Back in 1983, Lionel Richie had a No. 1 hit with “All Night Long (All Night).” The song’s lyrics aren’t explicitly sexual like the title may suggest, as Richie instead mostly sings about dancing and partying. Whatever the case may be when it comes to the true intent of the song, 73-year-old Richie isn’t above turning it into a sex joke.
In a recent appearance on The View alongside fellow American Idol judges Katy Perry and Luke Bryan, Richie was asked about the song. In response, he joked, “When I wrote ‘All Night Long,’ it was truly all night long. Now my ‘all night long’ is down to a fierce 15 minutes, but don’t worry about it, we’ll talk about it later.”
That crack got some laughs and applause from the hosts and studio audience, as well as congratulations from Perry: She offered a handshake and said, “Is this show live? 15 minutes? That’s long, bud!”
(WARNING: Spoilers for The Mandalorian Chapter 21 below.)
Another fan-favorite Star Wars character just made the jump to live-action. In “The Pirate,” the latest episode of The Mandalorian, X-Wing pilot Carson Teva (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee) is spotted talking to a hulking purple alien named Zeb Orrelios. While Zeb may look like just another random creature, he’s actually a main character from the animated series Star Wars: Rebels.
Alongside Kanan Jarrus and Hera Syndulla, Zeb was a key crew member aboard the Ghost and engaged in several missions to thwart the Galactic Empire across Rebels four seasons. He was also a close friend and companion of fledgling Jedi Knight Ezra Bridger, who will reportedly play a key role in the upcoming Ahsoka series.
Believing himself to be the last surviving member of his race, the Lasat, Zeb holds a deep, personal grudge against the Empire and dedicated himself to stomping out Emperor Palpatine’s fascist regime. While that particular task was accomplished by Luke Skywalker in Return of the Jedi, there are still remnants of the Empire left running around and Zeb is definitely your guy to deal with any leftover trouble.
Zeb’s inclusion in The Mandalorian continues the third season’s dip into Rebels lore. The season premiere brought purrgils into the live-action canon. In a nutshell, they’re whale-like creatures that can travel through hyperspace and played a significant role in the final season of Rebels. Ezra Bridger was last seen riding one to an unknown destination, and Ahsoka (Rosario Dawson) has been on a mission to find him ever since.
The occasional yawn joins the conversation between me and Tyrese Maxey. The 22-year-old guard is, presumably, a bit tired, and with good reason. He’s just returned home following a weeklong road trip in early March that saw he and the Philadelphia 76ers win four of five, including a nail-biting, come-from-behind victory of the league-leading Milwaukee Bucks. During that stretch, Maxey re-entered the starting lineup and tallied more than 36 minutes a night. His instantaneous afterburners and eclectic shooting prowess flummoxed every opponent, all while he was often tasked with picking up ball-handlers full-court. That’s quite the workload, even for a youthful trackstar like the Dallas native.
Since rejoining the starting lineup on March 1, Maxey’s morphed into a flamethrower, averaging 23.4 points on 70.1 percent true shooting. During that span, the Sixers are 10-5, with three of those losses coming while James Harden’s been sidelined the past week. On behalf of New Balance, which Maxey officially partnered with earlier this season, Dime caught up with the Philadelphia guard to talk about his go-to casual and on-court sneakers, what’s different about this year’s Sixers squad, and much more.
Just off the bat, I’m curious what you like about New Balances and what drew you to them as your sneaker of choice?
I think the main thing that drew me to the brand is, one, the family connection and just how the relationship that I created with people of the brand, and then, two, the comfort level of the on-the-court shoes are great for me. And I like the style off the court. They’re very stylish. They’re up and coming, they’re rising and a lot of people like them among young audiences, too, so, I’ve been very pleased.
What are you wearing on the court and then what are you wearing off the court?
On the court, I’m wearing like these PE Two Wxys. And then, off the court, I wear everything, man. I think my favorites are 2002. But the 1906s have been growing on me, the 993s, 991s have been growing on me. It’s been great.
Are you more of a guy who likes likes a flashy shoe to kind of draw attention to them or do you go more with the subdued colorways?
Well, I’m a big-time shoe person. I’ve always been a big-time shoe person. So, I like all colorways, like neutrals, the massive colorway, anything. I like for shoes to tell stories.
