GERALD FORD

Minnesota to fly American flags at half-staff for former President Jimmy Carter

Staff reports — Mon, 30 Dec 2024 18:27:42 GMT

ST. PAUL — Minnesota will join the nation in mourning the death of former President Jimmy Carter by flying the American flag at half-staff.

Gov. Tim Walz ordered all flags at state buildings to be lowered to half-staff for 30 days. The move follows a federal proclamation signed by former President Dwight Eisenhower as a way to honor U.S. presidents who have died.

“President Carter defined what it means to be a servant leader,” Walz said in a statement. “He fought for our democracy, our climate, humanity, and civil rights around the world. We can find peace today knowing that he is reunited with the love of his life, Rosalynn.”

Carter served as the 39th president from 1977 to 1981. The Democrat defeated President Gerald Ford, a Republican, in the 1976 U.S. election then lost to Republican Ronald Reagan in 1980.

Known for brokering peace between Israel and Egypt, Carter also won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for promoting human rights and resolving conflicts around the globe. He was 100 years old when he died Sunday, Dec. 29, at his home in Georgia.

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Former US President Jimmy Carter dies at 100

Will Dunham and Jasper Ward / Reuters — Sun, 29 Dec 2024 21:18:52 GMT

WASHINGTON — Jimmy Carter, the earnest Georgia peanut farmer who as U.S. president struggled with a bad economy and the Iran hostage crisis but brokered peace between Israel and Egypt and later received the Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian work, died at his home in Plains, Georgia, on Sunday, the Carter Center said. He was 100.

“My father was a hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights, and unselfish love,” said Chip Carter, the former president’s son. “My brothers, sister, and I shared him with the rest of the world through these common beliefs. The world is our family because of the way he brought people together, and we thank you for honoring his memory by continuing to live these shared beliefs.”

The Carter Center said there will be public observances in Atlanta and Washington. These events will be followed by a private interment in Plains, it said.

Final arrangements for the former president's state funeral are still pending, according to the center.

A Democrat, he served as president from January 1977 to January 1981 after defeating incumbent Republican President Gerald Ford in the 1976 U.S. election. Carter was swept from office four years later in an electoral landslide as voters embraced Republican challenger Ronald Reagan, the former actor and California governor.

Carter lived longer after his term in office than any other U.S. president. Along the way, he earned a reputation as a better former president than he was a president -- a status he readily acknowledged.

His one-term presidency was marked by the highs of the 1978 Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt, bringing some stability to the Middle East. But it was dogged by an economy in recession, persistent unpopularity and the embarrassment of the Iran hostage crisis that consumed his final 444 days in office.

In recent years, Carter had experienced several health issues including melanoma that spread to his liver and brain. Carter decided to receive hospice care in February 2023 instead of undergoing additional medical intervention. His wife, Rosalynn Carter, died on Nov. 19, 2023, at age 96. He looked frail when he attended her memorial service and funeral in a wheelchair.

Carter left office profoundly unpopular but worked energetically for decades on humanitarian causes. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 in recognition of his "untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development."

Carter had been a centrist as governor of Georgia with populist tendencies when he moved into the White House as the 39th U.S. president. He was a Washington outsider at a time when America was still reeling from the Watergate scandal that led Republican Richard Nixon to resign as president in 1974 and elevated Ford from vice president.

"I'm Jimmy Carter and I'm running for president. I will never lie to you," Carter promised with an ear-to-ear smile.

Asked to assess his presidency, Carter said in a 1991 documentary: "The biggest failure we had was a political failure. I never was able to convince the American people that I was a forceful and strong leader."

Despite his difficulties in office, Carter had few rivals for accomplishments as a former president. He gained global acclaim as a tireless human rights advocate, a voice for the disenfranchised and a leader in the fight against hunger and poverty, winning the respect that eluded him in the White House.

Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his efforts to promote human rights and resolve conflicts around the world, from Ethiopia and Eritrea to Bosnia and Haiti. His Carter Center in Atlanta sent international election-monitoring delegations to polls around the world.

A Southern Baptist Sunday school teacher since his teens, Carter brought a strong sense of morality to the presidency, speaking openly about his religious faith. He also sought to take some pomp out of an increasingly imperial presidency - walking, rather than riding in a limousine, in his 1977 inauguration parade.

The Middle East was the focus of Carter's foreign policy. The 1979 Egypt-Israel peace treaty, based on the 1978 Camp David Accords, ended a state of war between the two neighbors.

Carter brought Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin to the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland for talks. Later, as the accords seemed to be unraveling, Carter saved the day by flying to Cairo and Jerusalem for personal shuttle diplomacy.

The treaty provided for Israeli withdrawal from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and the establishment of diplomatic relations. Begin and Sadat each won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1978.

By the 1980 election, the overriding issues were double-digit inflation, interest rates that exceeded 20% and soaring gas prices, as well as the Iran hostage crisis that brought humiliation to America. These issues marred Carter's presidency and undermined his chances of winning a second term.

HOSTAGE CRISIS

On Nov. 4, 1979, revolutionaries devoted to Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini had stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, seized the Americans present and demanded the return of the ousted shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was backed by the United States and was being treated in a U.S. hospital.

The American public initially rallied behind Carter. But his support faded in April 1980 when a commando raid failed to rescue the hostages, with eight U.S. soldiers killed in an aircraft accident in the Iranian desert.

Carter's final ignominy was that Iran held the 52 hostages until minutes after Reagan took his oath of office on Jan. 20, 1981, to replace Carter, then released the planes carrying them to freedom.

In another crisis, Carter protested the former Soviet Union's 1979 invasion of Afghanistan by boycotting the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. He also asked the U.S. Senate to defer consideration of a major nuclear arms accord with Moscow.

Unswayed, the Soviets remained in Afghanistan for a decade.

Carter won narrow Senate approval in 1978 of a treaty to transfer the Panama Canal to the control of Panama despite critics who argued the waterway was vital to American security. He also completed negotiations on full U.S. ties with China.

Carter created two new U.S. Cabinet departments -- education and energy. Amid high gas prices, he said America's "energy crisis" was "the moral equivalent of war" and urged the country to embrace conservation. "Ours is the most wasteful nation on earth," he told Americans in 1977.

In 1979, Carter delivered what became known as his "malaise" speech to the nation, although he never used that word.

"After listening to the American people I have been reminded again that all the legislation in the world can't fix what's wrong with America," he said in his televised address.

"The threat is nearly invisible in ordinary ways. It is a crisis of confidence. It is a crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit of our national will. The erosion of our confidence in the future is threatening to destroy the social and the political fabric of America."

As president, the strait-laced Carter was embarrassed by the behavior of his hard-drinking younger brother, Billy Carter, who had boasted: "I got a red neck, white socks, and Blue Ribbon beer."

'THERE YOU GO AGAIN'

Jimmy Carter withstood a challenge from Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy for the 1980 Democratic presidential nomination but was politically diminished heading into his general election battle against a vigorous Republican adversary.

Reagan, the conservative who projected an image of strength, kept Carter off balance during their debates before the November 1980 election.

Reagan dismissively told Carter, "There you go again," when the Republican challenger felt the president had misrepresented Reagan's views during one debate.

Carter lost the 1980 election to Reagan, who won 44 of the 50 states and amassed an Electoral College landslide.

