May 1, 2024 Pinch-Rosauers

From fajitas and tacos to everything in between, fueling your Cinco de Mayo fiesta starts with delicious food that brings everyone to the table. Traditional dishes and new twists on classics can be equally satisfying whether you’re feeding your nearest and dearest or hosting the entire neighborhood.

Start with these Vegan Apple and Black Bean Fajitas for a plant-forward spin on a popular dish that features sauteed apples, peppers, zucchini, jicama, onion and jalapeno. The craveable texture and crunch of Envy Apples – a leading apple variety available at Whole Foods and other major grocery stores – shine both in the mixture of sauteed produce and sliced raw into sticks for a crunchy finish with added sweetness. Plus, their flesh remains whiter longer, even after slicing, so this dish looks as good as it tastes.

For those seeking some added protein, turn to Crisp Apple Tacos featuring pork tenderloin topped with cabbage, apples, carrots and a honey-infused homemade dressing. Ideal for a crowd, you can split the sauteed tenderloin, sliced produce, dressing and other favorite toppings among serving bowls to let guests create their own Cinco-inspired masterpieces.

These moments among friends and family can be uplifted with the aroma and flavor of Envy Apples that offer an invitation to savor special occasions. Their balanced sweetness provides the ultimate apple experience from holidays and family gatherings to quiet evenings at home.

To find more recipes for family meals and beyond, visit

EnvyApple.com.

VEGAN APPLE AND BLACK BEAN FAJITAS

1 bell pepper, sliced, seeds removed

1 zucchini, sliced

1 small jicama, sliced

3 Envy Apples, sliced

1 yellow onion, sliced

1 jalapeno, sliced, seeds removed

1 teaspoon garlic

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 sprigs fresh oregano

1 teaspoon chili pepper (optional) salt, to taste (optional) pepper, to taste (optional)

1 cup cooked black beans

1 lime

3 sprigs fresh cilantro

4 small flour tortillas

In skillet over high heat, saute bell pepper, zucchini, jicama and half the apple slices. Set aside.

In same hot skillet, saute onions, jalapenos and garlic until lightly caramelized.

Combine with sauteed apple mixture. Season with cumin and oregano. Add chili powder and salt and pepper, to taste, if desired.

Add cooked black beans to saute mixture. Top with squeeze of lime. Garnish with cilantro and remaining raw apple slices. Serve with tortillas.

CRISP APPLE TACOS

1/2 pound pork tenderloin

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon salt, plus additional, to taste, divided

1 teaspoon pepper, plus additional, to taste, divided

2 Envy Apples, divided

3 sprigs rosemary

1/2 cup shredded carrots

1/2 cup shredded red cabbage

1 cup shredded green cabbage

4 tablespoons honey

1 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon mustard

1 tablespoon white vinegar

12 soft taco shells

2 tablespoons sour cream

1 lime, cut into wedges

Cut pork crosswise into 1-inch medallions. Coat pork medallions with olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper then add to saucepan over medium heat.

Slice half of one apple into thick wedges and add to saucepan. Slice remaining half into thin wedges and set aside.

Add rosemary to saucepan and heat 2-3 minutes. Flip pork and heat 2-3 minutes until pork is slightly golden and cooked through. Let pork rest 3 minutes then slice into strips.

Thinly slice half of remaining apple into thin sticks around same size of shredded cabbage. Reserve remaining half.

In serving bowl, toss apple sticks, carrots, red cabbage and green cabbage.

In bowl, mix honey, mayonnaise, mustard and vinegar into dressing. Add additional salt and pepper, to taste.

Mix dressing and cabbage; refrigerate at least 1 hour prior to serving.

Cut remaining apple half into thin wedges.

Top taco shells with pork, slaw, sour cream and squeeze of lime juice. Top with apple wedges.

MAKE DELICIOUS CREPES FOR MEALS AND SNACKS

BY DONNA ERICKSON

Crepes are so versatile. They are tasty and nutritious for breakfast or as a snack. Or you can roll them up and heat them up briefly with leftovers or other items in your refrigerator and pantry, such as goat cheese and honey, or salsa and grated Cheddar cheese. So, the next time you’re not sure about what to eat for breakfast, you and your kids can enjoy cooking up this easy, fancy-looking recipe of French crepes.

You might want to double the batch of 12 crepes and refrigerate or freeze them with wax paper in between for additional snacking and meals. Or think dessert and coax a tantalizing stack into a divine “crepe cake” to brighten anyone’s spirit. Stack a dozen or more with whipped cream and sliced strawberries in between the layers. You can even top with candles and sing if there is a birthday in the house!