Did you have a history with New Balance growing up at all? Did you wear them on or off the court at all, or is this your first full dive into the brand?
This is kind of my first full dive, man. My uncle, he was a big fan. Since he moved out here to Philly, he’s been a big fan. He’s in it now. He’s been basically teasing me because I couldn’t wear them. But he had all of them. That’s how I was definitely getting on board. But it’s really up and coming, man. It’s funny, because now I see a lot of people in Dallas, and on that side of the country wearing them as well, not just the East Coast and that’s what it’s all about.
Are you are you getting your friends and family on the New Balance train these days?
Oh, yes, for sure. They know that if they come into my house or they step foot in Philadelphia and I see them, then that’s all they’re allowed to wear.
Shifting gears to the Philly side of things, as a team this year, you’ve had a knack for some some big comebacks. What is it about this team that leads to that resilience? And similar to that, the late game execution really seems to pop for you all. What are the driving forces behind those components?
I think the main thing with the resilience is that we’re together and we’re all set in the same direction. We all have one common goal in mind and everybody’s buying into their roles and what they have to do to be successful. And then, with the late game execution, we have multiple guys that can get you multiple baskets in a variety of different ways. James [Harden] can create for other, James can create for himself. Joel [Embiid] can, I can, you can post Tobias [Harris]. You got [De’Anthony Melton] who can knock down shots, Shake [Milton], Georges Niang hit 3s. We have so many different guys that can score and that can beat you. The variety of the options in how we can score the ball really makes us hard to defend.
A lot of those guys were on the team last year and maybe, the late game execution was good last year, but how do you think it differs for you guys this season?
Because I think this year we know what we’re looking for. I know last year, we acquired James like midway through the year, so I’m not gonna say we were just winging it. But we’re kind of just figuring it out. … It’s hard to be successful that way. But we were still successful, we made it to the second round. And now everybody knows where they want the ball and James knows what we’re gonna run late in games and everybody’s bought in, so, it’s been better.
You mention James. What have you learned from him, not only because he’s an accomplished scorer and passer, but also someone who’s, to an extent, filled a similar role to you, where he’s blended being a starter and coming off the bench. So, what have you learned from him in general, and maybe how to handle that balance of things in your role?
I’ve learned a lot from James. He’s been great. He’s been great on and off the court. On the court, for sure, he’s taught me so many different things. He’s taught me to be confident. He’s taught me to be myself. He’s just really helped me be someone who can go out there every single night and perform at the highest level, and help our team win. He still helps with confidence, as far as telling me that he’s here to help me. He said that from day one. He said he wouldn’t be here to hinder my progress. He’s gonna only be here to help and I think he’s done that, man. He’s kinda taken me under his wing and helped me be successful, even more successful than I was before.
Obviously, you’ve re-entered the starting lineup, but what are the differences for you in terms of maybe the reads, the looks, the angles you get and all that when you come off event bench versus when you do start games? How does that differ for you?
It’s only different because you don’t know when you’re going to go in sometimes. You don’t know who you’ll be in with or you don’t know you’re getting rhythm, movement, things like that. But you gotta figure it out. Either way, whatever it is, you have to go out there and be successful with it and help win your team win games. I think I’ve done that for the most part.
You’re enjoying a nice groove here personally. What do you think’s been working particularly well for you lately?
I’ve cleared my mind and just kind of went out there and played basketball like I know how to play. I think at the beginning of the year, I was playing the same type of basketball. Injuries are hard. You gotta get back to your rhythm and being 100 percent. So, I mean, that kinda took a toll and then change of rotations and stuff like that. Once you get back into swinging things, then you start playing your best basketball.
You mentioned your playoff appearance earlier a bit last year. What did you learn or what did you take away from from that experience as a full-time starter for the first time? How, if at all, did it inform or influence your offseason plan?
I think the main thing was, I was like a feature guy, so I got to see how the defense was guarding me, and then I went into the offseason knowing how they were gonna guard me in the playoffs, not just being a guy who comes in off the bench as a role player. In the playoffs, you’re trying to make other people beat you than the guys that are scoring a lot. So, you put a lot more attention on those guys. So, when I’m in there with Jo and James, a lot of attention goes on them because they’re as great as they are. But [the defense] still had the concern and a game plan for myself and Tobias. And then, when they’re out the game, [the defense is] playing me different ways. So, I think the main thing is I learned how to attack other teams’ game plan and still get to what I want to do and not let them take me out of what I want to do on the offensive end.