James Earl Carter Jr. was born on Oct. 1, 1924, in Plains, Georgia, one of four children of a farmer and shopkeeper. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1946, served in the nuclear submarine program and left to manage the family peanut farming business.

He married his wife, Rosalynn, in 1946, a union he called "the most important thing in my life." They had three sons and a daughter.

Carter became a millionaire, a Georgia state legislator and Georgia's governor from 1971 to 1975. He mounted an underdog bid for the 1976 Democratic presidential nomination, and out-hustled his rivals for the right to face Ford in the general election.

With Walter Mondale as his vice presidential running mate, Carter was given a boost by a major Ford gaffe during one of their debates. Ford said that "there is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford administration," despite decades of just such domination.

Carter edged Ford in the election, even though Ford actually won more states -- 27 to Carter's 23.

Not all of Carter's post-presidential work was appreciated. Former President George W. Bush and his father, former President George H.W. Bush, both Republicans, were said to have been displeased by Carter's freelance diplomacy in Iraq and elsewhere.

In 2004, Carter called the Iraq war launched in 2003 by the younger Bush one of the most "gross and damaging mistakes our nation ever made." He called George W. Bush's administration "the worst in history" and said Vice President Dick Cheney was "a disaster for our country."

In 2019, Carter questioned Republican Donald Trump's legitimacy as president, saying "he was put into office because the Russians interfered on his behalf." Trump responded by calling Carter "a terrible president."

Carter also made trips to communist North Korea. A 1994 visit defused a nuclear crisis, as President Kim Il Sung agreed to freeze his nuclear program in exchange for resumed dialog with the United States. That led to a deal in which North Korea, in return for aid, promised not to restart its nuclear reactor or reprocess the plant's spent fuel.

But Carter irked Democratic President Bill Clinton's administration by announcing the deal with North Korea's leader without first checking with Washington.

In 2010, Carter won the release of an American sentenced to eight years hard labor for illegally entering North Korea.

Carter wrote more than two dozen books, ranging from a presidential memoir to a children's book and poetry, as well as works about religious faith and diplomacy. His book "Faith: A Journey for All," was published in 2018.

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Trump summoned to testify to U.S. Jan 6 riot panel, provide documents

Patricia Zengerle / Reuters — Fri, 21 Oct 2022 20:50:00 GMT

WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump was issued an order on Friday to testify under oath and provide documents to the House of Representatives committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.

The committee said it had sent a subpoena to Trump requiring documents to be submitted to the panel by Nov. 4 and him to appear for deposition testimony beginning on or about Nov. 14.

Deposition testimony often refers to closed-door, videotaped questioning of a witness on the record. Such testimony could be made public and become part of a final report by the special panel.

"As demonstrated in our hearings, we have assembled overwhelming evidence, including from dozens of your former appointees and staff, that you personally orchestrated and oversaw a multi-part effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election and to obstruct the peaceful transition of power," the committee wrote in a letter to Trump on Friday.

Trump, who regularly refers to the panel as the "unselect committee," has accused it of waging unfair political attacks on him while refusing to investigate his charges of widespread election fraud.

He is not likely to cooperate with the subpoena and could simply try to run out the clock on a committee whose mandate will likely end early next year if Republicans win a majority in the House in November's midterm elections.

Thousands of Trump supporters attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, after Trump delivered a fiery speech at a rally near the White House featuring false claims that his defeat in the 2020 presidential election by Democrat Joe Biden was the result of fraud.

The assault saw rioters smash through glass and battle police. Five people including a police officer died during or shortly after the riot, more than 140 police officers were injured, the Capitol suffered millions of dollars in damage and Vice President Mike Pence, members of Congress and staff were sent running for their lives.

The committee announcement came just hours after Steve Bannon, an influential far-right figure and a former adviser to Trump, was sentenced by a federal judge to four months in prison for refusing to cooperate with the panel's investigation. He is free, however, pending his appeal.

Criminal charges?

The House Select committee's seven Democratic and two Republican members voted unanimously on Oct. 13 in favor of subpoenaing Trump, a move that could lead to criminal charges if he does not comply.

While noting that the Supreme Court has ruled that former presidents retain a limited ability to assert executive privilege in refusing to testify, the committee also said there were limits to that privilege.

It also made clear that congressional testimony by a former or sitting president was not unprecedented. The letter listed seven former presidents -- most recently Gerald Ford -- having testified after leaving office. "Even sitting presidents, including Abraham Lincoln and Gerald Ford" also appeared while still in the White House, it said.

"In short, you were at the center of the first and only effort by any U.S. president to overturn an election and obstruct the peaceful transition of power, ultimately culminating in a bloody attack on our own Capitol and on the Congress itself," Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson and Vice Chair Liz Cheney wrote Trump.

Committee members have not said how they will proceed if Trump disregards his subpoena.

Federal law says that failure to comply with a congressional subpoena is a misdemeanor, punishable by one to 12 months imprisonment. If the select committee's subpoena is ignored, the committee would vote to refer the issue to the full House. The House then would vote on whether to make a referral to the Department of Justice, which has the authority to decide whether to bring charges.

The rioters were attempting to stop Congress' formal certification of Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election. By day's end they had only succeeded in delaying that certification.

The House Jan. 6 select committee has been investigating the attack on the Capitol for more than a year.

It has held a series of hearings making its case - via documents, live witness testimony and recorded testimony from interviews conducted behind closed doors - that Trump was largely responsible for the deadly assault on the Capitol.

They argued that the Republican planned in advance to deny his election defeat, failed for hours to call off the thousands of his supporters who stormed the Capitol and followed through with his false claims that the election was stolen even as close advisers told him he had lost.

The former reality television star continues to hold rallies repeating his false allegations of election fraud, hinting that he will seek the presidency again in 2024.

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U.S. official says Pentagon committed to understanding UFO origins

Joey Roulette and Steve Gorman / Reuters — Tue, 17 May 2022 13:46:44 GMT

WASHINGTON — A senior Defense Department intelligence official said on Tuesday, May 17, the Pentagon is committed to determining the origins of what the government calls "unidentified aerial phenomena" in the first public congressional hearing concerning what are commonly known as UFOs in more than 50 years.

Two top U.S. defense intelligence officials appeared before a U.S. House of Representatives intelligence subcommittee 11 months after a report documenting more than 140 cases of unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAPs, that U.S. military pilots have reported observing since 2004.

"We know that our service members have encountered unidentified aerial phenomena, and because UAP pose potential flight safety and general security risks, we are committed to a focused effort to determine their origins," Ronald Moultrie, who oversees the new group as U.S. defense undersecretary for intelligence and security, told the hearing.

The other official to testify was Scott Bray, deputy director of naval intelligence.

The more popular term UFO, for unidentified flying object, has long been widely associated with the notion of alien spacecraft, which received no mention in last June's UAP presentation. The focus, instead, was on possible implications for U.S. national security and aviation safety.

The report did, however, include some UAPs previously revealed in Pentagon-released video footage of enigmatic airborne objects exhibiting speed and maneuverability exceeding known aviation technology and lacking any visible means of propulsion or flight-control surfaces.

That report was nine-page "preliminary assessment" compiled by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and a Navy-led task force the Pentagon formed in 2020.

Subcommittee chairman Andre Carson in opening remarks said it was important for the Pentagon to remove the stigma surrounding unidentified aerial object sightings, which he said has long discouraged military pilots from reporting them so they could be analyzed.