FRENCH CREPES

Makes 12 8-inch crepes

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups milk

3 eggs

2 tablespoons butter, melted (plus more for cooking)

To make batter: In a medium bowl, combine flour, salt, milk, eggs and melted butter. Whisk until smooth. Or place in a blender and blend until smooth, about 30 seconds. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

To cook crepes: Remove batter from refrigerator. Stir. Lightly butter a flat, large skillet or a crepe pan. Heat over medium-high heat. Pour a scant 1/4 cup batter in the center of the skillet and swirl the batter around to form an 8-inch round crepe. Cook until underside is golden brown. (Note: Lift up the corner to check its color.) Using a narrow spatula, flip the crepe. Cook until the other side is lightly brown, about 30 seconds.

To serve: Set on a plate. Roll up with fruit or applesauce inside. Or fold in half or quarters. Add favorite toppings or simply squeeze some fresh lemon juice and dust with confectioners’ sugar.

of Investigation. The series

Wolf has the procedural magic touch). Missy Peregrym

Name the

What

4. Tennis player Andre Agassi was married to what model/actress from 1997-99?

Q: Whatever happened to the actress who starred in “Cold Case”? I haven’t seen her in anything since it ended. -- H.C.

A: The CBS crime-procedural-drama series “Cold Case” had a very successful seven-season run from 2003-2010. It didn’t spawn off any “Cold Case” franchises -- like “CSI,” “Law & Order” and the “Chicago” shows have -- but it might be returning with a new cast and a new setting. The original series was set in Philadelphia and starred Kathryn Morris and Danny Pino, but the new version could be set in the Southwestern United States.

Morris has been working steadily ever since the series ended, just not in anything as long-running. Her last regular series was “Reverie,” a sci-fi drama that only lasted one season on NBC. She recently starred in the comedy film “Hayseed,” which you can

Trivia Test

3. MOVIES: Which longrunning movie series

7. LANGUAGE:

• The Aztec death whistle produces a horrifying sound sometimes described as “the scream of a thousand corpses.”

• “Miracle” berries stop human taste buds from discerning sourness for about 30 minutes.

• Beginning in June of 1979, as Skylab’s re-entry approached, many American newspapers jokingly proposed “Skylab insurance,” which would pay their subscribers for death or injury caused by flying orbiter fragments.

• There’s a territory in Costa Rica called Territorio de Zaguates, or Land of the Strays, which is basically a huge, no-kill dog shelter where one can hike for free with the canines.

• And while we’re on the subject of dogs: “Dogfooding” is the term for using a company’s product to gain the trust of customers. It’s said a dog food company president ate a can of the firm’s food in a shareholders meeting to demonstrate that “if it’s good for me, it’s good for your dog.” We’ll take his word for it, thank you.

• The fertilizer used by the tobacco industry is radioactive.

• In 1970, actor Bill Murray joked to a fellow airline passenger that he had two bombs in his bag. The jest backfired when U.S. marshals searched his luggage, discovered $20,000 worth of marijuana, and arrested him.

• The Black Diamond is a rare (and expensive) apple, with its jet-black hue, sweeter-than-honey taste, and crispness unmatched by any other apple. But don’t look for it in your local grocery store; you’ll only find this gem in Tibet.

• De-scented skunks make great pets, similar to ferrets. They’re extremely docile and can even learn tricks and be called by name.

• Louis Chevrolet died bankrupt and poor working as a mechanic for the company he started. Thought

find on Amazon Prime Video. But next up for her is the thriller “From Embers,” an indie film co-starring Matthew Morrison (“Glee”) and Kara Wang (“Top Gun: Maverick”).

***

Q: Are they really bringing back “Melrose Place” with Heather Locklear? How is she doing since her troubles from a few years back? -- J.F.

A: It’s still in the development stages, but yes, another reboot of “Melrose Place” is on the way. According to Entertainment Weekly, “when one of their dearest friends dies suddenly, the OG residents of ‘Melrose Place’ gather to honor the deceased.” But once the reunion kicks off, it “uncovers old traumas, rekindles old romances ... and reveals new secrets.”

You might remember that there was another attempted reboot of the show back in 2009, but it was canceled after one season. It had a mostly new cast of twentysomethings and starred Katie Cassidy, but this new reboot reunites members of the original cast.

Heather Locklear, Laura Leighton and Daphne Zuniga are all reportedly returning, with more likely on the way.

As for Locklear, there were articles last July that stated she was reentering rehab for alcohol abuse, but there’s been no negative press since then. The fact that CBS Studios is willing to employ her for this new project

means she’s likely back on her feet again.

***

Q: I can’t believe they’re canceling “Station 19” after its current run. It’s the best the show has ever been. --

S.A.

