Good morning, it’s FRIDAY. That’s the good news. The bad news is that we’ll be entering the home stretch of summer as August gets underway this coming weekend.
I have been trying to cook at home more this summer, for a host of reasons.
1) It’s healthier. One of the reasons restaurant food tastes better than what you make at home is because cooks add more butter, oil, and salt than you might expect.
Don’t come at me here. I know that’s not UNIVERSALLY true, but it is often true. The reality is that you just don’t know what’s going on in the kitchen, which is part of the reason you go out to eat, but also isn’t the best when it comes to trying to be mindful about your calorie intake.
2) It feels safer amid the food-borne illness outbreak headlines. OK, again, I know people are probably going to come at me with this, because restaurants have to adhere to strict food safety guidelines or get fined or shut down. And a lot of home chefs probably don’t adhere to best practices – especially when it comes to the safe handling of raw meat, chicken, and fish.
That said, I like knowing where my food comes from. I’m trying to buy local produce as much as possible right now and stay away from bagged and pre-cut veggies and fruits, as per the public health experts’ advice. I’m also washing, peeling, and cooking my produce whenever possible, though that’s neither practical nor particularly palatable when it comes to a lot of summer’s bounty.
One fruit that DOES lend itself to peeling that I have been leaning into of late: Avocado. Thankfully, the seasonal shortage of this popular superfood that occurred in the late spring appears to be over. Avocados, long a guacamole staple, have been steadily gaining in popularity (avocado toast, anyone?) thanks to their incredible nutritional profile and their abundance of so-called “healthy” fats.
Among avocados many health benefits: Their monounsaturated fats can help lower LDL (AKA “bad”) cholesterol, which helps reduce the risk of strokes and heart disease; the potassium they contain (more than a banana!) keeps high blood pressure in check; their fiber – both soluble and insoluble – keeps you regular and maintains blood sugar levels; and their high satiety rate enables you to feel fuller for a longer period of time, potentially assisting with weight management.
But wait, there’s more! Avocados are good for your vision, support brain health, and even assist in skin protection. Is there anything this superfood CAN’T do? Well, if you happen to take blood thinners you might want to avoid them, because the Vitamin K they contain can interfere with certain medications. That potassium content isn’t good for those with weak kidneys. Also, they’re not great for people on low FODMAP diets.
And, of course, they’re not a low calorie food, so, you know, moderation is the key – as with all things.
Avocado consumption in the U.S. has climbed steadily, quadrupling since 2000 to about 8 to 9 POUNDS a year, on average, per person. (Someone is eating double on my behalf, because I am nowhere near hitting that mark). Most of those avocados are imported from Mexico, which doesn’t make the growers in California terribly happy. They’re looking to the White House for relief in the form of a seasonal import policy, which thus far doesn’t appear to have materialized.
As an aside, the recently announced tariffs on Chile and other countries that the administration says have failed to prevent forced labor exempted Chilean avocados, kiwis, and oranges.
Happy National Avocado Day – there should be plenty of fruit available for you to celebrate. (For the record, there are more than 500. varieties of avocados worldwide, but they fall into three distinct groups: Mexican, Guatemalan, and Indian.
It looks like we’re going to dry out for a few days, with clouds, but no rain, in the forecast for today and tomorrow (Saturday), High temperatures will be in the low-to-mid 80s. Sunday, though, we’re going to be back on the rain train, with showers in the morning followed by a stead light rain in the afternoon. It will again be on the cooler side, with highs in the mid-to-high 70s.
In the headlines…
President Trump said yesterday in a social media post that the Board of Peace, an organization the administration established to oversee a Gaza cease-fire, had reached an agreement for Hamas to begin disarming in the Gaza Strip.
There was no immediate comment from Hamas or Israel. The Board of Peace said last night that Hamas had agreed to a “detailed road map” on disarmament of its forces and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Al Jazeera has received a copy of the agreement, which stipulates that the precise disarmament roadmap must be prepared within 14 days, with possible extensions subject to the approval of an international verification body, and the agreement of all parties.
A United States cybersecurity agency is investigating a coordinated cyberattack on over 30 municipal water facilities in Minnesota which contains details of possible Iranian hackers.
The Minnesota Information Technology (MNIT) agency released an advisory about the attacks, saying it was coordinating its investigation with federal agencies including the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Todd Blanche’s nomination to become attorney general suffered a serious blow when President Trump threatened to withdraw his name rather than place limits on a tax immunity deal that would benefit himself and his family, as demanded by two GOP senators.
Texas Sen. John Cornyn said pulling Blanche’s nomination wouldn’t resolve the president’s problems over confirmation, and called for Blanche to guarantee his promise to kill aspects of the deal settling President Trump’s lawsuit against the I.R.S.
An obscure court set up 30 years ago to expel immigrants accused of terrorism from the country heard its first case on Thursday, as the Justice Department asked a federal judge to deport an Afghan woman who prosecutors say supports the Islamic State.
Elon Musk, a year after voicing deep frustration with the Republican Party and threatening to start a third party, appears to be back in the fold and prepared to spend big in the midterms to help G.O.P. candidates.