"UAPs are unexplained, it's true. But they are real," Carson said.

Defense and intelligence analysts who prepared the assessment offered no findings about the origins of any of the 144 sightings included in it, except for one attributed to a large deflating balloon.

The Navy task force behind the paper was replaced in November by a new Defense Department agency named the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group.

Moultrie and Bray were scheduled to testify behind closed doors following the public hearing.

While reaching no conclusions, last year's report said the UAP sightings probably lack a single explanation.

Further data and analysis were needed to determine whether they represent some exotic aerial system developed by a secret U.S. government or commercial entity, or by a foreign power such as China or Russia, according to the report.

Defense and intelligence analysts have likewise yet to rule out an extraterrestrial origin for any UAP case, senior U.S. officials told reporters ahead of the report's release last year, though the paper itself avoided any explicit reference to such possibilities.

Still, the report marked a turning point for the U.S. government after decades spent deflecting, debunking and discrediting observations of unidentified flying objects and "flying saucers" dating back to the 1940s.

The session will mark the first open congressional hearing on the subject since the U.S. Air Force terminated an inconclusive UFO program code-named Project Blue Book in 1969.

During its 17 years in existence, Blue Book compiled a list of 12,618 total UFO sightings, 701 of which involved objects that officially remained "unidentified." But the Air Force later said it found no indication of a national security threat or evidence of extraterrestrial vehicles.

In 1966, nearly a decade before he became president, then-U.S. Representative Gerald Ford of Michigan, who was House Republican leader at the time, organized a hearing in response to scores of witness accounts of strange glowing lights and large football shapes at low altitude around Dexter, Michigan, which an Air Force official had famously explained away as "swamp gas."

(Reporting by Joey Roulette in Washington; Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Robert Birsel)

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To end his wife’s suffering, he shot her. Was it mercy or murder?

Lane DeGregory / Tampa Bay Times — Fri, 28 Jan 2022 16:05:00 GMT

TAMPA, Fla. — When he visited his wife that day, she was agitated and angry, more adamant than ever.

She didn’t want to be in that place. She didn’t know what was wrong with her or why she couldn’t go home.

For three months, she had been at the Parkside Inn, an assisted living facility for Alzheimer’s patients in Boynton Beach.

Her husband visited every day. Every day, she seemed to be getting worse.

They had been married 42 years, had raised three children and a Saint Bernard. She had worked at the courthouse, sung in the church choir, run marathons.

Now, a few weeks after turning 61, Pam Kruspe couldn’t remember how to use the bathroom and stared at the phone, trying to figure it out. In rare lucid moments, she sobbed that she didn’t want to live like this.

Her husband had been a career Marine, then a teacher. He was 62, used to taking charge, fixing things.

But that morning — March 27, 2017 — Stephen Kruspe had prayed for guidance: How could he help his wife?

That evening, he signed her out at the front desk and drove a mile down the road to the Dunkin’.

He got her hot coffee. His was iced. As they talked, he said later, “she would come and go, come and go.”

After almost an hour, she looked at him and asked, “Do we have to go back there?”

Well, he said, yes, we do.

During the drive back, the closer they got, the more unhappy Pam became, Steve later told a detective. This account is drawn from his interview at the Boynton Beach Police Department.

Steve signed his wife into the facility at 6:30 p.m. “And when we finally went back inside is when she started almost incessantly with, ‘I want you to … to … I … I don’t want to be here anymore.’”

She said she wanted to die. That she was going to kill herself. She told her husband, “I want you to kill me.”

He walked her down a long hallway, through the building, then out a side door facing the parking lot. She kept begging: “Please.”

He led her to their van, where he got his pistol from the glove box and put it in his jeans pocket.

She told him no one loved her anymore. She felt trapped. This was not how she wanted to live the rest of her life.

They went back toward the building and stopped on the patio. Pam stood close to Steve and looked into his eyes.

He thought, maybe, if he pulled out the gun, she would get scared and back off.

But she didn’t flinch.

Would you?

What do you do when someone you love is hurting, and there’s no way to fix it?

It’s illegal, in most places, to help someone end their life. Even if they beg you.

Since 1999, when Jack Kevorkian was jailed for helping terminally ill people die, several states have adopted a Death With Dignity act that allows medical aid in dying.

But in Florida — and 39 other states — doctors can only try to ease physical pain. Sometimes, at the end, the only advice right-to-die groups can offer is to inhale helium or starve yourself.

Even if Pam had gone to Oregon, the state that led the country in medical aid in dying, she likely would have been denied that option because of her dementia. Patients have to be deemed competent enough to make their own decisions.

Recent polls show broad support for end-of-life options for the terminally ill in America. But laws haven’t caught up.

So many of us have these conversations: If I’m incapacitated, can’t care for myself, left in a ward, then put me out of my misery.

Our loved ones often agree.

But would you really?

How could you?

The girl with auburn hair

The band was playing "In the Mood," and Steve wanted to dance. None of the other Marines at his table that night in 1974 seemed to notice the music.

But one young woman was swaying in her seat. “A tall, attractive girl with auburn hair and green eyes,” he remembered in a memoir his lawyer asked him to write.

Much of this account comes from those 31 pages, as well as conversations with Steve’s old colleagues and friends and police interviews with his wife’s caretakers. Steve’s youngest son, Matt, spoke at length about his parents. His other two children declined to talk.

“Do you know how to swing dance?” Steve had asked the pretty woman. She did. So he led her onto the floor and twirled her around, showing off his best jitterbug.

Pam had come to the Marine Corps Birthday Ball in Washington, D.C., with a friend, who had set her up on a date. But later, when the band broke into "Tuxedo Junction," she asked Steve if he knew how to foxtrot. They danced until the evening was over.

“As I rode back to the Marine barracks,” Steve wrote, “I knew I would someday see her again.”

Steve was 20 and had been a Marine for two years. He was working security at the Gerald Ford White House and carrying caskets at Arlington Cemetery.

Pam was 18. She had finished a semester at the University of Maryland and decided not to go back. She was a civilian worker at the Naval Sea Systems Command.

They ran into each other a few months later, at a New Year’s Eve party.

At midnight, they kissed.

He proposed that spring.

“We vowed to give ourselves to each other, and for each other.”

Madly in love

When you marry a Marine, you learn your family can’t come first. A soldier’s duty is to God. Country. Corps. Then come spouse and kids.

Pam was 20 when she had their first child and followed Steve into base housing at his new post at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He was soon shipped overseas for six months, the first of endless deployments. During two decades of service, he was gone more than he was home. Pam would wake the kids in the middle of the night to say goodbye to Daddy.

Steve worked with Navy SEALS and Green Berets, teaching them to jump out of helicopters, swim through dangerous waters, become expert marksmen. Since he was in Special Warfare Ops, his family seldom knew where he was or if he was in danger. Pam had to live with that uncertainty while helping her daughter and two sons with homework, taking them to church and driving them to football, basketball, track, band and color guard.

“She always put everyone else first and made them feel OK,” said their youngest son, Matt. “She taught me compassion. And if you’re going to do something, do it all the way, whether it’s doing the dishes or loving someone.”

The only thing Matt ever saw his mom do for herself was start writing a couple of murder mysteries. But she never had — or took — the time to finish one.

