Good morning. We made it through another week. Is it just me, or does time seem to move slower when it’s really, REALLY hot. Like even the clock can’t seem to motivate itself to advance.
On a weekend or vacation day, this can be a good thing. If you’re swinging in a hammock or lazing poolside, those hazy, sluggish hours are welcome. But on a day when you’re stuck in the office (or, in my case, the dining room) minutes crawling by is not a terribly encouraging phenomenon.
Don’t get me wrong, I do like the flexibility of working from home. It enables me to more easily squeeze things into my day – workouts, errands, coffee runs, trips to the vet – than a regular 9 to 5 (does anyone even have one of those anymore?). I do sometimes like to hold myself to a schedule, though, or any sense of normalcy goes completely out the window.
That includes mealtimes, although I have always been more of a grazer than a big sit down meal sort of person. And when it’s hot I don’t have much of an appetite anyway, unless it’s fruit or vegetable related. And toast, of course. There’s always room for toast.
This disinterest in food does not apply to fair food, for which all rules are suspended. Fair food is a category all its own – pork chop on a stick, gigantic turkey leg, roast beef “sundae”, and anything under the sun that can be fried. This includes, of course, potatoes.
French fries (remember the brief, post-9/11 attempt to re-name them “freedom fries“?) are seen by many as a quintessentially American diet staple.
As it turns out, however, the U.S. is not the leading consumer of french fries, though fries are among our favorite foods – right up there with hamburgers and grilled cheese. That distinction belongs to Belgium, which loves french fries so much that it has adopted the dish as it’s national cuisine. Reportedly, the average Belgian consumes 165 pounds of fries (AKA frites) a year – likely with mayo and not ketchup as a preferred condiment.
The US, by contract, collective eats more than 4 billion pounds of french fries a year, according to one study.
There are at least 15 different kinds of fries: Standard, waffle, thick-cut, Belgian, curly, steak, shoestring, crinkle-cut, sweet potato, cottage, curly, tornado, wedge, novelty (like smiley-face or other versions generally marketed to small children).
We could get into a debate over whether tater tots could be included in the fry family (my vote: No), and if all manner of non-potato “fries” count such as zucchini or avocado. Again, my vote: NO. Where would this slippery slope end, I ask you? Fried okra is, in my humble opinion, lovely, but it is definitely not a french fry.
The best french fry, in my opinion, is an extra-crispy, well done fry – so crispy that it almost shatters. There are a number of approaches one can use to attain this level of salty, hot perfection.
Most fast food establishments cook their fries twice, which helps amp up the crisp factor. The kind of fat you use to fry also makes a difference. Duck fat, for example, is delicious and almost guarantees crispiness, but it is perhaps not the best from a health standpoint.
If you’re making fries at home, one step to be sure not to miss is the cold pre-soak, which helps remove excess starch and also ensures that the end result is fluffy on the inside. Pro tip: Make sure to pat the fries dry before cooking them, or you’ll end up with a limp final product.
Also, the first round of cooking should be done at a lower temperature than the second to maximize water absorption.
AND, remember that raw materials – in this case what kind of potato you select – DOES matter. Idahos (AKA russets) have a nice shape and a naturally lower water content.
Today, if you hadn’t already guessed, is National French Fry Day, which originally was held on July 13, but – thanks to lobbying by some select fast-food chains – was moved to the second Friday in July so it would always be certain to fall on (wait for it) FRY-DAY.
There are, of course, deals and freebies to be had today. McDonald’s will be extending its free fries offer into Saturday, just in case you can’t make it to your participating Golden Arches on the holiday proper.
We’ll have mostly cloudy skies with temperatures in the mid-to-high 80s today. The weekend is shaping up to be a mixed bag, weather-wise, with temperatures in the high 80s to low 90s both days (slightly hotter, most likely, on Sunday, as skies are predicted to be clear), and a chance of showers in the morning on Saturday.
In the headlines…
President Joe Biden last night participated in the most high-stakes news conference of his political career on the sidelines of the NATO summit, aiming to convince his detractors and supporters that he is able to serve another four years in office.
The president spoke for just under an hour, calling on 10 reporters and answering 19 questions, insisting he’s not leaving the race even as a growing number of Democratic lawmakers ask him to step aside.
Biden mistakenly referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump” in the opening question of his highly-anticipated solo press conference in Washington. He also referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “President Putin”.
Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas, the first sitting House member to call for Biden to step aside, told ABC News Live Prime anchor Linsey Davis that following the press conference, that his opinion hasn’t changed.
In his first public event since taking questions from reporters in an open press conference, Biden is heading to the Motor City for campaign-related activities today.
More representatives called for the president to end his re-election bid after his session with reporters, while others highlighted his firm grasp of foreign policy after a NATO summit.
Biden found himself increasingly isolated yesterday as a small group of his longtime aides and advisers have become convinced that he will have to make what they see as the painful but inevitable decision to abandon his campaign for re-election.
Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi have spoken privately about Joe Biden and the future of his 2024 campaign. Both expressed concerns about how much harder they think it’s become for the president to beat Donald Trump. Neither is quite sure what to do.
A Milwaukee radio station admitted that it had edited portions of an interview it had done with Biden last week at the request of his campaign.
The president’s stable of big donors, corralled in part by the movie mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg, has been devastated since his debate, with many closing their wallets.
Keir Starmer, the British prime minister, said Biden was “on good form” and had gone through serious issues at pace during their first bilateral talks at the White House as he was asked about claims the US president could be senile.
Asked during a sit-down interview with the BBC whether the president had appeared “senile” during their meeting, Starmer rejected the suggestion, saying Biden was “absolutely across the detail.”
Trump is ahead of Biden by 4 points and less than a quarter of Americans believe the incumbent is “mentally sharp,” according to a poll released yesterday.
