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Up your baked pasta game with manicotti

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:50 GMT

Manicotti, a large, ridged, tubed pasta, is typically stuffed with either a ricotta or meat filling, covered in red sauce and more cheese and baked until bubbly. It’s a seriously satisfying dish that hits all the comforting notes you’d expect in a baked pasta.While the traditional version of this iconic Italian dish is one of my all-time favorites, I think I might like this flavorful, ultra-creamy chicken and spinach version even better.Using whole-fat cottage cheese gives the filling a smoother, creamier texture with none of the graininess you sometimes find with ricotta. And, of course, adding a splash of cream to the marinara sauce dials up the level of luxuriousness.While it’s not difficult to use a small spoon to stuff the pasta tubes, I find that the job is even easier with a large plastic piping bag, like the ones you would use for cake or pastry decorating bag. I just cut a hole slightly smaller than the opening of the pasta tube and pipe the filling inside...

Norquist: Why 2023 was a great year for Republicans

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:50 GMT

This was a great year for Americans who value a strong America, liberty, lower taxes, more jobs, and better education for all children.At the national level, we have suffered through three years of Bidenomics: wasteful spending, corrupt subsidies, inflation, special interest regulations and job-killing taxes. We have learned what Bidenomics means. How much Bidenomics cost middle America. How it drives inflation.In the 50 states, we saw Republican-governed states create better government at lower costs. Americans noticed the difference: More and more are moving from expensive blue states to growing red states.This year follows two lousy years for all Americans. In 2021 and 2022, the Democratic Party controlled the House, Senate and White House. They ran riot.Bidenomics was imposed on America. Taxes increased. Spending pushed up by trillions. Democrats promptly shoveled tax dollars to corrupt corporate “climate” subsidies. These were favors for the few. The national debt grew.The spen...

The Real Deal: Discounts at Gunstock

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:50 GMT

Holiday weeknight skiing lift tickets at Gunstock Mountain Resort (https://www.gunstock.com/) in Gilford, N.H., comes in at just $69 for adults and $52 for kids as well as anyone 60 and up (up to five years old skis free). Nice price, but here’s the real deal:  For night sessions, equipment rentals are free with your lift ticket, saving you $49.

OBF: Sports wagering embraced by Mass. bettors

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:50 GMT

There was a “betting riot” at Fenway Park in 1917, a point-shaving scandal at Boston College 45 years ago, and a bookmaker never more than two phone calls away in Massachusetts for decades before legal sports betting launched here earlier this year.Little wonder why legal sports betting went from $0 to $4.313 billion in Massachusetts during 2023.The state’s legal retail and online sportsbooks have generated $4,313,764,999.06 in handle through Nov. 30. Retail sports betting began in Massachusetts on Jan. 31. Mobile and online betting launched on March 10.You may have seen a few (thousand) TV commercials about it.The state’s retail and online sportsbooks have posted an adjusted gross revenue of $410,638,372.68 and paid $81,788,017.40 to the state in taxes.As we noted last week, the (State) House always wins.With $81.7 million in taxes collected after just 265 days of mobile betting, the state has crushed its high-end estimate of $70 million in sports betting revenue in Year 1.How did ...

Family bonds over time on mountains

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:50 GMT

There are few things Molly Garcia of Plymouth savors more than a day out on skis with her 11-year old son James.They grabbed first tracks on opening day at Bretton Woods this season – a family favorite – and they intend on getting many more days in.That said, Garcia shares, her decision to carve out time for skiing sometimes gets pushback from others. In the current parenting world of busy, busy and dedicated to teams, she said, many of her fellow parents question her choices.But she’s solid with those decisions, she said, and the proof comes via her son, who loves skiing with her and in general.It’s not that she’s not a team sport person. She ran track and played field hockey – even playing for Colgate in college. But even with that, the world allowed time for other things, like skiing for her. She’s thankful for that history. Her son plays basketball (as well as golf) on teams with schedules that allow space for other things. While many of his friends are on regional travel teams,...