He describes his dad as “a man’s man” with a commanding presence. He wasn’t affectionate. But when Steve was home, he went to all of his kids’ sporting events and band concerts, dressed up and went trick-or-treating. Matt said, “You definitely knew he loved you.”

His dad taught him to shoot guns and handle them safely. Steve was his Boy Scout leader — and disciplinarian. “If I jacked up really bad, I got a butt whipping,” Matt said. “But he never bruised me. ... That’s the true sign of a warrior: Being peaceful, knowing when NOT to use violence.”

He remembers his parents yelling, sometimes, over the years. But never any physical altercations or even slammed doors.

Kent Bolin was Steve’s boss at Camp Lejeune. Their families celebrated holidays with each other; their kids grew up together. He called Steve trustworthy and courageous. Steve prided himself on his integrity, Kent said, and above all, his honor.

Though Steve didn’t go to college, he devoured books about history, politics and philosophy, Kent said.

He said Steve and Pam were “madly in love.”

By 1990, Steve had risen to master sergeant — one of the highest ranks for enlisted Marines. He moved his family to Florida, where he trained 250 reservists in West Palm Beach for Operation Desert Shield.

Pam worked as a bank teller, then at the courthouse. She started running miles, then marathons. While she was training, Steve rode his bike alongside, handing her water, clocking her time. On weekends, they took long walks, holding hands, and went to church.

Many evenings, after dinner, they would drink wine and dance on their screened porch, said Kent’s wife, Deb. “They were just beautiful dancers.”

In 1994, Steve left the Marines and became an ROTC instructor at Deerfield Beach High ��, where he was later teacher of the year. He helped train the sheriff’s SWAT team, stood up for LGBT students, took at-risk kids on trips into the Everglades.

Steve’s friend John Wiseman, a retired journalist, said, “He never even got a parking ticket.”

When he retired from teaching after seven years, Steve started restoring the lighthouse at Jupiter Inlet. Pam and Matt often went along. He also rescued the ancient lens of Pensacola’s lighthouse, so sailors could again see the beacon.

Both of their sons joined the Marines. All of their children married. Steve and Pam enjoyed their five grandchildren — and each other, going rollerblading, having rum drinks with friends, traveling to St. Augustine, Key West, even Croatia.

For a couple of years, Steve wrote: “We went on cruises, visited theme parks and National Parks. And very much enjoyed being just us again.”

The first signs

It started with her job. In January 2013, Pam walked into her office, threw the keys on her boss’s desk and said, “I’m done.” She’d been stressed out over “the new system of doing things,” Steve wrote. Often, she would come home in tears.

Once Pam quit, Steve noticed, she seemed to regain some peace of mind.

Then Pam had to renew her driver’s license — just go to the office and get a picture taken. But that process propelled her into a panic. She got a driving manual and tore it apart, taping pages to the kitchen cabinets. “She obsessed over it,” Steve said. “She wouldn’t stop.”

She started seeing a psychiatric nurse, who diagnosed her with an anxiety disorder.

Every two weeks, Steve took her to appointments. But Pam was often frustrated. When their daughter, Stephanie, threw a surprise party for Steve’s 60th birthday, Pam couldn’t remember friends of 30 years. She struggled to recognize her sister, who flew in from out of state.

She started picking fights. Her relationships began to fall apart, “but she didn’t know what to do about it,” Steve wrote. “And for the longest time, she wouldn’t let me out of her sight. … She said life is just no fun anymore.” So he took her on vacations.

In New Orleans, Pam rode the streetcar, walked through the French Quarter, ate beignets at Cafe Du Monde. But then she freaked out because there were so many people. She refused to go out at night because she didn’t feel safe.

When Steve and Pam visited Pensacola in 2015, their friends noticed Pam was much quieter.

“She was walking around the house in the middle of the night and didn’t recognize me,” Kent said.

Matt had just returned from a tour in Afghanistan, where a roadside explosion had injured his brain. His dad and siblings tried to shield him from how bad things were getting with his mom. But soon, he saw it, too.

She had always dressed well and had her hair done. Now, she was forgetting to shower and brush her teeth. “It scared her,” Matt said. “She’d drift in and out.”

Finally, in early 2016, Stephanie convinced Steve to take Pam to a neurologist.

She was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s — at age 59.

Losing herself

For the first few months, Steve took over the shopping, cooking, cleaning — all the duties Pam had shouldered through their marriage. He encouraged her to help, so she’d have a sense of purpose. They were always together.

Pam was confused but compliant.

The disease starts years before symptoms show. Protein builds in the brain, forming plaque. As it takes over different areas, the afflicted person loses memory and the ability to do basic tasks. There is no cure or proven treatment.

Alzheimer’s is primarily an elderly person’s disease. Only 5% of people get sick before age 65 — at least 220,000 people in the U.S., according to the Alzheimer’s Association. When the disease strikes early, it’s much more aggressive. A patient’s personality can change completely.

If your body goes first, you still have your mind. And memories — something, still, to savor and share.

But when your brain gives out before your body, you’re stripped of connections and context. You lose yourself.

One night, soon after the diagnosis, Pam jumped out of bed screaming, “I can’t f--king do this anymore.” She was paranoid, delusional, and started pacing the house, Steve said.

He coaxed her into the car and took her to the emergency room, where nurses calmed her with lithium and Seroquel. The next day, a doctor deemed Pam dangerous to herself or others. She spent three days in a psychiatric facility.

A few weeks later, Pam phoned her sister, “Where’s Stephen?”

“I’m here with you,” Steve said beside her.

“Are you my Stephen?” she asked. “Is that you? If you’re lying, I’ll call the police.”

She got committed again. And again. Doctors kept adjusting her medications. She couldn’t ride bikes anymore because she kept pedaling through the intersections. She couldn’t remember how to put on her skates.

“Mom could recognize my face,” Matt said, “but she didn’t know I was her son.”

Another night — it was always at night — Pam woke in a fright, demanding, “What’s going on?” She started pulling on Steve’s shirt, stumbling through the bedroom. He grabbed her wrists to keep her from falling, and she insisted he let go. She hit his chest and arms and, in the tussle, her finger broke. On the way home from the hospital, she asked, “Am I in trouble?”

“I don’t think she ever fully understood what disease she had, or what it was doing to her,” Matt said.

Soon, it became impossible to take her out. She’d jump out of the car into traffic.

Steve had to put new locks and alarms on the doors to keep her from running. He lay awake all night, listening for Pam.

Kent, Steve’s friend, visited the couple three times after Pam’s diagnosis. “We cried together,” he said. “That was the only time I ever saw him cry.”

One evening, Pam thought Steve was an intruder and threatened to kill him. He couldn’t calm or reassure her. He had to call 911. Matt came and took Pam to his house.

“I’ve never known my dad to be afraid of anything,” Matt said. “I didn’t know what to say. How do you tell Superman not to be afraid?”

Matt said his dad felt helpless but wouldn’t ask for help. “Sometimes, your strength is your weakness.”

Finally, experts at the Alzheimer’s care center convinced Steve he couldn’t handle Pam at home.

Matt knew his mom didn’t want to be incapacitated. “If I’m a vegetable, or can’t be me, I don’t want to be anymore,” she had told Matt before she got sick.

“That can be argued a thousand ways,” he said. “But I knew what my mom meant.”