Was adaptation or adjustment something you also noticed? I just think back to that Toronto Raptors series and the different ways they closed out on you throughout the six games, mixing between hard and soft, sitting on your right or left side, etc.
Adjusting is one of the biggest things that guys do in the playoffs, especially because it’s game by game. And they try to throw different things at you. Sometimes, they’re gonna closeout hard. Sometimes, they want you to shoot threes. Sometimes, they want to get the ball out of your hands quicker. Sometimes, they want to try to attack you on defense to make you more tired. there’s different ways to find ways to adapt in the playoffs and try to win games. And that’s the biggest thing that you have to do. But you got to be able to adjust to whatever the defense throws at you. That’s why you’re putting in so much work in the offseason, so now that you’re prepared for everything. You’ve covered everything and you’re ready to face whatever defense or whatever offense or whatever the trials and tribulations that you had to face out there in the playoffs.
What was the focus for you of the offseason to build on year two and and go into year three, as you continue to grow with with James and Joel at the helm?
One of the things I focused on a lot was, of course, shooting always. Playing with Joel and James, a lot of those catch-and-shoot opportunities will present themselves. Then, this year, I’ve been able to play-make a little bit more when I’m not in the game with James or when I’m not in the game with Joel. So, I think that has gotten better as well and then also just being stronger, fight through screens defensively a little bit more. Get a lot more and-ones and be able to read the game better.
You mention the shooting. We’re two years into you being quite prolific from deep. Are there certain types of threes that you feel more comfortable with this year that you didn’t necessarily think was in your arsenal last year?
I feel like creation threes have been good for me. Like, when I get an iso or a one-on-one opportunity late clock, that’s one of the biggest things that I worked on. Being a primary ball-handler or a secondary ball-handler or someone who’s gonna be in the game for a lot of possessions, there’s a lot of times where you get the ball with 6 or 7 seconds or 5-3 seconds left and you have to create a shot for yourself. And I think that’s one of the things that I’ve really grown at.
I know you like to stepback going left. Has James helped you at all with the step back? Has he given you any pointers or tips on that particular shot?
Yeah, a little bit. But most of that just came from film and just seeing how defenses are guarding me going left, going right and then, being able to get into somebody’s body to create that separation.
That just goes back to the adjustment thing, huh?
Right.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
While Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling continues to spew anti-trans rhetoric (a recent Onion headline: “Harry Potter Fan Always Dreamed Of Receiving Magical Defamation Letter From J.K. Rowling”), Daniel Radcliffe is hosting a roundtable for transgender and non-binary youth.
The first episode of The Trevor Project series, “Sharing Spaces,” features “six trans and nonbinary young people who sit down with Radcliffe to have a candid, vulnerable, and illuminating conversation about their unique lived experiences.” You can watch the trailer above.
“We listen to so many people talk about trans youth and hear them talked about so often in the news, but very rarely do we actually hear from these youth directly,” Radcliffe said in a statement. “It was an absolute privilege to get to meet and listen to this incredible group of young people. At the end of the day, if you’re going to talk about trans kids, it might be useful to actually listen to trans kids.”
Radcliffe doesn’t mention Rowling by name in the trailer (it’s not about her; it’s about the LGBTQ community), but he did previously respond to comments she’s made on Twitter. “Transgender women are women. Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people and goes against all advice given by professional health care associations who have far more expertise on this subject matter than either Jo or I,” he wrote.
The first episode of “Sharing Spaces” premieres on YouTube at 9 a.m. EST on Friday, March 31, the Transgender Day of Visibility.
Nicholas Braun has always been a goofy guy, no matter how many times he will try to rebrand himself as a businessman or a Disgusting Brother. But that’s all part of the charm!
In typical goof fashion, Braun opened up about an embarrassing plane encounter with none other than Quentin Tarantino, all the way back in 2008 (after Death Proof, but before Inglourious Basterds, peak Tarantino). Braun had just wrapped up his stint on a Disney Channel Original Movie (after Sky High, but before Minutemen, post-peak DCOM) when he ran into the director and decided to shoot his shot. A picture of Braun at the time will help sell this story.
