed multiple women.
LGBTQ lawmakers and activists brought rage to Mayor Eric Adams’ doorstep as they gathered outside City Hall to protest his decision to hire three men with histories of anti-gay views for high-profile jobs in his administration.
“Mayor Adams has given us the middle finger,” said Allen Roskoff, president of the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club, an LGBTQ political group, who flipped the bird at City Hall behind the crowd gathered. “I say to Mayor Adams here’s my middle finger.”
Hundreds of homeless people were found camping out in subway tunnels and stations across New York City earlier this month, MTA officials said.
Adams participated in a Black History Month event at the Apollo Theater in Harlem.
Councilwoman Marjorie Velazquez, who was just elected last year, has blocked a request from Albanian-American civic leaders to rename a street in the Morris Park section of the Bronx this weekend after an icon, Fan Noli.
The New York City Council easily approved legislation that makes the city’s popular COVID-era outdoor dining program permanent but will trim back rules that allowed for some controversial “shed” setups.
The family of late-Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson will receive $1.15 million dollars in a settlement with the doctor who treated the cancer-afflicted prosecutor before his 2016 death.
Loose expense reimbursement rules at the Sergeants Benevolent Association — detailed in the indictment of its longtime president, Ed Mullins — have many of its 12,600 members asking whether other union officials improperly spent union money.
The New York City Marathon will return to its pre-pandemic competition capacity of 50,000 runners this November, race organizers announced.
A federal judge ordered a hearing into whether a juror who served in the Ghislaine Maxwell trial lied during the jury selection process, an issue that has clouded the jury’s guilty verdict and led Ms. Maxwell to seek a new trial.
A store manager in a Wilton butcher ship who has worked through the pandemic while wearing a mask for 12-hour shifts is now being sued in federal court for asking a customer, who happens to be a doctor, to put on a mask.
The owners of Lake George Beach Club have listed the waterfront restaurant and bar for sale with a $6.5 million asking price after spending five years renovating the property and building it into one of the busier restaurants in the resort community.
Snowman, which has drawn legions of ice cream lovers for nearly 70 years to Troy’s Lansingburgh neighborhood, has been sold.
Three former Minneapolis police officers were convicted of violating George Floyd’s civil rights by denying him medical care.
Thomas Lane, 38; Tou Thao, 36, and J. Alexander Kueng, 28, were found guilty of depriving Floyd of medical care as former officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into the Black man’s neck for 9½ minutes two years ago.
The jury found that the former officers’ actions led to Floyd’s death, which will be a factor in their sentencing. Acting U.S. Attorney Charles J. Kovats declined to say how long of a sentence his office would seek.
The parents of a 15-year-old boy charged with killing four students at his high school will stand trial on involuntary manslaughter charges, a Michigan judge ruled.
The abrupt resignation of the two prosecutors leading the Manhattan DA’s investigation into Donald Trump leaves the future of the inquiry in doubt. But that doesn’t mean the former president or his family business are out of legal jeopardy.
Roger Stone, a close ally of ex-President Trump, sued members of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, asking a federal court to block them from obtaining logs of his texts and phone calls.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether recent stock sales by Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk and his brother, Kimbal Musk, violated insider-trading rules, according to people familiar with the matter.
Attorneys for Snoop Dogg filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit against the rapper after he was sued earlier this month for alleged sexual assault and battery.
Sally Kellerman, the willowy, sultry-voiced actress and singer whose portrayal of Maj. Margaret (Hot Lips) Houlihan in the 1970 dark comedy “MASH” earned her an Oscar nomination, died at an assisted-living facility in Los Angeles. She was 84.