Ski Wednesday: Getting kids involved in sport is a lifetime gift

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:50 GMT

There’s a big hurdle to raising a ski family today: The now norm of hyper-scheduling of kids and their activities makes the notion of grabbing a few ski days with the family (never mind choosing to partake for an entire season) seem nearly implausible.While this is all, of course, done with a goal of fun, learning and health, this lifetime skier who grew up back in a time (insert “Get off my lawn!” vibe here) when you could be on a school winter sports team and still have most of your weekends free is here to take a perhaps controversial stand: letting your kids miss a soccer/cheerleading/hockey/semipro paintball/whatever it is they are signed on to do here and there event to get out on snow is a worthy choice.I”m here to suggest (OK, urge): Fight the hyper-scheduling and throw some ski days into the mix. To me, it’s good for your child, your relationship and their future.And yet, more and more, friends tell me they cannot get their kids out skiing because of other sports, because t...

Dear Abby: The real reason for BF’s mystery absence

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:50 GMT

Dear Abby: My boyfriend of three years works six days a week with Sundays off. For the last six weeks, my calls have gone unanswered from Saturday evening through Monday morning. He’d provide a lame excuse, apologize for the “missed” calls, and the next weekend, the same thing would happen. Long story short, he was spending time in a drug house on the weekends. He ignored my calls because he didn’t want me to know what he was doing. He says it’s “no big deal,” he isn’t doing it anymore and we should move forward as if this never happened.My issue is, I no longer trust him or his judgment because I never imagined he’d do anything like this. Since he has, I no longer feel like I know him. What he did was deceitful and extremely selfish. Now he says I’m throwing away our relationship because “he made a mistake.” To me, it isn’t a mistake if you repeat the behavior over and over. He CHOSE to do drugs, hide it ...

Fire erupts at tortilla factory in Chula Vista

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:50 GMT

CHULA VISTA, Calif. -- A fire broke out Tuesday at a tortilla manufacturing facility in Chula Vista, authorities said. The blaze occurred around 7:10 p.m. at 2765 Main St., the Chula Vista Fire Department (CVFD) confirmed to FOX 5. One person dead, another hurt after SUV goes off 300-foot cliff in rural East County Multiple fire agencies responded to the scene, where they evacuated 25 workers from the building, per CVFD. Firefighters worked on the roof to put out the flames.No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is unknown at this time.Check back for updates on this developing story.

USC Song Girls: An inside look behind spirit, pride of Trojans ahead of Holiday Bowl

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:50 GMT

SAN DIEGO - It is less than 24 hours away from the Holiday Bowl and the spirit and pride of the USC Trojans and Louisville Cardinals are battling it out ahead of their debut at Petco Park. It's an experience a member of our FOX 5 San Diego team once had for herself back in 2019. It's no secret our Weather Anchor and Field Reporter Sarah Alegre is a diehard fan of the USC Trojans. She's a 2020 alum and former dancer with the world-famous USC Song Girls. Our Raoul Martinez and Phil Blauer just so happen to be alums as well. It was 2019 at SDCCU Stadium for San Diego's biggest holiday party of the year. USC fans were in the stands and Alegre was on the field, rocking her turtleneck while cheering on the Trojans for one last time...or so she thought. "You look at that iconic uniform and you know that that's the University of Southern California," shared current USC Song Advisor Audrea Harris. “You put that uniform on. I like to say it's like Superman.”Just about four years later, Alegre...

Odds for more sports betting expansion could fade after rapid growth to 38 states

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:50 GMT

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — At his suburban St. Louis home, Brett Koenig can pull out his smartphone and open a sports betting app. But he can’t place a bet. He is blocked by a pop-up message noting he is not in a legal location. Missouri is one of a dozen states where sports wagering remains illegal more than five years after the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for states to adopt it.“It just seems silly that everyone else can do it and we can’t,” said Koenig, who has launched a social media campaign called “Let MO Play” to rally support for legal sports betting in his home state.Other states have reaped a total of over $4 billion of taxes from more than $280 billion wagered on sports since 2018. Vermont will become the latest to accept sports bets, starting Jan. 11, But the odds for expansion to additional states appear iffy in 2024 because of political resistance and the sometimes competing financial interests of existing gambling operators. “The handful of st...