Disney Channel
While on Jimmy Kimmel Live! The Succession actor recalled the story of when he saw the director in first class. “I’m walking through first class. I see him, ‘Holy s**t, Quentin Tarantino.’ I’m like, ‘Oh my god, there he is.’ And I had just done this Disney Channel Original Movie, DCOMs, anybody? And so this [2008] DCOM was called Minutemen and so it had just come out and there was an ad for it on the back of a Tiger Beat magazine,” Braun said, before joking, “They’re probably canceled by now or something for taking pictures of young boys.” For the record, Tiger Beat was up and running until 2021, which is impressive in this current media landscape.
The actor then shared that he brought the ad over to show Tarantino, who was probably just about settling in for his flight nap. “I got to my seat and I was like, ‘The Minutemen ad!’ And I tore it off the back of the Tiger Beat and I pushed past all the people that were coming further into the plane, which everybody hates that. Nobody likes the person going the opposite,” he said. He’s right, so he shouldn’t have expected Tarantino of all people to be on board, but hey, he was living large after that Disney Channel check (that probably went to his parents).
Braun continued:
And so I get up to first class and I look at him and he’s sitting on the window side so I sort of have to reach over a person and say, ‘Quentin, Quentin, I’m in this DCOM called Minutemen and it just came out and here’s the ad. ‘That’s me!‘ And the ad is three guys in snowsuits flying through time because they created a time travel machine. And so they want to go from dorks to heroes, ‘zero to hero’ was the logline. So I’m like, ‘Quentin, that’s me in this movie and I really hope to work with you someday. I think you’re the best. That’s all I got.’ And he looked at it, like it was a torn piece of paper, and he was like, ‘I hope so too.’
On the other hand, his fictional uncle, Brian Cox, famously hates Tarantino and wrote about walking out of a showing of Pulp Fiction in his memoir. Would adding Braun to Tarantino’s extended universe finally get Cox on board? Honestly… probably not. You can check out the clip. below:
The things human beings have figured out how to do boggles the mind sometimes, especially in the realm of medicine.
It wasn’t terribly long ago that people with a severe injury had to liquor up, bite a stick, have a body part sewn up or sawed off and hope for the best. (Sorry for the visual, but it’s true.) The discoveries of antibiotics and anesthesia alone have completely revolutionized human existence, but we’ve gone well beyond that with what our best surgeons can accomplish.
Surgeries can range from fairly simple to incredibly complex, but few surgeries are more complicated than separating conjoined twins with combined major organs. That’s why the recent surgical separation of conjoined twin boys with fused brains in Brazil is so incredible.
The twins, Bernardo and Arthur Lima, are almost 4 years old and have never seen one another’s face. They’ve spent their lives conjoined at the top of their heads, facing opposite directions. Born as craniopagus twins (joined at the cranium), their brains were also fused together, making their separation extremely complex. According to the BBC, they’ve been cared for at the Instituto Estadual do Cérebro Paulo Niemeyer (Paulo Niemeyer State Brain Institute) in Rio de Janeiro for the past two and a half years.
Surgeon Noor ul Owase Jeelani is the founder of medical charity Gemini Untwined, which funded the surgery. He helped lead the team of nearly 100 medical workers who worked for months to prepare for the boys’ separation, which was one of the most complicated of its kind.
Jeelani told the BBC that it was the first time surgeons in separate countries practiced by operating in the same “virtual reality room” together, wearing VR headsets.
“It’s just wonderful,” he said. “It’s really great to see the anatomy and do the surgery before you actually put the children at any risk. You can’t imagine how reassuring this is for the surgeons. To do it in virtual reality was just really man-on-Mars stuff.”
Watch Jeelani explain how they prepared for the procedure:
Prior attempts to separate the twins had been unsuccessful, making the surgery even more challenging due to scar tissue. However, after multiple surgeries that took more than 33 hours collectively, the boys were successfully separated in June.
“It was without a doubt the most complex surgery of my career,” said neurosurgeon Gabriel Mufarrej of the Paulo Niemeyer State Brain Institute, according to EuroNews. “At the beginning, nobody thought they would survive. It is already historic that both of them could be saved.”
Jeelani told the BBC that the boys’ heart rates and blood pressure were “through the roof” for four days after the surgery—until they were reunited and touched hands.
