Good morning, it’s Tuesday.
We did a long and strenuous hike thus past weekend, which brought a lot of opportunity for contemplation. Inevitably, even if you have brought with you ample snacks, your mind turns to the subject of food – notably, in my case, anyway, all the hot and delicious (usually not terribly healthy) things I will consume upon returning safely to civilization.
Before I continue down this culinary rabbit hole, an aside: The number of people we encountered while hiking who were simply unprepared for the challenge of ascending an Adirondack peak in the fall was startling.
Quite a few people were wearing sneakers instead of hiking boots, which is never a good idea even when trial conditions are ideal (i.e. dry and without any slippery leaf litter). In the fall, when a hike can start out perfectly warm and dry and deteriorate into snow, ice, mud, rain, wind etc. as the elevation increases, appropriate footwear – not to mention multiple warm layers that include a hat and gloves, are absolutely key.
The DEC forest rangers are overtaxed enough, please don’t add to their workload by requiring rescue from a High Peak because you went out unprepared.
OK, rant over. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.
Generally, by hiking food fantasies include things of a deep fried nature. You lose electrolytes when you sweat, and a lot of the high energy food that one packs on a hiking trip – trail mix, peanut butter, granola bars etc. – tend to be on the sweet side. And so I find myself craving salty things, like pizza., french fries, and grilled cheese.
I am a big fan of melted cheese. Oddly, however, my love does not extend to mozzarella sticks, which, nine times out of 10, I find are entirely disappointing.
The concept of fried cheese appeals to me – who wouldn’t like a crispy deep fried exterior with a gooey, savory, molten center? Too often, though, mozzarella sticks are oily, greasy, tasteless and low quality. If I’m in the mood for a vehicle for marinara sauce, I would opt for cheesy garlic bread or even calamari as a more reliable option.
While the modern-day mozzarella stick is a uniquely American invention, according to food sleuths, the practice of breading and frying cheese actually has its roots in medieval France. It was, however, a combination of the invention of mass-produced cheese and deep frying technology that likely spurred the near ubiquity of deep fried cheese sticks in bowling alleys, bars, skating rinks, move theaters, and anywhere else people are gathering for fun food consumption.
According to a site called Tastewise, which appears to be an AI platform that monitors (and monetizes) food data, “mozzarella sticks carry a 93.72% social share within the broader snack and appetizer conversation, making it one of the highest-reach items in its tier.” If you can decipher this, you are a smarter person than I am, though my takeaway is that mozzarella sticks are…popular?
Here’s another mozza stick metric to wrap your cheese pull around: the fast-casual chain Chili’s ALONE plows through 65 million pounds of mozzarella annually – primarily in its mozzarella sticks. This phenomenon may have been fueled by the viral cheese pull video craze, in which participants rate the quality of a fried cheese stick by how long the strands are upon biting into them.
Today, in case you hadn’t already guessed, is National Mozzarella Cheese Stick Day. There are a number of deals to be had – mostly at participating fast food chains – so check your local listings if you’re interested in celebrating.
A spate of fabulous fall weather is on tap this week. Today, like yesterday, will be on the warm-ish side, with highs in the mid-60s. Skies will be bright and sunny. Get out there and get some Vitamin D while you still can !
In the headlines…
The series of recent steps by President Donald Trump that seem to favor Vladimir Putin reflect his intensifying desire to normalize the relationship with Moscow even if it means further undercutting Ukraine.
US special envoy Steve Witkoff will hold talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Oslo today, hosted by Norway and Finland as part of renewed diplomatic efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned the U.S. and Israel against renewing attacks on Tehran, saying they have “unfinished jobs” as well.
Trump has embarked on a campaign swing across a remarkably conservative swath of America in a six-day blitz that began Monday, trying to boost Republican turnout in places the party did not view as competitive just a few months ago.
At a rally in Kansas Monday night, Trump announced that the Agriculture Department would provide $8 billion in economic aid to farmers hurt by high diesel prices.
The president signed an executive order alongside first lady Melania Trump on Monday creating a task force and a National Institutes of Health division focused on women’s health.
Melania Trump pressed her husband’s administration to give women’s health greater priority in medical research, USA TODAY has learned — a push that culminated Oct. 19 in an executive order creating a new division at the National Institutes of Health.
Trump’s pick for top emissary to Capitol Hill is Katie Bailey, a longtime former congressional aide with wide-ranging experience in oversight and investigations, a telling choice at a time when Washington could be heading toward divided government.