A: The “Grey’s Anatomy” spin-off “Station 19,” which follows first responders in Seattle, actually has great ratings for its new, later time slot. So, it’s surprising that it’s being canceled after its current seventh season. Fans and critics alike are saying that it’s thriving under new showrunners Zoanne Clack and Peter Paige.

There’s no word on it being shopped around to streaming platforms, but many shows have been saved this way. Could it be another “Lucifer” or”Manifest”?

Both are examples of series that were given the boot by their original networks due to low ratings, only to thrive when scooped up by the streaming giant Netflix.

“Station 19” executive producer Shonda Rhimes also has a development deal with Netflix, so this theory is not far-fetched. Keep your fingers crossed that it happens! Send me your questions at

well as other paperwork. To keep from delaying the handing out of benefits and cash, the VA lets veterans use their own documents when they submit applications. Sometimes people lie and turn in fake documents. Over time he turned in a pile of those fake documents, including the DD214 and certificates for his stack of alleged

Heart and prisoner of war status? Did no one bother to check to see if he’d even been in the military?

Eventually the criminal got greedy and applied for educational benefits on top of the cash he received each month for his alleged physical injuries, receiving monthly subsistence payments and payments to the university.

If that wasn’t enough, he then applied for an increase in the disability payments. How is it no one spotted this fraud long ago?

(c) 2024 King Features Synd., Inc.

internet is loaded with suggestions and videos aimed at seniors, and it’s a good place to start for walking ideas.

If you live in a building with an elevator, stop it one floor below where you normally get off. Walk up the rest of the way.

If you have a big box store near

technological Vietnam.” The group was formed after the accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant.

• On May 7, 1934, the Pearl of Lao Tzu, almost 10 inches around and weighing about 14 pounds, was found by a diver in a giant clam in the Palawan Sea. Gemologists did not consider it to be a true pearl, however, as it did not have the iridescence of true pearls.

• On May 8, 1988, Stella Nickell, who put cyanide in Excedrin capsules, including her husband’s, as well as five additional bottles she placed on store shelves in the Seattle area, was convicted of her husband’s murder and that of Susan Snow, who had ingested one of the capsules and died instantly.

• On May 9, 2005, the Thorp processing plant in Sellafield, U.K., experienced a leakage of about 20 tons of nuclear material via a cracked pipe. While the leak was contained and didn’t impose a risk to the public, the estimated cost to repair the damage was expected to fall heavily on taxpayers.

• On May 10, 1899, singer/actor/dancer Fred Astaire was born in Omaha, NE. Widely considered the most influential dancer in the history of film, his stage and subsequent movie and television careers spanned a total of 76 years.

• On May 11, 2006, a Chinese website called Baidupedia was launched in China. The American website Wikipedia had been growing in popularity in China until the government banned it in 2005. Baidupedia was set to feature a similar format of a user-created encyclopedia, though it would be subjected to far heavier self-censorship in order to remain in good standing with the country’s government.

• On May 12, 1981, following the death of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands on May 5, a second striker, 25-year-old Francis Hughes, died of starvation in Northern Ireland’s Maze Prison. (c) 2024 King Features Synd., Inc.

Hollywood

BY TONY RIZZO

currently stars in the Adam Sandler film “Spaceman,” which dropped on Netflix in February. Her upcoming film is “The Ballad of Wallis Island” with Tom Basden, where they’ll play a Sonny-and-Cher-like duo. She also has the animated film “Wildwood” with Jacob Tremblay.

Meanwhile, “Maestro” director Bradley Cooper is one of the producers of “Joker: Folie à Deux,” starring Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga and Brendan Gleeson. Phoenix is currently shooting “Eddington,” an American contemporary western black comedy, which co-stars Pedro Pascal, this year’s Best Actress Oscar winner Emma Stone, Luke Grimes and Austin Butler. Phoenix plays a small-town New Mexico sheriff who has higher aspirations brewing. ***

Jacob Elordi is the new “it” guy. So far, he’s played a sexy, roguish high schooler in the Netflix trilogy “The Kissing Booth,” Elvis Presley in “Priscilla,” and a wealthy college student in “Saltburn.” His next roles are the title role of “Frankenstein” (the monster, not the doctor) and a young Richard Gere in “Oh, Canada.” He will also play a young gambler working in a Las Vegas casino

who has a romantic relationship with a male co-worker in the upcoming drama “On Swift Horses.”

Lest we forget Elordi’s Australian dramatic miniseries “The Narrow Road to the Deep North,” with “Belfast”

Oscar nominee Ciarán Hinds, and season three of “Euphoria.”