According to Reuters, Bernardo and Arthur are the oldest twins with fused brains to be successfully separated. They will spend the next six months in rehabilitation.
Congratulations to the Lima family and to the global team that combined dedication, perseverance and the miracle of modern technology to create a brighter future for these young boys.
One of the strangest things about being human is that people of lesser intelligence tend to overestimate how smart they are and people who are highly intelligent tend to underestimate how smart they are.
This is called the Dunning-Kruger effect and it’s proven every time you log onto Facebook and see someone from high school who thinks they know more about vaccines than a doctor.
The interesting thing is that even though people are poor judges of their own smarts, we’ve evolved to be pretty good at judging the intelligence of others.
“Such findings imply that, in order to be adaptive, first impressions of personality or social characteristics should be accurate,” a study published in the journal Intelligence says. “There is accumulating evidence that this is indeed the case—at least to some extent—for traits such as intelligence extraversion, conscientiousness, openness, and narcissism, and even for characteristics such as sexual orientation, political ideology, or antigay prejudice.”
Reddit user Gisgiii posed a question to the AskReddit subforum “What is a subtle sign that someone is really intelligent?” and the answers painted a clear picture of how smart people behave. They tend to be great communicators who understand their audience and are more concerned with getting things right than being right.
Here are 18 of the best answers.
1. They draw wisdom from multiple sources.
“They draw wisdom from multiple sources. Wait but that might be more wise than intelligent… But I guess those two tend to be seen together a lot,” — Puzzlehead-Engineer
2. They know their audience.
“They can switch up the way they talk to match the person they’re talking to without sounding condescending. They listen to how others learn and explain it in that person’s language of understanding,” — Wynonna99
3. They develop a keen sense for their job.
“I used to work with a doctor – Tom Howard – and the day I realized he was a genius was the time he guessed every single condition a patient of mine had based on minute pieces of information about him,” — Yodei_Mon
4. Curiosity.
“They are curious about everything. To be intelligent you need to be knowledgeable and you can’t be knowledgeable if you are never curious,” — soup54461
5. They’re great at conveying ideas.
“When they explain something they make you feel intelligent,” — gwoshmi
6. Considerate questions.
“They spend time thinking before asking a question,” — ParkMan73
7. They make hard ideas simple.
“They effortlessly communicate complex concepts in a simple way,” — joculator
8. They know what they don’t know.
“They know when their knowledge ends and say something to the extent of ‘i don’t know and anything else i say on this topic is ignorant speculation,'” — blutoboy
9. They ask great questions.
“They can ask really good questions.”
“Edit: to anyone not understanding what mean, I’m talking about people who ask “really good questions”, not just any questions, really good ones. I don’t know how one would achieve this skill(I know I haven’t),” — milkmanbran
10. They don’t pretend to know everything.
“They aren’t afraid to say they don’t know the answer to a question,” — xchernx
11. They change their minds with new information.
“They admit to changing their mind about something,” — FarAwayAdventure
12. They pivot well.
“They apply knowledge from one realm into a new and relevant situation,” — soubestitch
13. They are open-minded.
“They can genuinely consider an idea which opposes their worldview without necessarily accepting it,” — paidshill29
14. They use analogies.
“People who use analogies to explain concepts to others. It’s a form of code-switching and integrating concepts on the fly and is a clear indicator someone is both socially and conceptually intelligent,” — SwimmerAutomatic2488
15. They don’t argue.
“I think intelligent people are more willing to calmly debate/discuss, rather than argue. Like, you explain to them why you disagree, and they listen to you and ask further questions about your viewpoint before offering a different perspective; as opposed to an unintelligent person, who would just resort to insults when other people disagree with them,” — AngelicCinnamonBun
16. They learn from mistakes.
“Admitting when they’re wrong and being willing to learn from mistakes,” — siyl1979
17. A sense of humor.
“Humor. I think that truly funny people are often very smart and cognizant of the different ways an idea can be humorous on several levels. They also know their audience. I think the difference between say a Jeff Foxworthy and a Dave Chappelle and a Bo Burnham is their audience and their interests,” — biscuitboi967
18. A love of learning.
“They say they love learning and they learn something new every day. Then they listen more than talk,” — throwingplaydough
Don’t be fooled by his age: 17-year-old rapper Luh Tyler is making a name for himself in Florida’s thriving rap scene. With two viral tracks, “Fat Racks” and “Law and Order,” to his name already, he’s off to a solid start in what could be a lengthy career. The teenage recording artist joins the likes of NLE Choppa, DDG, Yung Baby Tate, and 22Gz to drop by the Uproxx Studios for a Behind The Video breakdown.