The decorated correspondent Christiane Amanpour, 68, a pre-eminent voice on international affairs in television news, said on Monday that she would depart CNN next year, exiting the network she has called home since 1983.
Gov. Kathy Hochul launched an 88-person exploratory committee to report on the feasibility and challenges of a formal bid to host the Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid and New York City in 2042.
Big Apple real estate bigwigs pumped big bucks into Hochul’s reelection campaign as the Democrat enjoyed frontrunner status in deeply blue New York.
New York State plans to drop part of its statewide ban on Native American imagery in school sports logos days before a court showdown with a Long Island district fighting back.
Former state Assembly member Ari Espinal was arrested earlier this month on felony charges alleging she stole more than $30,000 from a labor union, according to court records and a person with knowledge of the pending case.
Four New York State lawmakers haven’t been to the Capitol once all year — with two ailing 89-year-old pols among those with the most spotty attendance records.
A state worker was caught on camera removing a lawn sign backing a Republican congressional candidate — but officials said it was plopped without permission onto state property on Long Island.
A convicted Wall Street swindler who was named New York’s No. 1 tax deadbeat a decade ago has been living it up in California, running a charity praised by Gov. Gavin Newsom – all while dodging a tax bill that has soared to $59.1 million.
‘Republican Bruce Blakeman took to the rails Monday — as he slammed Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani for not doing enough to keep commuters safe after New York City recorded its seventh subway homicide this year.
Mamdani and Hochul announced the expansion of free childcare for 2-year-olds with an additional 10,000 seats, bringing the “2-K” program to a majority of all New York City school districts next school year — including all of Staten Island and the Bronx.
Mamdani visited a trampoline park in the Bronx with Hochul to highlight the neighborhoods where the new seats will be offered. More than half of the city’s 32 school districts are represented in the expansion, which includes all of Staten Island and the Bronx.
In the race for New York governor, Hochul and Blakeman offer different visions for childcare across the state.
Mamdani’s NYPD commissioner could be the biggest threat if she runs against him when he’s up for reelection in 2029, a new poll found.
Mamdani is replacing four of the five existing mayoral appointees to the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB), reshaping the city’s independent police watchdog as his administration presses ahead with broader efforts to strengthen NYPD accountability.
The Mamdani administration is deploying a new team of outreach workers throughout the city to help New Yorkers keep their health and food benefits as eligibility requirements for Medicaid and the SNAP undergo major federal changes.
New York City’s former buildings commissioner and other high-ranking officials will testify against her successor Eric Ulrich in a bribery case spanning the early months of the Adams administration, a Manhattan prosecutor said.
Ulrich was a “compromised politician” so desperate for cash that he accepted bribes — including $10,000 Mets season tickets — so his inner circle could be closer to former Mayor Eric Adams, Manhattan prosecutors said Monday at the start of his trial.
A new organization, Built for New York, plans to raise money to mobilize voters in the real estate industry, which has endured several political losses in recent years.
Mahmoud Khalil, the Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate who is facing potential deportation, asked the Supreme Court on Monday to hear his case.
Khalil’s appeal to the Supreme Court comes after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit cleared the way for him to be arrested again and potentially deported.
The 26-year-old man shot to death on a subway platform in Midtown Manhattan was on his way home from his job as a security guard, according to his devastated neighbors in the Bronx.
A Queens man is facing hate crime charges after he allegedly targeted a Jewish-owned bagel shop, knocking over plant stands and hurling dirt at the storefront and its Israeli flags, officials said.
About one-fifth of the 101 towns and villages in the Adirondack Park have passed moratoriums this year on building battery energy storage systems, and now bans are coming, according to local laws filed with the New York Department of State.
State elected officials have rejected a proposed income tax on people who travel into the city of Albany to work. The city does not have the power to enact a commuter tax on its own and would need authorization from the Legislature and governor to do so.
A former Bethlehem Central High School teacher was arrested on the school’s grounds Friday and charged with violating a court order that forbids him from entering district property.
Interfaith Partnership for the Homeless opened its seasonal shelter, Safe Haven, on Monday, almost a month ahead of schedule as nighttime temperatures have dropped.
Ibi Semper Training, a nonprofit that pairs shelter dogs with veterans and first responders for an eight-month service dog program to prevent Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder relapses, is about to celebrate the grand opening of its training facility in Colonie.
A protest erupted in the halls of Colonie Central High School on Friday as students railed against the district’s response to a video that shows a group of students shouting racial slurs.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