Pam’s living will spelled out her wishes. But she was still physically healthy. There was no life support to end.

Sometimes, dying takes a long, long time.

‘Can’t take it anymore’

They moved Pam into Arden Courts memory care on July 29, 2016. Right away, she tried to escape, flipping beds, tossing chairs, smashing walls.

“It would take a couple of men to subdue her,” Matt said, “then she wouldn’t sleep for days.”

Most of the other residents were 20 years older than Pam. Sometimes, she thought she worked there and was supposed to take care of them. Other times, she said they were mistreating her. In cogent moments, she was humiliated by her condition and pleaded with Steve to take her home.

Steve would dress and bathe her, his friend Kent said, despite paying for the facility’s services. He wanted to preserve some dignity. And he wanted to be there, Kent said, “in case she had even a moment of clarity.”

By fall, Pam often couldn’t recall words or articulate her thoughts. When Matt brought his kids to visit, she didn’t recognize them.

“She was gone.”

Living alone took a toll on Steve, Matt said. He wasn’t eating. Their normally packed fridge was down to ketchup and milk.

“We didn’t talk about her much, because it was so hard,” Matt said. “But he started telling me war stories, which he never did. He said he’d started dreaming of Marines he hadn’t thought about in 30 years and wake up in a cold sweat.”

Finally, Matt talked his dad into seeing a counselor at the Veterans Administration.

On top of the stress and loneliness, Steve worried about finances. Memory care is expensive. After six months, Steve had burned through their savings. He and his kids found a nice place for $3,000 a month — half the price. Pam moved into Parkside Inn on Jan. 16, 2017. “She almost broke the door down trying to get out,” Steve said.

She took medications for depression, dementia and anxiety. Workers at the facility said she sometimes seemed happy. Other times, she yelled at everyone. She often broke down and cried. One aide said Pam told her, “I can’t take it anymore.”

Less than a week after Pam moved into Parkside, while Steve was visiting, someone forced open the kitchen door of their home and stole his laptop and Pam’s wallet. Steve gave Matt his shotgun, muzzleloader and .22 rifle, so if the burglar came back, he couldn’t steal them.

He started stashing a Colt .45 in the glove box of his van, he wrote, “for self-defense.”

Like his Pam

On that evening in March 2017, he stood behind the assisted living facility, facing his wife, so close he could have kissed her. He pointed the gun at her heart.

Neither said a word.

Steve had been watching Pam wither away for four years.

Was he trying to help her? Or end his own helplessness?

Did he think about what would happen to him? To their kids?

Was this his duty?

Did he think about his honor?

And what about Pam? What did she understand as she looked at her husband holding the gun? Was she capable of pulling the trigger herself? In that last second, was she in? Or out?

“She didn’t move,” Steve said.

A single bullet pierced her heart. An expert marksman, Steve knew to “go for the kill shot.” It hit so perfectly that blood barely stained the front of her blue T-shirt.

She slumped to the ground.

Steve knelt and cradled her, then kissed her. For the first time in forever, she looked relaxed. Like his Pam.

“What the f--k have I done?” he said out loud.

He sat there, holding her for a few minutes, then, at 7:33 p.m., called 911.

“I just shot my wife.”

“OK,” said the dispatcher. “Is she awake?”

“No,” Steve said. His voice was flat and measured. “She’s dead.”

He unloaded the gun and put it on the patio railing, then sat on the ground beside Pam. He was still on the phone when he asked, “You OK, baby?”

“Who are you talking to?” asked the dispatcher.

“I’m — I,” Steve stammered. “I was just talking to her.”

“Can you tell me why you shot her, Steve?”

“She asked me to.”

About the story

After hearing that a decorated Marine had killed his wife in 2017, Tampa Bay Times reporter Lane DeGregory and photographer John Pendygraft wanted to know more.

Who was this couple? What led to the shooting?

The pandemic kept postponing the trial, and the Palm Beach County Jail prohibited journalists from interviewing Stephen Kruspe. He didn’t reply to numerous letters.

Much of the information for this story comes from his lawyer, a private investigator, police reports and interviews and a handwritten account of Steve’s life that he wrote behind bars.

The Times also talked to Steve’s youngest son extensively, over a couple of years. Steve’s oldest son and daughter did not agree to several interview requests. The prosecutor also declined to speak to the Times.

Other information came from interviews with the couple’s friends, his military records and from dozens of letters people wrote for and against him, which were included as evidence in court.

End of life options

The ancient Greeks debated euthanasia. So did Ohio politicians at the turn of the 20th century.

In the 1960s, efforts to legalize end-of-life options gained momentum under a variety of terms, like assisted suicide, mercy killing and medical aid in dying.

Oregon became the first state to approve a Death with Dignity Act in 1994. If someone has a terminal disease, is expected to die within six months, resides in the state and is still competent enough to make their own decision, a doctor can help them die.

But in Florida — and 39 other states — all doctors can do is try to ease physical pain.

In 2020, a state senator introduced Florida’s first Death with Dignity Act to bring attention to the issue. But there was no time for a bill to be filed in the House, so it was withdrawn. State statutes categorize “assisting self-murder” as manslaughter.

Seven countries, including Canada, Spain and the Netherlands, allow doctors to help terminally ill patients die. Switzerland is one of the few places where sick foreigners can go to end their lives. Officials there are even testing 3D-printed “suicide capsules,” where people could lie down inside and die painlessly.

Many groups across the U.S. advocate for laws allowing people to plan their own deaths: Final Exit Network, Death with Dignity, Compassion & Choices. Often the only thing they can recommend is to put a plastic bag over their head and inhale helium or nitrogen. Or stop eating and drinking.

Opponents of right-to-die legislation say suicide devalues human life and death shouldn’t be a treatment alternative. They also worry about a slippery slope, which might encompass people who are depressed, have disabilities or are unable to make their own decisions.

Where to find help Alzheimer’s Association Caregiving, 800-272-3900 Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, 866-232-8484 Alzheimer’s Disease Education and Referral Center, 800-438-4380
©2022 Tampa Bay Times. Visit tampabay.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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Cherish citrus with this tangy, luscious Lime Curd recipe

Sarah Nasello — Wed, 12 May 2021 11:45:00 GMT

I love working citrus into a recipe and often use lemons and limes in both sweet and savory dishes to brighten up the other flavors. But there are times when that punch of tang is required to stand on its own, and this week’s recipe for Lime Curd is tart, tangy, luscious and lip-smackingly all lime.

Fruit curds have a rich and buttery sweetness that elevates them above a standard jam and can be made with a wide variety of fruits. With the right recipe, they can be easy to make and used in myriad ways — as a spread on toast or crackers, as a filling for cakes, cupcakes and cookies, or even as a topping for pancakes, waffles, scones and ice cream.

This curd has a wonderfully tart flavor profile, which comes from using both the juice and zest from the limes. A vegetable peeler is a great tool to quickly remove strips of citrus zest without catching any of the bitter, white pith. I used regular limes for this batch of curd, but key limes will be coming into season soon and would be perfect for this dish.

Unlike other curd recipes which can require the use of a double boiler, this lime curd recipe is simple and easy to follow. I use a food processor to combine the sugar with the strips of lime zest, which creates a finely-textured zest.

Next, I use an electric mixer to cream the butter for about a minute before adding the sugar mixture and other ingredients (eggs, lime juice, vanilla extract and salt).