Released late last year, the MontanaShotYa-directed video has already garnered 13 million views on YouTube. When asked by our very own Cherise Johnson if he used to watch the show in which the track is named after, he responds, “I did, but I wasn’t a big fan of it or anything,” confessing, “I just liked the beat,” used in the show’s opening credits. In the past, he did share a freestyle to the beat.
Throughout the video, several notable places in his hometown of Tallahassee, Florida, including Florida A&M University, also known as FAMU. Tyler revealed that several parts of the video were captured during the school’s homecoming, saying, “Everybody pops up in the city for homecoming,” a cultural tradition that his family has been taking him to for years.
Another cultural spot highlighted in the video is the restaurant Gutherie’s. When asked what first-time visitors should order, he recommended “a Gutherie’s box with chicken tender, fries, and Gutherie’s sauce.”
Watch Luh Tyler’s full Behind The Video breakdown for his track, “Law & Order.”
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Nothing hits quite like new snacks from the grocery store! Unless of course, said snacks aren’t good. Then you feel like you spent a good amount of money on something you never intend on eating. We don’t want that for you, so we’re actively trying all the new snacks we can find so that you don’t have to. Of course, that often means we have a bunch of snacks taking up valuable real estate in our pantries, refrigerator, and freezers but I’ve figured out a solution!
I simply offer the snacks I don’t like to guests and neighbors. See what a generous friend I am? Come bask in my largesse!
If you’ve been to my apartment in the last month, I’m sorry, but also, not really. Someone has to eat the bad snacks and it can’t just be me! Anyway, for our latest grocery roundup, we’ve got all sorts of desserts, snacks, and other new foods (or just new to us) that are worth the pickup the next time you go grocery shopping. Also, if you’re in the market mayo, ketchup,pasta sauce, hipster-ass flavor enhancers, or prepackaged ramen — we got you.
For this list, you’re going to find a lot of ice cream and I fully understand that we’re winding down a long and grueling winter, but hey, every day, no matter how cold, is a great day for ice cream. This time around we’ve also got a lot of plant-based snacks on the list. That’s not at all by design, I don’t have a dietary preference for snack-based foods, but even if you aren’t into plant-based foods give some of these a try — you might actually like them.
Marinara sauce, and really any Italian sauce, is so easy to make at home that it’s a wonder anyone buys the jarred stuff. Having said that, making sauce is a whole other step and takes up stove space so if you rather just bay the jarred stuff, we do (begrudgingly) get it. Our best advice for buying jarred marinara is to look for a brand that uses a few ingredients, all of them natural. Michael Angelo’s fits that bill. Nonna’s Secret Marinara is made with slow simmered vine-ripened tomatoes, onions, olive oil, salt, garlic, and basil, and that’s it.
No sugar. No laundry list of fillers, binders, stabilizers, and preservatives. Just the good stuff.
The sauce tastes bright, but not distracting, and is full of rich savory umami notes that elevate your dishes and excite the taste buds. The brand also makes a roasted garlic edition, a tomato basil edition, and a spicy variation. All four are tasty, but I’d say skip out on the roasted garlic and tomato basil jars and add those ingredients into the OG sauce if you have them.
Trader Joe’s Hearts of Palm might just be the answer. Made from the center of palm trees, this grain-free rice substitute matches the texture of rice perfectly, if I didn’t know this wasn’t rice, I would just assume it was. Very flavorless rice. Like, the most flavorless rice I’ve ever eaten.
That’s the main drawback of Riced Hearts of Palm (aside from its odd smell), is that it’s all texture, no flavor. But it’s not designed to be eaten completely plain. As I mentioned in the lede, I’m not on some sort of healthy eating path, so I cooked up a couple of eggs, and some bacon, threw some green onions and garlic into the leftover grease, removed them, tossed some broccoli, bell peppers, and carrots into my pan, and then threw the Hearts of Palm into the pan and tossed it all together with some soy sauce and fresh basil.
The results tasted just like fried rice!