Under siege from fellow Democrats, Biden’s campaign is quietly testing the strength of Vice President Kamala Harris against Trump in a head-to-head survey of voters.
The Pew Research Center survey of more than 7,000 registered voters found Trump, 78, leading Biden, 81, in the horserace by a 44% to 40% margin, with 15% backing independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Trump’s lawyers are urging the judge in his New York hush money case to overturn his conviction and dismiss the case in the wake of the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity.
In a filing made public the same day Trump had been initially set to be sentenced, his lawyers argued that the recent Supreme Court ruling invalidated the verdict that the former president was guilty on charges of falsifying records related to the hush money.
The Democratic Socialists of America pulled its endorsement of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez this week, accusing the progressive member of Congress of being insufficiently supportive of the Palestinian cause and efforts to end the war in Gaza.
“We recognize that AOC has taken many courageous positions on Palestine,” the DSA explained in a press release. “However, members have raised their concerns.”
June was the Earth’s 13th consecutive month to break a global heat record. It beat the record set last year for the hottest June on record, according to data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service of the European Union.
“We should consider this the new normal,” said Katherine Idziorek, an assistant professor in geography and community planning at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. “We need to be preparing for more heat, more often. That’s the reality.”
A proposed amendment to New York’s constitution to bar discrimination over “gender identity” and “pregnancy outcomes” will appear on the ballot this November, the state’s high court ruled yesterday.
The decision from the Court of Appeals affirms a lower court ruling from June, dismissing an appeal “upon the ground that no substantial constitutional question is directly involved,” effectively declining to take up the case.
Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a package of bills aimed at reducing the risk of e-bike battery fires. The legislation focuses on e-bike, e-scooter and moped safety standards, as well as the sale, storage and charging of lithium-ion batteries.
“These batteries don’t catch on fire like kindling. They explode like a grenade,” Hochul said. “Greedy manufacturers that put profit over safety and flood the market with cheap, malfunctioning batteries. Here in New York, that ends today.”
Hochul doubled down on her support for Biden and downplayed the apparent rift with Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado, who a day earlier sent political shockwaves across New York and beyond by calling for the 81-year-old president to drop his re-election bid.
Hochul made light of the suggestion she was “furious” when Delgado gave her a heads up he would release a statement calling for Biden to step down as the party’s nominee. But she was also displeased with Delgado’s surprise show of political independence.
“Joe Biden is a fighter who has been counted out time and again, only to come back and beat the odds. Proud to stand with him through November and beyond,” Hochul wrote on X.
The MTA says losing the revenue generated from congestion pricing could create a domino effect that impacts a series of climate resiliency projects, like fortifying the subway system from flooding and extreme heat.
An advisory board that recommends how millions of dollars in opioid settlement funds will be spent is preparing for that windfall to shrink in the coming years.
Independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is likely to make it onto New York’s presidential ballot under the “We The People” party line, following a preliminary determination by the state Board of Elections on a challenge to the signatures submitted by his campaign.
A group of influential Black leaders condemned ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo for criticizing Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg over his handling of Columbia University protest cases while “mysteriously” ignoring similar charging decisions by white prosecutors across the state.
In the wake of complaints about New York’s draconian rules governing advertising by licensed cannabis retailers, regulators this week approved changes that will allow the businesses to tout their locations on billboards and other external signage.
Thousands of residents suffering from asthma and enrolled in one of New York’s state-funded health insurance programs will soon be eligible for free air conditioners, a move state officials said is necessary as extreme hot weather threatens to intensify.
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander is reportedly preparing to announce an election-year run against Mayor Eric Adams within the next two weeks.
New York City’s political class will be anxiously refreshing their web browsers on Monday, when fundraising numbers are released that will show the strength of Adams’ potential primary challengers and could determine whether others enter the race.
Multiple officers who were involved in the arrest of a man in Brooklyn have been placed on “modified assignment” after they were filmed repeatedly punching the man, Adams said.
A former New York City police officer was found guilty of one count of assault for punching a man in the face six times in Greenwich Village, the Manhattan district attorney’s office said.
Two former Postal Service workers are accused of stealing more than $4 million in Treasury checks from a mail facility at JFK Airport.
Two separate shark sightings off the Rockaways temporarily shut down miles of city beaches to swimmers yesterday, officials said.
Gary Ginstling, the New York Philharmonic’s president and CEO, abruptly resigned yesterday after just a year on the job, leaving the orchestra in limbo as it grapples with challenges including heated labor talks and an investigation into its workplace culture.
The Nassau County legislature plans to pass a law banning demonstrators from hiding their identities with masks to tackle rising antisemitism and hate crimes — the first local government to do so.
A Montauk, N.Y., fisherman was sentenced to 30 months in prison for his role in a conspiracy to harvest and sell thousands of pounds more fluke and black sea bass than limits allowed.
A federal jury in New Jersey convicted Marc Schessel, an Ulster County resident, of two counts of securities fraud for false statements he made about a health care company’s purchase and sale of rapid COVID-19 test kits early in the pandemic.
The operators of a dozen nursing home facilities in New York, including a facility in Guilderland, will pay $21 million to settle allegations they had fraudulently bilked federal health care programs.
Saratoga Springs officials and police are facing yet another federal lawsuit filed on behalf of the activist group Saratoga BLM and its supporters for alleged “unlawful, wanton, racist” actions “to retaliate against” Black Lives Matter protesters.
Yet another rattlesnake was captured and moved in the North Country last week, one of many incidents handled by state forest rangers during a continuing heat wave over New York in recent days.
Costco is increasing its membership fees for the first time since 2017, the big box retailer announced its latest sales report. The company said it was raising its annual prices for two membership tiers, set to take effect on Sept. 1.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