Once combined, I transfer the mixture to a small saucepan and cook the curd over medium-low heat until it thickens, stirring constantly to prevent the eggs from scrambling. This will take about 10 minutes, so bring a book or put on your favorite tunes to pass the time as you stir.

Once the curd has thickened and cooled, it can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four weeks, which I love because it is a great ingredient to have on hand. I made a batch a couple weeks ago to pipe into the center of some springtime cupcakes, and used the leftovers to create dessert sandwiches with the mini sugar cookies from the recipe I featured here last week.

Syttende Mai (Norwegian Constitution Day) is this Monday, May 17, and every year I make a traditional Norwegian Cream Cake called Bløtkake. This is a layered sponge cake filled with jam, custard and whipped cream, and while I typically use strawberry jam, this luscious lime curd would be a great addition.

Gratulerer med dagen to Norwegians everywhere, and happy cooking!

Lime Curd
Makes: about 3 cups

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups sugar

Zest of 1 large or 2 small limes

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

4 extra-large eggs

½ cup lime juice, freshly squeezed (about 4 to 5 limes), or bottled key lime juice

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:

Use a carrot peeler or zester to remove the zest from the lime(s), being careful to avoid the white pith.

Place the zest in a food processor, add the sugar and pulse until the zest is very finely ground into the sugar.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the lime-sugar mixture and beat on medium speed until combined. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the lime juice, vanilla extract and salt and beat until combined.

Pour the mixture into a small saucepan and cook over medium-low heat until thickened, stirring constantly, about 10 to 12 minutes depending on your stove. The lime curd will thicken when it reaches a temperature just below a simmer (170 degrees).

Remove from heat and refrigerate to set.

To store: Transfer lime curd to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 weeks or freeze for up to 1 year.

Recipe Time Capsule:

This week in...

2020: Sarah's Seasoned Grilled Vegetables 2019: Chilled Poached Salmon with Dill Cream Sauce 2018: Norwegian Bløtkake (Cream Cake) 2017: Norwegian Fruktsuppe 2016: Hummus Time: Spicy Edamame Hummus & Traditional Chickpea Hummus 2015: Tony's Edamame Salad 2014: Bruschetta with Two Toppings: Next-Level Tomato Relish & Green Olive Tapenade 2013: Pre-Marathon Pasta Puttanesca

Recipes can be found with the article at InForum.com.

“Home with the Lost Italian” is a weekly column written by Sarah Nasello featuring recipes by her husband, Tony Nasello. The couple owned Sarello’s in Moorhead and lives in Fargo with their son, Giovanni. Readers can reach them at sarahnasello@gmail.com.

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Pep up your pesto with cilantro and jalapeno

Sarah Nasello — Wed, 28 Apr 2021 11:45:00 GMT

April is coming to an end and we are now entering the season of transition from spring to summer. It is time to start embracing the brightness of fresh herbs and vegetables, and today I have two great recipes to help you get started: Cilantro Jalapeno Pesto and Pasta Salad.

I love everything about pesto. This simple, chunky sauce can be enjoyed in myriad ways — spread atop crostini, tossed with pasta, mixed into tacos and salads, eaten by the spoonful… you get the idea. A traditional Genoese pesto is made with fresh basil, garlic, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, salt and extra-virgin olive oil, but by altering the herbs and nuts, you can create a whole repertoire of differently flavored pestos with ease.

For this occasion, I swapped out the basil for fresh cilantro and jalapeno and opted for walnuts as their neutral flavor will enhance the other ingredients without overpowering them. So that the bright, fresh flavor of the green ingredients can really shine, I skipped the cheese altogether and added a punch of acid with fresh lime juice.

Making pesto is an easy process as everything can be quickly mixed together by using a food processor or blender. You could also make this in the traditional way, using a mortar and pestle if desired, but I much prefer the ease and speed of modern technology.

For this recipe, I use one bunch of fresh cilantro and remove the long, thick part of the stems so that it is mostly just the leaves being used (this yields about 3 packed cups of cilantro). I love spicy foods, but my family does not, so to appease their timid palates I use just half of one large jalapeno and remove the seeds and veins inside. However, If I were making this pesto just for me, I would use the entire jalapeno and even some of the seeds.

To make the pesto, blitz the cilantro, jalapeno, garlic, walnuts and lime juice together by pulsing in a food processor or blender until a thick paste is formed. Next, turn the processor or blender on and add a quarter-cup of extra-virgin olive oil in a slow, steady stream until fully incorporated. Because the oil is an important flavor component in pesto, it is important to use a good quality, extra-virgin olive oil.

Once the oil has been added, blend in a small amount of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, then taste and adjust the seasoning and flavors as desired.

This recipe yields about 1 heaping cup of pesto, which I have served as a dip with hearty chips, as an appetizer atop crostini, and in the pasta salad recipe I am also including here today. With graduations, vaccinations and celebrations upon us, we are entering the season for big-batch salads, and this bright and flavorful pasta salad will easily serve 10 to 12 guests. The recipe can be doubled or tripled and made one or two days in advance of serving.

This Cilantro Jalapeno Pesto is fresh, versatile, easy to make and filled with the bright color and flavors of the season. Enjoy!

Cilantro Jalapeno Pesto
PRINT: Click here for a printer-friendly version of these recipesMakes: about 1 heaping cup

Ingredients:

1 bunch fresh cilantro, stems removed (about 3 packed cups)

1 large clove garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

¼ cup walnuts (pistachios, almonds or pine nuts also work)

½ to 1 jalapeno, seeded and roughly chopped (start with half and add more as desired)

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (about 1 lime)

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

In a food processor or blender, add cilantro, garlic, pistachios, jalapeno and lime juice. Pulse until a thick paste is formed.

Turn processor on and run continuously as you add olive oil through feed tube in a slow, steady stream. Once all the oil is added, continue to process for an additional 30 seconds.

Taste and add more salt, pepper, lime juice and jalapeno as desired. Refrigerate in an airtight container for 3 to 5 days.

Cilantro Jalapeno Pesto Pasta Salad
Serves: 10 to 12

Ingredients:

1 pound farfalle (bow tie) pasta, cooked to al dente and rinsed with cold water until no longer hot

3 to 4 tablespoons canola oil, divided

¾ to 1 cup Cilantro Pesto

¾ cup black beans, drained and rinsed

¾ cup sweet corn

1 orange bell pepper, small diced

1 to 2 tablespoons lime juice

1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced into thin rounds or halved

½ cup feta cheese, crumbled

Salt and pepper, to taste

Thinly sliced or finely chopped jalapeno, to garnish

Directions:

Toss cooked pasta with 1 tablespoon of canola oil, adding more as needed until evenly coated. Add 3/4 cup of the pesto and stir until fully incorporated.

Add black beans, sweet corn and bell pepper. Use a rubber spatula or large spoon to mix vegetables with pasta. Add more pesto at this stage, if desired (I use 1 cup).

Drizzle 1 tablespoon of lime juice over salad, then add sliced tomatoes and feta cheese; toss to combine. Taste and add more lime juice, salt and pepper as needed.

For best results, refrigerate salad for at least 1 hour before serving, or even overnight; the salad may be prepared up to 2 days in advance of serving. Toss with 1 to 2 tablespoons canola oil and garnish with thinly sliced or finely chopped jalapeno before serving.