The Bottom Line:
Smells weird but the texture is just like rice. The fact that it’s flavorless is not a weakness, but a strength — it lets you build upon it without flavoring your food in an off-putting way. Think of Riced Hearts of Palm as a canvas for flavor.
Häagen-Dazs knows ice cream, so when I found out the brand was launching a new line of pre-made ice cream cones, I knew this was going to be a significant step above what’s usually found in the freezer aisle. And I was right because the new Butter Cookie Cones are great!
The full line consists of chocolate, coffee, strawberry, and vanilla, but the best of the bunch is easily coffee. It features Häagen Dazs’ rich coffee-flavored ice cream smothered in espresso fudge with chunks of roasted almond on the top. There is a great balance between sweet and slightly bitter earthy flavors with a luxurious and creamy mouthfeel. Hands down, this is some of the best ice cream I’ve ever tasted on a frozen pre-made cone, but I can’t say I’m the biggest fan of the cone.
It tastes good, don’t get me wrong, it’s sweeter than a traditional waffle cone, but the texture is a bit too soft. I’m missing the crunch of a lower-quality cone!
The Bottom Line:
A high-quality elevated frozen ice cream cone that provides the rich and luxurious ice cream you expect from Häagen-Dazs.
Trader Joe’s Meatless Ground is exactly what you imagine it to be, ground beef, without the beef. Instead of beef it’s made from pea protein and seasoned with a heavy blend of garlic and onion powder, salt, black pepper, and sugar. Flavor-wise, it tastes pretty good, it’s not quite as savory as real meat but it’s perfectly serviceable in some fried ground beef tacos (which is what I made) and the texture, although a bit harder to break down, is not so laborious to chew through that it becomes distracting.
I cooked mine with some diced potatoes in a cast iron pan (I had to start on the potatoes before putting the meat in) added a few more spices (a dash of cumin, chili powder) and the results were almost as delicious as my regular ground beef fried tacos. I had a few leftovers so the next day I tossed the rest in an omelet with some roasted bell peppers and melted cheese.
Sure neither dish was vegan, but both were delicious, and that’s coming from a carnivore!
The Bottom Line:
A good meat substitute that is serviceable in a variety of meat-based dishes.
I’ll be honest, at first the idea of vegan nut allergen-free granola bars didn’t appeal to me. I’m not vegan, I love honey, and I have no need for a nut-free granola bar. But it turns out, I don’t need any of those ingredients for a granola bar to be good!
MadeGood’s Chocolate Granola bars are amazing, instead of honey, the brand uses agave nectar and brown rice sugar, which doesn’t make the bar as sweet as something like a Quaker Chewy Bar, but still has a significant level of sweetness while tasting floral and intriguing enough to grab the palate. It also has the unbeatable combination that is chocolate and banana! The banana isn’t too strong or overpowering, instead, the flavor hovers over the aftertaste while most of the sweetness is handled by the combination of chocolate, agave syrup, and earthy oats.
The Bottom Line:
A nut-free vegan granola bar that doesn’t taste like it’s sacrificing any flavor.
Mooala Chocolate Bananamilk
Amazon
Price: $35.99 (Pack of Six)
I love chocolate milk, but I don’t drink it anymore because… I don’t drink milk. Not for any dietary or moral reason, there just isn’t any occasion in my life where I think “mmm milk sounds good right now.” I’ll use it in cooking, I’ll use it in coffee or black tea, but I’m not about to pour myself a glass with dinner like some sort of 1800s farmer or TV dad from the ‘50s (or sociopath, apparently). Chocolate milk before bed, that’s another story, and Mooala’s Chocolate Bananamilk tastes even better than the real stuff.
It’s thick and creamy, and the combination of banana and chocolate is inarguably delicious. Each serving delivers 526mg of potassium and is made with real bananas and cocoa. Be warned though, this doesn’t have nearly as much protein as milk, so if you’re thinking it’ll be a good protein source, it won’t be.
The Bottom Line:
This plant-based milk has the perfect tinge of fruit and a chocolate body that serves as a great before-bed snack.
Hershey is giving us something we never knew we needed! The Reese’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Cones give us that wonderful Reese’s flavor in a frozen ice cream snack. Each box of duos comes with two different variations. The chocolate version features chocolate ice cream drizzled with even more chocolate and infused with a peanut butter swirl in a chocolate-coated waffle cone. It’s rich and intensely chocolatey with just the right amount of peanut butter.