Musk, the world’s richest person, has reportedly authorized his super PAC to spend $100 million to $120 million on a new field program in at least eight states to help elect Republicans in November, according to two people briefed on the plans.
Calling President Trump the country’s “grifter in chief,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced a new bill on Thursday to stop federal government corruption.
Gov. Kathy Hochul will pursue legislation to counter federal changes meant to make it easier to buy a gun over the internet, as the Trump administration in recent days backed new rules that New York officials worry will stymie efforts to track illegal firearms.
The State Police will prioritize inspections of firearms dealers linked to guns used in crimes. The state will also expand its Interstate Task Force on Illegal Guns and remind gun dealers that New York’s firearms laws remain in effect despite changes at the federal level.
Nearly 30 New York City elected officials are urging Hochul to sign legislation that would let residents plug small solar systems into ordinary electrical outlets without first obtaining utility approval.
Hochul sent a letter Thursday to PresidentTrump appealing his decision to deny federal disaster aid to New York for the February blizzard, calling it “arbitrary” and unprecedented.
A group lobbying to curb runaway lawsuits praised Hochul as a “Tort Reform Trailblazer’” for ramming through a new state law that tackles costly accident litigation and auto insurance fraud.
Students whose Howard enrollment was canceled and who are New York State residents will be automatically accepted into one of the SUNY campuses that have availability.
The state will temporarily bar health care providers in certain high-risk categories from joining the Medicaid program, effective immediately.
Nearly four months after suffering a stroke that kept her away from Albany for the prolonged budget negotiations and the end of session, Sen. Liz Krueger is back in action.
The End Jew Hatred movement has formally launched a petition calling on Hochul to initiate removal proceedings against New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani under Section 9 of the New York Public Officers Law.
City Hall and the union representing the city’s deputy sheriffs have reached an agreement on a contract more than four years after their last deal expired and just two months after Mayor Mamdani ousted controversial former Sheriff Anthony Miranda from his job.
Mamdani’s finance agency urged him to tone down his contentious anti-rich rhetoric in the rollout of the pied-a-terre tax. The advice fell on deaf ears.
Count President Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen among the angry New Yorkers who say the city sent them invasive letters informing them they may have to pay Mamdani’s new pied-à-terre tax.
Mamdani said this week that he supported reparations efforts in New York City but that it was too early to commit to making monetary payouts to descendants of slavery.
Facing pressure to implement campaign promises to reshape policing, Mamdani will name Jennifer Jones Austin, the head of an influential anti-poverty organization, to head the Civilian Complaint Review Board, an independent police oversight agency.
Mamdani is facing fresh criticism after taking credit for a reported $104 million increase in delivery worker tips that critics say was made possible by legislation enacted before he took office and will likely only exacerbate cost of living issues in the city.
The Mamdani administration is advancing plans to construct nearly 1,000 homes on a plot of city land in Queens.
New York City unveiled a new interactive tool that allows residents to track the city’s pipeline of affordable housing projects planned for publicly owned land.
In the four months since Mamdani launched a new Office of Community Safety, some supporters (and detractors) are still waiting to see his vision for fighting gun violence, and what new ideas the office will bring to the table.
With senior aides and reporters in tow, Mamdani hopped a sightseeing bus in the Bronx, visiting three of vacant or underbuilt city-owned sites, one of which dates back to a commitment made under a 2018 rezoning, where he wants to build housing.
A beloved TV wife who has backed Trump is taking heat after saying that Mamdani should banned from the Ground Zero ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks this year.
Steamed tenants in an Alphabet City apartment complex haven’t showered in two months after Legionnaires’ disease-causing bacteria were found in the water system — with many raising a stink over Mamdani’s focus uptown and beyond.
New Yorkers with disabilities have reached a settlement with the MTA in a nearly decade-long fight to make the subways accessible to everyone.
Transit riders longing for the days of the MetroCard, when they could see their balances and transfers displayed on turnstiles when swiping onto the subway or a bus, may soon get those features back on the MTA’s OMNY tap-and-pay system.
The New York-New Jersey Trail Conference acquired over 100 acres of land in Schoharie County, a purchase near the popular Vroman’s Nose overlook that the nonprofit described as a “landmark achievement.”
Many across upstate New York are working to assess and repair the damage left in the wake of an historic storm — which led to evacuations, road destruction and several floods — as meteorologists warned of more heavy rainfall on the way early next week.
The contractor hired to oversee the $100 million renovation of Albany International Airport is suing the Albany County Airport Authority, alleging major design deficiencies that delayed completion of the project by two years and led to millions of dollars in cost overruns.
A Schenectady County Sheriff’s Office report said mismatched batteries disabled AC and safety systems, leading to the death of a K-9 named Leonidas. The county is overhauling K-9 vehicle safeguards.
Police have accused a 25-year-old city man of cutting down an automated license plate reader with a saw near the Troy-Waterford Bridge in Lansingburgh early Wednesday morning.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