Recipe Time Capsule:

This week in...

2020: Sarah's Classic Peanut Butter Cookies 2019: Fiesta Pasta Salad 2018: Weak-in-the-Knees Salmon Tacos 2017: Ready for Radishes: Quick-Pickled Giardiniera or Oven-Roasted 2016: Mother's Day Crepes 2015: Greek Spanakopita 2014: Zack's Rough Cut Guac 2013: Baja Fish Tacos

Recipes can be found with the article at InForum.com.

Spring into the season with this sugar snap pea salad

Sarah Nasello — Wed, 21 Apr 2021 11:30:00 GMT

Despite the recent spate of cold weather, fresh mint and chives have started to spring up in my garden and they are already thriving. This early bounty of fresh spring herbs is the perfect inspiration for this week’s Sugar Snap Spring Salad with Minty Chive Vinaigrette.

Homemade salad dressings are quick and easy to prepare and taste so much better than prepared dressings. My master vinaigrette recipe is a basic combination of extra-virgin olive oil, white wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper, and for this recipe I have also added fresh mint and chives.

I keep a jar of the master vinaigrette in my fridge and use it either on its own or mix a portion of it with other ingredients to create myriad flavor combinations, including fresh herbs, garlic, citrus juice and zest, shallots and honey. The dressing is best when prepared at least 30 minutes before using and can be refrigerated for up to one week.

You can use a small bowl and a whisk to mix the dressing, or you can put all the ingredients into a Mason jar and shake vigorously to combine. The dressing has a marvelous punch of tangy flavor which holds up well to the bright tones of the fresh mint and chives.

This salad is composed in layers rather than being tossed together, and the first layer is a bed of fresh baby greens. I used baby romaine on this occasion, but arugula or mixed greens would also work well.

The next layer is a mixture of carrots, radishes, cucumbers and navy beans — and to ensure that the Minty Chive Vinaigrette is present throughout the salad, I toss these first two layers, separately, in a light coating of dressing before placing on a serving platter.

I use a food mandoline to slice the carrot and radishes paper-thin to enhance their sweetness, and the cucumber just slightly thicker so that it does not lose its crunch. I am not big into kitchen gadgets, but I love the ease, efficiency and uniformity of my mandoline, which you can find at home stores for under $10.

A generous helping of fresh sugar snap peas brings fresh spring flavor, lovely color and a lively crunch to this seasonal salad, and a final drizzle of dressing completes the dish.

For an elegant presentation, I slice the peas in half, lengthwise, on the sides opposite the seams so that the shells remain intact to display the peas. All of the vegetables can be prepared up to two days in advance of assembling the salad.

This salad is a wonderful blend of contrasts in both flavor and texture. From the tang of the vinaigrette to the delicate fragrance of the fresh herbs, the bright crunch of the sugar snaps and the buttery tenderness of the navy beans, this easy to make Sugar Snap Spring Salad is a showcase of springtime simplicity, elegance and flavor.

Sugar Snap Spring Salad
Serves: 4 to 6

Ingredients:

3 cups fresh baby greens (Romaine, arugula or mixed greens)

1 large carrot, peeled and sliced into thin rounds

2 large radishes, thinly sliced

1 mini cucumber, sliced just a bit thicker than carrot and radishes

½ cup navy beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups sugar snap peas, ends trimmed and sliced in half on the side opposite the seams

Minty Chive Vinaigrette

Directions:

In a medium bowl, toss fresh greens with 1 to 2 teaspoons of vinaigrette, until lightly coated. Place dressed greens on a serving platter in an even layer.

In the same bowl, repeat this step with carrots, radishes and cucumbers, tossing until combined. Add navy beans and toss again. Distribute mixture evenly over fresh greens.

Scatter sugar snap peas around top and sides of the platter and drizzle salad with 1 to 2 tablespoons of vinaigrette. Serve immediately.

Sarah’s Tips:

Use a food mandoline (or very sharp knife) to slice carrot and radishes into paper-thin slices and adjust the setting to slice the cucumber just a bit thicker. The vegetables can be prepared in advance and refrigerated for up to 2 days before assembling the salad. My master vinaigrette recipe is this recipe, without the fresh herbs. I keep a large jar of this basic dressing on hand and either use it on its own or with any combination of flavor-building ingredients like fresh herbs, citrus juice and zest, garlic, shallots and honey. Minty Chive Vinaigrette
PRINT: Click here for a printer-friendly version of these recipes

Ingredients:

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

¼ cup white wine or Champagne vinegar

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

½ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon fresh mint, finely chopped

1 tablespoon fresh chives, finely chopped

Directions:

Place vinaigrette ingredients in a small bowl or Mason jar and whisk or shake vigorously until fully combined and emulsified.

Vinaigrette should be prepared at least 30 minutes before assembling the salad and may be refrigerated for up to 1 week. Whisk or shake vigorously before serving.

Recipe Time Capsule:

This week in...

2020: Ground Turkey Tacos 2019: Dutch Baby Pancake 2018: Wild Mushroom Crostini 2017: A Tale of Two Omelets 2016: Springtime Bow Tie Pasta Salad 2015: Cherry Vanilla Scones 2014: Sarah's Best Banana Bread 2013: Honey Gorgonzola Romaine Hearts Salad

Recipes can be found with the article at InForum.com.

Strawberries give savory salsa a sweet twist

Sarah Nasello — Wed, 14 Apr 2021 11:45:00 GMT

Fresh strawberries are coming into season, and my recipe for Fresh Strawberry Salsa features this fruity favorite in an unconventional, and flavorful, twist.

The bright and boldly sweet flavor of strawberries makes them a natural choice for desserts and breakfast pastries. In past columns, I have shared some of our family’s favorite strawberry recipes, including a Classic Strawberry Shortcake, a simple and delicious Strawberry Coffee Cake, and (my personal favorite) Strawberries and Cream Scones.

If it seems counterintuitive to feature fresh berries in a savory setting, this simple strawberry salsa may be just the dish to convert you to the saltier side of fruit. Featuring all fresh ingredients, this strawberry salsa is easy to make — and much of the prep work can be done well in advance of serving.

For this recipe, the strawberries take over the role of tomatoes in a traditional salsa, and are combined with bell pepper, red onion, jalapeno, cilantro and fresh lime to create the perfect blend of sweet and savory flavor. The measurements in this recipe are based on my personal preference and can be adjusted as you desire.

Since the strawberries are the star of this dish, I like to chop them into a medium-dice, roughly about a half inch in size, so that they stand out against the other components. For the bell pepper, I recommend either yellow or orange to contrast with the bright red of the strawberries, and I cut it into pieces just a tad smaller than the strawberries.

I cut both the red onion and the jalapeno into small-diced pieces, roughly about the size of your pinky nail, and you could chop them even finer, or add more to your salsa, if desired. Since I am the only one who likes spicy food in our family, I use just half a jalapeno for this recipe, which creates a salsa with very mild in heat.

A hefty splash of fresh lime flavor helps to bring all the flavors together, and I use both the zest and juice of one lime for this recipe. You could also use fresh lemon and/or orange, or even a combination of citrus fruits to brighten up the salsa.

I typically make this salsa as a snack to serve with tortilla chips or hearty crackers and cheese. However, I recently served it atop some beautiful fillets of baked Dover sole and the delicate nature of the strawberries provides the perfect complement for flaky, white fish or even chicken.