The alternate cone features peanut butter ice cream with the same chocolate drizzle in a chocolate-coated waffle cone. The result is a much more pronounced peanut butter flavor with a hint of chocolate.
Think of the difference between the two like a classic Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup and a Reese’s Ultimate Peanut Butter Lovers.
The Bottom Line:
It delivers what you’d expect! A Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup if a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup was ice cream. The real draw is that you get two different alterations on a medley of peanut butter and chocolate flavors.
I’ve tried a lot of different mail-order steaks. It’s actually a very good way to buy steak, generally speaking, because the steaks are frozen after butchering and then not unfrozen until you are ready to eat them (they’re shipped on dry ice and come hard as hockey pucks). That means that the chain of being frozen is unbroken until the final user. Versus at the grocery store where they do the defrosting and the steaks might sit for a few days, etc.
With that said, I’ve seen some pretty bad mail-order steak brands. Brands with huge fat caps and little marbleization. For those who don’t know, a fat cap is created when a cow is binge-fed shortly before slaughter. It adds nothing to flavor and is typically discarded. Marbleization, on the other hand, is when a cow is fed evenly throughout its lifetime, thereby creating fat that is integrated and interspersed in the meat. These smaller fat ribbons and globules melt in the pan and add flavor and moistness.
Make sense? Good, now hear this: Of all the mail-order steaks I’ve eaten, Herd & Grace are the most well-marbleized. Not surprisingly, they also result in the tastiest end product.
The Bottom Line:
The best mail-order steak on my radar right now. With this product, you can compete with any steakhouse in America.
EDITOR’s PICK: Keep It Savory Salt Co — Shiitake Cremini Sea Salt/Vanilla Bean Sea Salt
I have avoided “infused salt” because, well… It’s just salt + an ingredient. I know how to do that. Salt + vanilla? Easy. Salt + rosemary or thyme? I can do those too. Still, I have heard good things about this brand and decided to try them. In my opinion, these flavors both live up to the hype. The vanilla salt has real vanilla beans (not just husks) and adds a wonderful sweet-savory note to pancakes and PB&J sandwiches (my preferred late-night snack). I sprinkle some on vanilla ice cream to make “salted vanilla” and also added a few pinches to a recent cake batter.
The mushroom salt feels like a full-on flavor enhancer and I’ve been adding it on top of steaks and into meat dishes to much acclaim. I add it to my bone broth as well.
The Bottom Line:
I get the idea of being pessimistic about flavor-infused salts because it seems like a DIY hack that anyone can do at home, but I’ve had tremendous success with both these and plan to buy them again.
Essence Fest will return to New Orleans this June, with a line-up honoring hip-hop on its 50th anniversary. Today (March 29), Billboard has reported that Megan Thee Stallion and Ms. Lauryn Hill will headline the festival. This year’s Essence Festival will take place from June 29 to July 3.
According to the report, Hill will perform her debut album, The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill, in full to commemorate the album on its 25th anniversary. Also set to perform are Wizkid, Monica, Coco Jones, and Kizz Daniel. Doug E. Fresh will curate a special performance, and DJ Spinderella, DJ Kid Capri, and DJ Clark Kent will perform DJ sets. More performers will be announced soon.
The festival will also coincide with the 30th anniversary of So So Def, which will be celebrated with a performance from the label’s founder Jermaine Dupri, as well as past signees.
“For nearly three decades, the ESSENCE Festival of Culture has been an international and joyful gathering that empowers community throughout the global Black diaspora,” said newly-appointed Vice President of ESSENCE Festival of Culture, Hakeem Holmes, to the magazine. “As the nation’s largest festival by per day attendance, it continues to be a crown jewel of Black culture and plays a pivotal role in the amplification and celebration of the contributions of the Black community through business, music, and more. As we gear up to celebrate the ’50th Anniversary of Hip-Hop’, we couldn’t think of a better way to honor the contributions that genre has made on global culture and the impressions that these artists and their deep musical catalogs, which we all know so well, have been ingrained into the fibers of our day to day lives. This year, we are excited to have everyone join us in celebrating 50 years of musical excellence, experiencing our diverse daytime and nighttime offerings, and in highlighting the importance of Black economic inclusion.”
Some of the artists mentioned are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
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