***

I’m sad to report the passing of my longtime friend Jennifer Leak. In 1968, I photographed her wedding to Tim Matheson at the Little Brown Church on Coldwater Canyon. They played sister and brother in the film “Yours, Mine and Ours,” starring Lucille Ball, Henry Fonda and Van Johnson. They were just 19 years old when they married. They also came to a New Year’s Eve party I threw that year. I really connected with her when she played Gwen Sherman to Jeanne Cooper’s Katherine Chancellor for three years in “The Young and the Restless.” She left us on March 18 at the age of 76 in Jupiter, Florida, with her husband of 47 years, James D’Auria, at her side.

***

Are you ready for a reimagining of “The War of the Roses”? This one is dubbed in English, thanks to its two British stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman (who also produce the film).

The original 1989 film starred Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito (who directed the film as well). It cost $26 million and grossed $160 million. Cumberbatch and Colman will play the battling Roses this time around. Sounds like a thorny past that will lead to an even pricklier future!

PATTI

DIVAS ON A DIME

As spring blooms around us and Passover is upon us, it’s time to savor the simple pleasures of the season with a classic treat: coconut macaroons.

Picture this: Moist, chewy coconut mingling with hints of vanilla, crowned with a delicate golden crust. Bonus points -- they’re gluten-free! Passover, a time of remembrance and renewal, calls for dishes that honor tradition. Enter the coconut macaroon, a timeless treat with a rich history. With its origins dating back to medieval Italy, this dessert has evolved into a beloved staple of Passover celebrations around the world.

What makes coconut macaroons perfect for Passover? These delectable delights are inherently kosher for the holiday, free from leavening agents and grains such as flour. Just check your vanilla extract, as some are made with grain alcohol.

Now, you might be wondering: How can something so delicious be budget-friendly? With just a handful of pantry staples -- coconut, sweetened condensed milk, egg whites and a splash of vanilla -- you can whip up a batch of these coconut macaroons in no time, all without breaking the bank.

There can be confusion between macaroons and macarons. While they share a similar name, they are distinct desserts with different characteristics.

Macaroons are dense, chewy coconut-based cookies, while macarons are almond meringue sandwich cookies with a smooth exterior, and a wide range of colors and flavors, often filled with ganache, buttercream or jam. Both desserts offer unique and delicious experiences for dessert lovers. Today we’re on team macaroon! For a macaron recipe, go to my website: divasonadime.com/easy-french-macaron-recipe/

EASY COCONUT MACAROONS

Yield: 14 to 18 cookies

Total Time: 35-40 minutes

14 ounces sweetened shredded coconut

14 ounces sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 egg whites, at room temperature

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Optional: 1/2 cup chocolate chips for dipping

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine the coconut, condensed milk and vanilla. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites and salt until they form firm peaks using a stand mixer or hand mixer on high speed. To ensure a light and airy texture, carefully fold the whipped egg whites into the coconut mixture in three stages, using a gentle hand with a wooden spoon. This step is crucial for maintaining the meringue’s integrity and preventing deflation.

Drop mounds of batter onto your prepared sheet pans using either an ice cream scoop or two spoons. Shape them with moist hands to prevent sticking. There is no bad shape for a macaroon. If you’re making nests, press your thumb or a wine cork into each cookie to make an indent.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown. Cool and serve.

To dip and drizzle with chocolate, melt chips in the microwave. Dip the cookie as desired.

Sometimes the egg white can puddle around the cookie while baking. Simply cut around it and eat the delicious scraps when no one is looking.

For extra fun, add a half cup of finely chopped nuts. I’m partial to macadamias, but pecans and almonds are spectacular. Toast the coconut first for golden crunchy macaroons. Shape like bird’s nests and fill the indent with jam, chocolate or Nutella.

To make larger or smaller macaroons, don’t change the recipe but adjust the baking time to match (longer for big macaroons; shorter for small macaroons). I love to dip tiny ones completely in dark chocolate for little pop-in-your-mouth goodness. This recipe also makes a delectable pie crust.

Until next time, happy baking and may your days be filled with the sweet joys of spring!

DIAMOND

Photo credit: www.JasonCoblentz.com

HOLLYWOOD -- The super-busy Tom Hanks has finally picked his next project. He’ll reteam with Robert Zemeckis, the director of “Forrest Gump” (for which they both won Oscars), to work on a film called “Here.” It follows the events and inhabitants of a single room, spanning from the past into the future. Robin Wright (who saved “House of Cards”), Paul Bettany and “Downton Abbey’s” Michelle Dockery co-star.

“Maestro” Oscar nominee Carey Mulligan