This salsa is at its best when prepared at least 30 minutes before serving, to allow time for the flavors to meld together, and it can be assembled and refrigerated up to four hours in advance. The strawberries and vegetables can be chopped up to 24 hours in advance and refrigerated until you are ready to assemble the salsa.

Beautiful and brightly flavored, this Fresh Strawberry Salsa is an easy to make, versatile and delicious side dish for the season.

Fresh Strawberry Salsa

Serves: 6 to 8

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh strawberries, medium-diced (1/2-inch pieces)

¼ cup yellow or orange bell pepper, medium-diced

¼ cup red onion, finely chopped

½ to 1 jalapeno, seeded and small-diced

2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, stems removed and roughly chopped

Zest of 1 lime

2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

½ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

Place strawberries, bell pepper, onion, jalapeno, cilantro and lime zest in a medium mixing bowl. Drizzle olive oil and 2 tablespoons of the lime juice over the ingredients, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Gently toss to combine. Taste and add more lime juice and seasoning as desired.

Best if made at least 30 minutes before serving. Salsa can be assembled up to 4 hours and refrigerated before serving.

Serve with tortilla chips or pita crackers. Also excellent with flaky white fish and grilled chicken.

Sarah’s Tips:

Strawberries and vegetables can be chopped up to 24 hours in advance and refrigerated until ready to assemble with the olive oil, lime juice, salt and pepper. Vary the salsa by adding fresh avocado and/or cucumber. For a fresh summer salad, toss with diced cherry tomatoes and fresh mozzarella balls and serve over a bed of green leaf or butter lettuce. Recipe Time Capsule:

This week in...

2020: Mediterranean Chopped Tuna Salad 2019: Sweet Potato Hash 2018: How to cut an onion without crying 2017: Mediterranean Steak Salad 2016: Lemon Poppy Seed Breakfast Bread 2015: Muffuletta Sandwich 2014: GooGoo's Baked Easter Ham 2013: Prosciutto con Melone

Recipes can be found with the article at InForum.com.

Savory scones are good before dinner, with coffee or whenever you want a snack

Sarah Nasello — Wed, 24 Mar 2021 11:45:00 GMT

Rich, flaky and filled with buttery goodness, scones are among my favorite pastries to bake. Over the years, I’ve shared a variety of sweet scone recipes with you, including my Cherry Vanilla Scones, Raspberry Almond Scones, Pumpkin Scones and, just in time for spring, Strawberries and Cream Scones.

I love a good breakfast or coffee-time scone, but lately I have had fun creating a savory scone that is perfect as a pre-dinner or brunch nibble. If the enthusiasm from my family is any indication, these Bacon, Blue Cheese and Chive Scones deliver big on that front. In fact, my 16-year-old son, Giovanni, gobbles them up at any hour — pre-dinner, post-dinner, for breakfast… you get the idea.

Whenever I am making scones, I prefer to use my food processor to mix the dry ingredients together and cut in the butter. To achieve the tender flakiness of a good scone, it is important not to overwork the dough, and the food processor quickly cuts in the butter without having to handle it with my hands.

The reason this matters is that I use very, very cold butter to make all my scones. Cold butter will hold its shape during the mixing process rather than melting into the other ingredients, and it creates the necessary pockets of air that help the scone to rise as it bakes, resulting in an ultra-flaky texture. Handling the dough as little as possible helps to ensure that this result can be achieved.

Instead of mixing heavy cream as I do with my other scone recipes, I decided to use buttermilk on this occasion. I prefer the tang that it brings to the scone, as well as the extra acid that helps to produce a superior rise and texture.

Because of the blue cheese, the dough for these scones is quite soft and moist and can be difficult to handle quickly with your hands. Once the dough has been mixed, I pour it onto a large piece of plastic wrap and use that to help me knead it into a rough ball.

Next, I shape the dough into a square by pressing it, still in the plastic wrap, into an 8-by-8-inch square pan. You could also shape it by hand, but using the pan helps to ensure that the dough is evenly distributed so that each scone is uniform in height.

While you can make these irresistible scones in any size you desire, I prefer them in bite-sized form — around 1 inch in diameter, give or take. The smaller size ensures that there is a good share of bacon, blue cheese and chives in every bite, with just the right amount of flaky biscuit surrounding them.

I use a 1-inch scalloped biscuit cutter to shape the scones, but you could use a small ice cream scoop or just two spoons to drop them onto the baking sheet. I chill the scones in the freezer before baking so that they are as cold as possible when they go into the oven.

The scones are ready when they are golden brown, and the cheese is bubbling around them.

Full of savory flavor and deliciously addictive, these savory Bacon, Blue Cheese and Chive scones will be the hit of your table. Enjoy!

Bacon, Blue Cheese & Chive Scones
PRINT: Click here for a printer-friendly version of this recipeMakes: 3 to 3 ½ dozen baby (1-inch) scones

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 ½ teaspoons sugar

¼ teaspoon ground mustard

½ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ¼-inch cubes and chilled

6 strips cooked bacon, chopped into small pieces

½ cup blue cheese or gorgonzola crumbles

¼ cup fresh chives, finely chopped

1 cup buttermilk

For the egg wash, beat together:

1 egg

2 teaspoons milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Place flour, baking powder, sugar, mustard, salt and pepper in a large bowl or food processor and use a whisk to mix, or pulse 10 times.

Add butter and cut in with 2 forks or a pastry blender if making by hand, or pulse in the food processor about 12 to 15 times until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

Add chopped bacon, blue cheese and chives and pulse 3 to 4 times, just to incorporate.

If using a food processor, transfer the dough to a large bowl. Add buttermilk and gently stir into the flour-butter mixture, using a fork for best results, until a dough begins to form.

Turn dough out onto a large piece of plastic wrap. Gather corners in toward the center and twist to enclose the dough. Gently knead dough until it forms a rough ball and crumbly bits have been worked in. Dough will be quite soft, and using plastic enables you to work quickly.

Dough can be pressed into a round or square shape and cut into individual scones. If using a biscuit cutter, place the plastic-wrapped ball of dough in an 8-by-8-inch square pan and use the plastic to press it into the pan in a smooth, even layer. Cover top with plastic wrap and place pan in the freezer for 20 minutes, or until quite firm and cold.

Working quickly, dip your cutter in flour and cut out the scones, placing them 1 ½ inches apart on prepared baking sheet. Return scones to the freezer for 15 minutes.

Make an egg wash by whisking egg and milk together until frothy. Brush tops and sides of each scone and place sheet on lower center rack of the oven. Bake until tops are golden brown and firm to the touch, about 14 to 16 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet for 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool until warm to the touch. May also cool completely, store at room temperature and reheat just before serving — at 300 degrees for 5 to 8 minutes.

To store: Scones can be kept fresh for up to 2 days if stored in a metal container or covered with aluminum foil.

To freeze unbaked scones, freeze them first on a baking sheet for 1 hour, then transfer to a freezer bag or airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. Bake without thawing (amount of time to preheat oven is just fine), adding 2 to 3 minutes to baking time if needed.

To freeze baked scones, wrap each individually in plastic, transfer to a freezer bag or airtight container and freeze for up to 6 months. Thaw at room temperature before unwrapping and, for best results, warm in a 350-degree oven for 8 to 10 minutes until warm.

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